This state of the Republican party is about to sound days of workers’ disease.

Low salaries of Missouri who have just accumulated days of disease paid this month will now lose them at the end of August, courtesy of their republican legislators.

The legislators in the state Senate approved a bill last week that revoked new disease license protections that voters had approved by referendum in November 2024. Repealing approved 22-11 on a Democratic filibuster Effort, with all but a Republican in support, after approving the State Chamber controlled by the Republican Party.

The bill is now addressed to the desk of Republican governor Mike Kehoe, who Suggested Friday I would sign it.

If he does, employers in the state would no longer be obliged to provide workers with an hour of illness for every 30 hours they work, limited to 56 hours per year. The requirement would end on August 28, since it only entered into force on May 1.

The Missourians had approved the disease license protections by a wide margin, with almost 58% voting in support.

Richard Von Glahn, policy director of the Missouri Jobs Withs Justice Workers Center, said it was disappointing to see legislators reverse the will of their voters. He pointed out that last week the Republicans of the State also proposed a new constitutional amendment to cancel abortion protections approved by voters.

“People don’t like to be told that they are stupid,” Von Glahn told News themezone. “It really is a plague that is infected with the Republican Party here.”

The new disease license law also included a new formula that raised the minimum salary of the State. An increase of $ 15 scheduled for next year will remain intact, but the repeal of the Republican party will block the subsequent cost of living increases. That means that legislators or voters would have to approve any increase after 2026.

A Kehoe spokesman did not respond immediately on Monday when asked about the governor’s plans for legislation. Last week he called the repeal “a big problem for economic and small and economic developers.”

Unlike other rich countries, the United States does not require that employers provide illness license. Then a 20% estimated The workers go without him, which means that they lose a day of payment when they have to take care of themselves or a loved one who is sick. According to the Office of Labor Statistics, they are much more likely to have access to days of illness paid in low salaries.

Kansas City star through Getty Images

Without a federal law, a growing number of states and locations is approving yours, including Those who incline conservatives. Referendums similar to those of Missouri too approved In Alaska and Nebraska the past fall, giving the sponsors of the proposals a path around the republican opposition in legislatures. These voting measures brought the total number of states with disease license mandates to 18.

Business groups opposed the illness license in Missouri and quickly tried to sink the new law through a legal challenge. But the Supreme Court of the State in April confirmed the results of the referendum, known as proposal A, leaving the main avenue for repeal for the State.

Von Glahn said that the labor and public health groups that supported the law sought a commitment to the legislators of the State Republican Party, proposing a size so that companies with 10 or less employees were exempt. In that scenario, more than 80% of workers in the state would still have protections, but smaller employers would not be obliged to the law, he said.

“That is the definition of a commitment,” said Von Glahn. “They moved away from that and never returned to serious conversations about it.”

He called to the procedural maneuver that the Republicans used to end the Democratic filibuster last Wednesday a “nuclear option” to boost repeal. The state legislative session ended on Friday.

For now, the existing law is still valid, at least until the end of August. By then, many employers will have given their workers paid for days of illness for the first time, and will have to decide if they want to strip them in the future. Doing doing could save on labor costs, but runs the risk of alienating loyal employees.

The sponsors of the disease license law are also free to pursue another referendum. Von Glahn said he presented paperwork for one the day after the Senate voted for repeal. If supporters gather enough signatures, a similar proposal could end on the ballot in the autumn of 2026.

Von Glahn is optimistic about his possibilities.

“I think that Missouri voters who approved something with 58% support would happen again, probably with greater support, if they are told that politicians took it away [them]? Yes, “he said.” I don’t think it’s a difficult campaign. “