HEFTY FISCAL NOTE

A joint committee of the General Assembly has added significant new information to the debate over the minimum-wage proposal that will be on the Nov. 5 ballot. The unanimous vote came after deliberations of the State Legislative Oversight Committee. The bipartisan committee's vote last month added the following words to the ballot language in the form of a fiscal note that attempts to inform voters of the cost of the proposal:

"Total state administrative costs will rise in excess of $100,000,000 annually by 2000. Local government costs will rise in excess of $1,000,000 annually. Revenue loss due to job loss may be significant."

The language states the self-evident truth: Jack up Missouri's minimum wage to a highest-in-the-nation $6.25, with annual increases ratcheting it up further from that point, and the increases will cost local and state government untold millions and kill Missouri jobs in the process.

Proponents of the ill-advised initiative aren't pleased with the prospect of this fiscal note's appearance on the ballot to inform voters. The Campaign to Reward Work group that is pushing for passage has filed suit to prevent the fiscal note from appearing on the ballot. The CRW group's suit is before Cole County Circuit Judge Byron Kinder, who promises a hearing soon. Let's hope he keeps the language on the ballot so that voters will know the whole truth about this measure. Even Gov. Mel Carnahan, who signed the petition to qualify it for the ballot, now opposes it as a job-killer. This one will deserve the death Missouri voters give it on Nov. 5.