JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri House lawmakers have passed a bill to block St. Louis from raising the local minimum wage.
The GOP-led House on Thursday voted 112-46 to send the measure to the Senate.
Republican lawmakers are fast-tracking the legislation to prevent a higher minimum wage from taking effect in St. Louis.
At issue is a Missouri Supreme Court ruling last month to overturn on procedural grounds a 1998 law prohibiting some cities from creating their own minimum wages.
The ruling allowed St. Louis to move forward with a 2015 ordinance to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour this year and to $11 by 2018.
Missouri’s minimum wage is currently $7.70 an hour.
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