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PRESS RELEASE: Rep. Rowden Files Bill to Ensure Uniform Workplace Standards

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Rep. Caleb Rowden (R-Columbia) filed HB 865 on Thursday aimed at ensuring uniform workplace standards across Missouri. As local municipalities attempt to enact their own wage laws, paid leave ordinances, and mandates on when employers may conduct background checks, private businesses are faced with an uneven and unnecessarily burdensome regulatory framework.

A statewide hodgepodge of regulations would create confusion among employers and put some businesses at a competitive disadvantage. Small businesses attempting to expand would also suffer when forced to comply with multiple, varying regulations. Higher compliance costs would mean higher prices and fewer jobs. Thirteen other states, including neighbors Kansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee have adopted similar rules.

“One aspect of creating a solid, statewide economic development strategy is to create an environment of certainty and stability. Missouri job creators should be confident that they’re building their business on a stable economic foundation,” said Rowden. “HB 865 is designed to provide a uniform environment to foster a more competitive and balanced marketplace. This bill will help protect local business owners from radical activists on city councils who seek to attack job creators and the working middle class families they employ. As a state, we need to confront the reality that wide disparities in these areas hurt Missouri small businesses. Unbalanced regulations drive up costs and shrink the work force in our state.”