By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – Police and firefighters in Missouri are begging State House leaders to fix a problem in the minimum wage increase that voters approved last year.
Russ Macon, a fire chief in St. Louis County, says the new wage law is costing more money in overtime pay and could result in budget shortfalls.
"Failure to act may result in reduced staffing for many departments, reduced staffing will result in few engine companies, and EMS units able to respond to emergencies," Macon said Tuesday.
A bill that passed the Senate in February has an exemption to the new law that would allow police and firefighters to work more than 40 hours a week without triggering overtime pay.
But the House changed the bill by repealing an annual inflation adjustment and lowering the base pay for tipped workers.
Republican Shannon Cooper says small business owners should have the same exemptions police and firefighters are asking for.
"I'm not willing to solve one group's problem without offering to solve the problem for everybody else.," Cooper said.
The changes are bogging down the bill in the House, raising the possibility it won't pass before the session ends Friday.