With just four weeks left in the 2023 legislative session, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry has identified the top job-killing business mandates under consideration in the General Assembly.
These bills reflect a disregard for the regulatory challenges employers of all sizes face, and the Missouri Chamber is calling on lawmakers to put an end to these job-killing proposals immediately.
Click here to use the Missouri Chamber Legislative Action Center to contact your legislators.
1. Extreme Labeling Requirement
HB 1169 would impose new, extreme labeling requirements on Missouri products, including food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. This anti-science legislation would drive up food prices, set up the potential for massive lawsuits and have a chilling effect on economic development in the state.
2. Workplace Vaccination Mandates
Despite being three years removed from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers continue to disregard Missouri’s free enterprise system in their efforts to mandate workplace vaccination policies. Each of these bills establishes a pathway for job-killing lawsuits against employers with vaccine requirements. The Missouri Chamber’s position is unchanged: Let businesses decide what their vaccination policies should be.
3. Burdensome E-Verify Check
HB 188 would require all employers to use the burdensome federal system known as E-Verify to check the employment eligibility of new hires. It also requires employers to submit legal immigrant employees’ information to a Dept. of Labor and Industrial Relations database that would be created by this bill, and it establishes a new Class D felony for instances of non-compliance. The Missouri Chamber believes all employers should follow federal immigration laws, but the method of verification should be up to individual employers.
4. Government Overreach into Private Companies’ DEI Activities
Rep. Richey’s language bans state government spending on staff, vendors, consultants and programs associated with diversity, equity and inclusion. If passed, this will bring Missouri’s government to a grinding halt. The language threatens a countless number of existing state contracts with private sector companies that provide vital services for Missourians.
If you have questions on the Missouri Chamber position on these bills, please contact a member of our governmental affairs team:
Kara Corches, Vice President of Governmental Affairs, kcorches@mochamber.com
Phillip Arnzen, Director of Legislative Affairs, parnzen@mochamber.com
Heidi Geisbuhler Sutherland, Director of Legislative Affairs, hsutherland@mochamber.com
