By Maria Hickey, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – A campaign to get Missouri voters behind a minimum wage increase kicked off Tuesday.
A coalition of labor, community and faith leaders turned more than $200,000 signatures into the state to get the issue on the November ballot.
The initiative asks Missourians to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.50 an hour.
State Representative John Bowman introduced similar legislation last session that never made it out of committee. He says he's confident Missouri voters will pass the initiative.
"I think Missourians will recognized that $10,712 a year is no where near enough for a person to live off of, so I strongly believe that we will get support from voters this year," Bowman said.
Nineteen other states have increased the minimum wage above the federal level including Illinois.
The Secretary of State still must certify the signatures before the issue will officially be on the ballot this fall.