Wednesday Rep. Martha Stevens (D-46) and Rep. Kip Kendrick (D-45), both from Columbia, along with organizing director of Missouri Jobs with Justice Justin Stein, spoke briefly downtown about efforts across Missouri to create a liveable minimum wage.
Raise Up Missouri is a ballot measure written to gradually increase the current minimum wage gradually from $7.70 to $12.00 by 2023. A fundraiser to help cover the high costs of putting this measure on November 2018 ballots was held at Cafe Berlin, 220 N 10th St. The dozens of attendees varied from parents of young children to high schoolers getting involved in local politics.
“I decided to go to [the Raise Up Missouri fundraiser] because I wasn’t really sure of how they were going to raise the minimum wage,” freshman Kierra Pilot said. “I went so I could see how they would [raise minimum wage] and so I could be aware of what’s going on in my state.”
Senator Stevens is hopeful she will inspire young people to involve themselves in local affairs.
“I think a lot of [getting young people involved] is about educating folks about issues that are going on [and] trying to provide different opportunities for folks to get involved in issues that they care about,” she said. “Maybe they want to get more involved in local politics so talking about different campaigns that they can be a part of [is helpful].”
She believes young people “have volunteer capacity” and believes teenagers should participate in their local politics, hoping that they continue later “down the road.”
As a staff member of the Missouri community groups’ association that advocates for justice on a social and economic level, Stein cited the longevity of most major legislation as an incentive for youth involvement in policy at all levels.
“We’re not just talking about what happens in November of 2018,” Stein said. “We’re talking about what happens over the next 10 years, in terms of what happens in Missouri, what our state actually looks like, and what sorts of policies we put in place.”
Sen. Kendrick agrees, saying younger generations will bear the brunt of current congressional failure to tackle impactful, pressing concerns.
“One of the things that scares me about politics and inaction in Washington D.C. and poor policy being passed here in the state is that we are ignoring some of the major issues [that affect younger generations],” he said “… We continue to ignore [them] and pass on a mess, unfortunately.”