The Legislature faces a Friday deadline to make alterations to Michigan’s earned sick leave and minimum wage laws before a state Supreme Court order takes effect. Business groups and some tipped workers are pressing the Legislature for changes to the court-ordered resolution. They say the scheduled hikes in the minimum wage and a lot of the rules surrounding the earned leave policies would pose a hardship for small businesses, public safety agencies and employees who earn tips.
Brad Williams, vice president for political affairs with the Detroit Regional Chamber, told Michigan Public Radio that employers are making plans, but time is growing short.
“The Legislature has been kicking the can, and kicking the can down the road, and the longer the Legislature waits to actually solve this problem, the greater this crisis gets,” he said.
Bills appear poised for passage this week. The Senate has adopted a bill to allow a lower minimum wage for workers who earn tips. The House approved a bill to change some of the sick leave rules and that bill is before a Senate committee.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer said last week that the Legislature should consider adopting the status quo and pushing the deadline to July 1 if it cannot come to a resolution this week.
The controversy dates back to 2018, when the Legislature’s Republican majorities adopted the earned sick leave and minimum wage petition initiatives to keep them from going on the general election ballot. After the election, the GOP majorities altered the initiatives to make them more business-friendly.
The initiative campaigns say they have largely been shut out of the negotiations. Their position is the initiatives should take effect as instructed by the Michigan Supreme Court after a 4-3 ruling that the Legislature skirted the requirements of the state Constitution.
Danielle Atkinson of Mothering Justice is a leader of the earned leave initiative. She told Michigan Public Radio that changing the initiatives at this point is unfair to the campaigns and to the people who would benefit from more generous wage and leave policies. She said any legislative alterations, if they are signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer would not be the final word.
“We’re not ruling anything out and we’re not taking anything off the table,” said Atkinson. “That includes legislation. We are looking at what it would look like to have a ballot initiative.”
Atkinson said she is particularly frustrated with members of the Senate Democratic majority who crossed over to help Republicans adopt the minimum wage bill.
