GOP-Controlled Legislature Approves Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Leave Proposals
Many Democrats voted ‘no,’ fearing the actions allow Republicans to gut the proposals after the November election.
The state Legislature has approved two proposals that were otherwise headed for the November ballot. The measures, approved on Wednesday, will gradually increase the state’s minimum wage to $12/hour by 2022 and require employers to offer earned paid sick leave.
Groups in favor of the ballot proposals are concerned the Legislature will adopt the proposals – only to effectively gut them later with amendments. Because the Legislature passed the measures instead of the voters, it will only take a simple majority to make changes to the measures later.
If approved by voters, it would have required a three-fourths supermajority vote in each chamber to change the laws.
Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof (R-West Olive) says the plan is not to “gut” the proposals.
“But we’re looking at all the things that would continue Michigan to be on the economic growth path,” he says. “And some of these things are prohibitive.”
Sen. Jim Ananich (D-Flint) is the leader of the Senate Democrats. They voted against the measures, even though they support the policies.
“It’s difficult, there’s no question about it,” he says. “And if I thought they were actually going to raise people’s wages and actually get people paid sick leave, I would be the most strongest champion ever. But when it’s a scam on the voters I have a problem with that, and it’s a scam on workers all across the state.”
Business groups have advocated against the measures saying they’ll hurt the economy.
An attorney for the group behind the minimum wage proposal says the group will sue if the Legislature weakens the proposal later this year.
Zach Gorchow, editor of the Gongwer news service in Lansing, joins Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson to talk about the votes.
Click on the audio player above to hear that conversation.
