Michigan Rep. Angela Rigas (R-Caledonia) speaks at a rally asking Michigan lawmakers to preserve tipped wages as the state is set to phase out tipped wages in the next few years on Sept. 18, 2024 | Photo: Anna Liz Nichols
Republicans now in control of the Michigan House are following through on their end-of-year promise to amend soon-to-come changes to Michigan’s minimum wage and sick leave policies by creating a Select Committee on Protecting Michigan Employees and Small Businesses.
On the second day of the new legislative session, where Republicans have reclaimed a majority in the state House by a 58-52 majority, the chamber adopted a resolution Thursday to create the select committee to hear from businesses and workers to work to preserve tipped wages and amend new sick leave requirements.
Michigan Senate hits the ground running, introducing FOIA, minimum wage and sick leave changes
The Michigan Supreme Court determined last summer that the then-GOP-controlled Legislature’s decision in 2018 to adopt citizen-led ballot initiatives to increase minimum wage in Michigan and create sick leave requirements for employers, only to gut the reforms later, was unconstitutional.
The court ordered that reforms sought under the ballot initiatives be implemented including periodically increasing the state’s minimum wage to $15 by the start of 2028 and expanding earned sick time employers have to offer employees. The current changes are set to phase out the tipped wage minimum for a uniform minimum wage.
Since the state Supreme Court’s decision, hundreds of business owners and service industry workers have campaigned lawmakers at the Michigan Capitol building to preserve the tipped wage credit and reverse sick leave changes in the law set to take effect Feb. 21.
Changes include raising minimum wage to $15 by 2028, phasing out the allowance for paying a lower wage for workers who receive tips. Businesses with more than 10 employees would have to allow workers to earn up to 72 hours of paid sick leave annually and businesses would have to offer one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours employees work. Small businesses with less than 10 workers would have to provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave annually and 32 hours of unpaid sick leave.
“There’s a lot of family-owned small businesses across our state that are going to have to close if we don’t fix the sick time issue,” Rep. Bill G. Schuette (R-Midland), who will chair the new committee, said Thursday.
At the end of the previous legislative session in December, House Republicans boycotted session, refusing to come to the floor to vote until the then-Democratic majority took up legislation to amend the tipped wage phase out and sick time reforms. After Detroit Democratic Rep. Karen Whitsett joined Republicans in skipping session, the chamber didn’t have enough members for votes.
The session ended without action on a number of bills that had been priorities for Democrats.
Michiganders in big cities and small towns will be impacted by the state Supreme Court mandated changes if the Legislature doesn’t intervene, Schuette said, small businesses will close down, there will be mass layoffs and the price to do things like go out to eat will skyrocket.
The situation requires urgency, Schuette said, but it’s necessary to ensure that changes made by lawmakers positively impact Michigan’s workers and businesses.
Schuette will lead the committee, joined by eight fellow Republicans: Reps. Ken Borton (R-Gaylord), Pauline Wendzel (R-Watervliet), Matthew Bierlein (R-Vassar), Angela Rigas (R-Caledonia), Kathy Schmaltz (R-Jackson), Jamie Thompson (R-Brownstown Twp.), Parker Fairbairn (R-Harbor Springs) and Ron Robinson (R-Utica City).
Six Democrats will also serve on the committee: Reps. Karen Whitsett (D-Detroit), Peter Herzberg (D-Westland), Tyrone Carter (D-Detroit), Angela Witwer (D-Delta Twp.), Will Snyder (D-Muskegon) and Matt Longjohn (D-Portage).
The first bills introduced in the new session outlining House Republicans’ plans for minimum wage and sick leave were referred to the Select Committee on Protecting Michigan Employees and Small Businesses Thursday. Bills also have been introduced in the Democratic-led Senate impacting the impending changes.
The House GOP plan for minimum wage under HB 4001 would slow down the current trajectory to a $15 minimum wage by the start of 2028 to the start of 2029 and preserve tipped wages keeping it at 38% of minimum wage. HB 4002 would carve down sick leave requirements so that businesses with less than 50 employees would be exempt from rules.
In the Senate, SB 15 would outline that businesses with less than 25 employees would have to provide up to 40 hours of paid leave a year and 30 hours of unpaid leave. The plan would also raise tipped wages to 60% of minimum wage under SB 8 and allow minimum wage to reach $15 by 2027.
As session just kicked off this week, negotiations between the two chambers on plans have not yet taken place, but Schuette said he looks forward to discussions.
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