7/20/22 - Michigan Could See Hike In Minimum Wage

A Michigan judge ruled that a pair of laws should be put into effect after all. We could see a $12 an hour minimum wage.

(Lansing) (The Detroit News)  -  A Michigan judge ruled Tuesday that a pair of 2018 voter-initiated laws increasing the minimum wage and instituting paid sick-leave requirements for employers, should be put into effect. 

The decision from Court of Claims Judge Douglas Shapiro potentially puts a $12 an hour minimum wage into effect. The current hourly minimum wage is $9.87. 

Judge Shapiro declared laws that altered the original initiatives and kept off the ballot the original proposals "voided." The original initiatives, which were the result of statewide petition campaigns, "remain in effect," Shapiro wrote.

Tuesday's ruling, which was nearly four years in the making, is expected to face an appeal, through which the sudden changes would likely be delayed. 

Tuesday's developments could have a "crippling effect" on Michigan employers and employees, said Wendy Block, vice president of business advocacy and member engagement for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.

In 2018, Michigan One Fair Wage circulated petitions to have voters consider a proposal to increase the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2022 and tie the rate to inflation.    At the same time, Michigan Time to Care backed a proposal to generally require employers to provide paid sick time to their workers. 

The Legislature adopted the two initiatives before Election Day, preventing the measures from seeing statewide votes.

The moves allowed lawmakers to return after Election Day and change the laws with simple majorities. If voters had approved them, future changes would have required a three-fourths super majority of support from lawmakers. 

Some lawmakers slowed the minimum wage increases, so the minimum wage would climb to $12.05 by 2030, eight years later than under the original proposal, and removed a connection to inflation for future increases.

The lawmakers also altered the sick-leave law, exempting small businesses that collectively employed more than 1 million workers from a policy that initially would have applied to every company.  

"The new laws, therefore, substantially amended the original laws proposed by the voters," Shapiro wrote Tuesday. "The process effectively thwarted the intent of the people and denied them the opportunity to vote on whether they preferred the voter-initiated proposal or the Legislature’s suggested modifications."

The Constitution, Shapiro added, didn't permit the Legislature "to adopt a proposed law and, in the same legislative session, substantially amend or repeal it."

Once the Legislature adopted the original proposals, it "could not amend the laws within the same legislative session," Shapiro said. He added the history and spirit of the state Constitution were violated when lawmakers went back and changed the language of the proposals.

The Michigan House approved the original minimum wage proposal on Sept. 5, 2018, in a vote of 78-28, with support from both Democrats and Republicans. During the lame duck session, on Dec. 4, 2018, it was House Republicans who supported the revised version in a 60-48 vote.

Shapiro was first appointed to the Court of Appeals by former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat. Court of Appeals judges are assigned to the Court of Claims.

In 2018, then-Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, signed the amended laws. He argued they addressed “a number of difficulties for job providers” while still ensuring a minimum wage increase and sick leave benefits for many residents.

On Tuesday, Justin Winslow, president and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association, said his organization is strongly encouraging higher courts to halt Shapiro's ruling "during the inevitable appeals process."

"If this were to be immediately implemented, the chaos it would wreak on the already battered hospitality industry during peak travel season would be almost inconceivable," Winslow said.

Michigan employers are already facing a talent shortage, rising inflation and supply chain chaos, said Block of the state chamber.

"Employees should be equally concerned about the cost pressures this decision will place on businesses and the impact it could have on employee hours and benefits," Block said.

But Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel labeled Shapiro's ruling "a victory for the residents of Michigan whose efforts to bring an issue before their elected representatives were wrongly circumvented by the Legislature in 2018."