UPDATE: The article has been updated with comments from Gov. Rick Snyder, Mark Schauer and the Michigan Restaurant Association. LANSING — Michigans minimum wage would increase to $9.25 per hour under a compromise bill approved by the state Legislature on Tuesday. The bill gradually would raise the minimum wage from $7.40 to $9.25 per hour by 2018. The rate for tipped employees, which is currently $2.65, would be 38 percent of the regular minimum wage. That would amount to about $3.51 by 2018. The rates would change each year based on inflation or 3.5 percent, whichever is lower. The bill now heads to Gov. Rick Snyder, who said he plans to sign the bill Tuesday evening. Update: Snyder signed the bill on Tuesday evening. This is something that’s good for Michigan, it’s good for the hardworking people of Michigan, and I believe economically sound in terms of hopefully creating an environment for long-term economic success, Snyder said. The measure received bipartisan support in both chambers, passing the House 76-34 and the Senate 24-12. The votes came one day before the Raise Michigan Coalition plans to submit signatures in support of voter-initiated legislation to increase the regular and tipped wages to $10.10 per hour before indexing the rate to inflation. Its unclear how the Senate bill may impact the initiative since the bill repeals the current minimum wage law that the petition drive is attempting to amend. Democrats heralded the move as a win for workers, while several Republicans offered support as the lesser of two evils compared to the petition drive, which they said would cost the state jobs. I saw $10.10 wrecking our economy; I couldnt stand by and let that happen, said Rep. Jeff Farrington, R-Utica. Do I like this as it came out? It wouldnt have been what I wrote individually, but its a heck of a lot better than what the alternative was. House Minority Leader Tim Greimel, D-Auburn Hills, credited the Raise Michigan Coalition for pushing the Legislature to act. Getting the minimum wage up to $9.25 with indexing to inflation after that is a huge win for Michigan workers, its a big benefit to Michigan families, he said. The bill changed several times since being introduced in the Senate, including a version that passed a House committee earlier Tuesday that would have raised the wage to $8.50 without inflationary increases. Under the House-approved version, the annual increases would not take effect if the states unemployment rate is 8.5 percent or higher. The Raise Michigan Coalition still plans to turn in more than 300,000 signatures to the state on Wednesday. (The bill) really is still just an effort to undermine our campaign and what were really proud of at Raise Michigan is the fact that what we did is pressure a Republican-led Legislature to increase the minimum wage, said Danielle Atkinson, director of Mothering Justice and a member of the Raise Michigan Coalition. Snyder said he doesnt view the legislation as circumventing the will of the voters. He did not have an answer on how it would impact the initiative. The bill is similar to a proposal presented last November by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer. I felt at the time that increasing the minimum wage was a way to help build our economy from the bottom up and the middle out, as opposed to Rick Snyders tax cuts for folks at the top, Schauer said. At that time, Rick Snyder said raising the minimum wage was not a burning issue. It took him six months and the prospect of a ballot proposal to change is mind. I always say, this will give a raise to one million people, which is a great thing. The Michigan Restaurant Association, which staunchly opposed the petition drive and other efforts to raise the tipped wage, praised the Legislature for reaching a compromise. The MRA has made it clear from the beginning that the total elimination of the tipped minimum wage as proposed in the ballot initiative was gross negligence and would result in the closure of countless full-service restaurants – especially independent mom & pop places least capable of absorbing a nearly quadrupling of their labor costs, spokesman Justin Winslow said in a statement. The compromise legislation sustains a 38 percent ratio that will require adjustments by the full-service sector of the industry, but should prevent mass closure of restaurants. MLive reporter Jonathan Oosting contributed to this report.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 02:52:31 +0000
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