LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The Michigan House of Representatives has now approved legislation that makes big changes to minimum wage and sick pay voter initiatives that were pulled off the fall ballot.
The changes they made are a little different than the Senate modifications and significantly different than the originals.
Republican Representative Mary Whiteford defended the changes to the Sick Time package saying it was bad for business, especially small businesses.
But Democrats hotly contended that the alterations were undemocratic, perhaps illegal and will do little for the citizens they were meant to help.
Kalamazoo Representative Jon Hoadley says the revised bill will actually lower wages by ending an existing requirement that the minimum wage be indexed to the cost of living.
The bills now return to the Senate for a vote on the changes.
Democrats are now calling on theGovernor to abide by the original intent of the bills and veto the altered versions. Rick Snyder will only say he will be reviewing them.
Meanwhile, proponents for the two voter initiatives are talking about legal challenges to the changes and going back to the streets and forcing another vote in 2020, because they don’t want to wait until 2030 to get a raise.
