(The Center Square) – Over the past few weeks, Michigan lawmakers i have been fighting over changes which will incrementally raise the minimum wage in the state to $15 over the next few years.
Currently set to go into effect Feb. 21, the proposal will also alter the wages for “tip credit” jobs, which allows employees to be hired for less than minimum wage but make tips. The tip credit will be eliminated in stages, just as the minimum wage will be raised incrementally, starting in 2025 and going through 2029.
House Republicans have vowed to “protect restaurant workers,” making it their key issue in the final days of the legislative session. They even went so far as to walk out of session last week, stating they would not return until Democrats are willing to reopen the discussion.
Now, with a few House Democrats also refusing to return to session to vote, the House is at a stalemate without enough lawmakers present to pass any legislation.
Senate Republicans joined in on House Republicans’ calls on Wednesday, urging Senate Democrats to “return to work” and take action.
House Minority Leader Matt Hall, R-Richland Twp., said Republicans are tired of Democrats trying to push through progressive legislation in the last few days of the year.
“The Republican caucus is here for three things,” Hall said. “We’re here to fix the roads. We’re here to protect our restaurant workers in our restaurant industry, which has been ravaged by the Whitmer administration and Democrats during the pandemic.”
He added that Republicans also want to take up legislation to prevent changes on earned sick leave policies statewide, which will require every Michigan business to provide paid sick leave to employees. This policy will also go into effect Feb. 21 and would apply to all employees, including seasonal, part-time, or temporary employees.
“With the sick leave policies, there’s a lot of unattended consequences,” Hall said. “We’re done with it . . . My message to Speaker [Joe] Tate, [D-Detroit], is to put up legislation right now to keep the earned sick leave policies alive and to protect our restaurant workers.”
With no movement on their policy proposals, House Republicans have yet to return to the legislative session. Democrats have pushed back on this move from Republicans, while taking advantage of the last few days before they lose control of the House majority to pass 58 bills.
“Republicans have been skipping work for more than a week,” said the Michigan Democratic Party in a statement. “We may not be surprised, but we’re still disappointed. They need to get back to the Capitol and join Democrats to deliver for Michigan.”
A decision from the Michigan Supreme Court last July is allowing all of these proposals to go into effect.
Hundreds of restaurant workers and business owners have joined Republicans in protesting the minimum wage and sick leave proposals, which they argue will lead to significant job loss. A recent survey found that 82% of Michigan restaurant servers wanted to keep the tipping system in place, while 79% are worried about losing their job if the tip credit were eliminated.
“For months, restaurant servers, bartenders and operators have explained, advocated and pleaded to their elected officials that they did not ask for Michigan to eliminate the tip credit,” said the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association. “Save the tip credit and save 60,000 restaurant jobs from being eliminated.”
The association argues that others have tried to eliminate the tip credit, leading to lost jobs and closed businesses, in an industry which has already been losing jobs throughout 2024.
“Michigan’s restaurant industry is in a far more precarious place than we had anticipated,” said Justin Winslow, president and CEO of the association. “The residual impact of the pandemic has had a long tail, particularly for independent, full-service restaurants, as protracted inflation and workforce challenges have made it exceedingly hard to sustain even a modest profit.”
The changes in the minimum wage and tip credits will force an “industry on the edge” to “plunge headfirst into the abyss” Winslow argued.
Supporters of raising the state’s minimum wage have said it’s been a long-time coming.
“Michigan House Democrats respect the will of the people and support higher wages for workers,” said Tate. “House Republicans don’t want to give workers a raise — when we refused to make that deal, Republicans walked off the job but still got paid. Ironic and not fair to regular, hard-working folks. The GOP plays politics.”
