LANSING (WWJ/AP) - The Michigan Supreme Court will hear arguments in July related to minimum wage and paid sick time legislation.
The House of Representatives and Senate have asked for an opinion on the constitutionality of two public acts related to the two issues.
The Republican-controlled Legislature in September approved legislation related to the minimum wage and paid sick time to keep the questions off the November ballot, but then amended the legislation during the lame duck session at the end of last year.
Lawmakers approved an increase in the minimum wage to $12 by 2022, but returned after the election and changed it to $12.05 by 2030. Lawmakers also approved a paid sick-leave law and then scaled it back. Gov. Rick Snyder signed both.
The issue is whether the Legislature's shift was legal after citizens submitted enough petition signatures to get the wage question on the ballot. Another question the justices will determine is if lawmakers can put an initiative petition into law and then change it during the same legislative session.
Under Michigan's new minimum wage law, the state's minimum wage will increase a little bit each year, to $9.65 in 2020 and $9.87 in 2021, eventually reaching $12.05 by 2030 (topping out at $4.58 per hour for tipped workers). The increase falls short of what was proposed by citizen-initiated ballot drives, which called for $10 this year and $12 by 2022. The new law also reverses a provision that would have raised the minimum wage for tipped employees to the level of other workers.
The other new law exempts employers with fewer than 50 employees from having to provide paid sick days -- a change that is estimated to leave up to 1 million employees without the benefit. It also limits the amount of annual mandatory leave at larger employers to 40 hours, instead of 72 hours as proposed by the initiative.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments on July 17. Separately, Michigan's Attorney General is also reviewing the changes.