Michigan Supreme Court mulls legislature’s minimum wage changes
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Michigan Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday morning on a case that could raise the state’s minimum wage to $13 per hour next year.
In 2018, advocates from the group One Fair Wage got enough signatures to put a proposal on the ballot that would have done just that. But before the vote, the Republican-controlled Legislature pre-empted the ballot initiative by passing its own minimum wage increase.
“(One Fair Wage) did all this work,” Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein said Thursday. “They put something on the ballot. They did everything that was required. The Legislature said they were going to take it up, and ultimately it ended the way everyone anticipated.”
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Then, before Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took over, legislators essentially gutted that law, keeping the minimum wage low after all.
The practice is called adopt-and-amend. In July 2022, the state Court of Claims ruled it unconstitutional. The Court of Appeals overturned that decision in January of this year.
The matter is now in the hands of the Michigan Supreme Court, which heard arguments Thursday. If the court says it’s unconstitutional, the state’s minimum wage would rise from $10.10 per hour to $13 per hour next year for both regular and tipped workers.
Bernstein’s questioning signaled an inclination that adopt-and-amend may take away people’s rights.
“When you’re talking about this as it pertains people’s perception, faith, confident and trust in governance, does this scheme, does the practice, does what happened, fit really the general perspective of letting the people have their day?” he asked.
The Michigan Supreme Court is expected to make a ruling sometime next year.
Looming tipped wage increase has restaurant owners on edge
Meanwhile, some in the restaurant industry have raised alarm bells over raising the minimum wage. Mike Karas, the owner of Salt & Pepper Savory Grill and Pub, has said it will increase prices and force the layoffs of workers and even lead to closures.
“I promise you, you will see restaurants go out of business,” Karas said recently. “There’s no way around it.”
Tracy Bolman, a longtime worker at the restaurant, said that increasing the minimum wage would hurt her because she believes she wouldn’t make as much in tips.
“It will give customers a reason not to tip as much because they’ll hear we’re making a wage,” she said. “I think it would hurt once you take taxes out, I think it would actually have an opposite effect.”
Saru Jayaraman, the president of One Fair Wage, said tens of thousands of workers in Michigan left the restaurant industry because of low wages. She argued a higher wage is necessary to help keep the industry afloat.
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Joshua Lunger, the vice president of government affairs for the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, said that the minimum wage increase would have a “significant impact on Michigan’s competitiveness.”
“Small businesses including restaurants and their team members, who have already had to survive COVID, inflation and supply chain issues, would be disproportionately harmed and bear the greatest burdens,” he said.
This isn’t the only legal battle. One Fair Wage is also trying to put a $15 minimum wage proposal on next November’s ballot. The group gathered 610,000 signatures to make that happen, but the Board of State Canvassers was deadlocked in October in a 2-2 vote along party lines over certifying the signatures.
“What are they so afraid of?” Jayaraman said in a recent interview. “Why don’t they want this to go to the voters? It’s because they know this is so overwhelmingly popular in Michigan and across America that if it gets on the ballot, we’re going to win and wages are going to go up. They have been looking every time for technicality to keep this off the ballot.”
One Fair Wage told News 8 it’s appealing the canvassers’ ruling.
“Whether it’s through court process one or court process two, these shenanigans are going to be overcome and wages are going to go up next year,” Jayaraman said.
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