Michigan's minimum wage hike resulting from judge's ruling delayed until February
LANSING – A hike in the state minimum wage resulting from a court ruling that the Legislature violated the constitution in 2018, when it watered down two legislative initiatives, will be delayed until February, the judge who issued the ruling ordered Friday.
Court of Claims Judge Douglas Shapiro said in a two-page order that a stay of his July 19 ruling is not legally justified, but it is still in the public interest to give employers and state agencies time to implement required changes.
On Friday, Shapiro put on hold until Feb. 19 his own ruling, which would restore those initiatives to their initial form. He issued the stay despite the fact he said his ruling is unlikely to be overturned in the interim.
Shapiro ruled July 19 that the Republican Legislature's adopt-and-amend strategy — used on a minimum wage legislative initiative and another for paid sick time — is unconstitutional.
The judge's initial ruling could have major implications for restaurant and bar workers and also for how future legislative initiatives, in which Michigan voters sign petitions to have the Legislature enact laws or send them to the ballot for a public vote, are handled.
In 2018, a petition initiative organized by One Fair Wage sought to allow voters to decide on raising Michigan’s minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2022 and raise the minimum wage for tipped workers to 80% of the standard minimum wage in 2022, 90% in 2023 and ultimately match it in 2024.
But the Legislature that year adopted the legislation and then amended it, putting in lower wage thresholds that increased the minimum wage to $12.05 by 2030 instead of 2022 and kept the tipped minimum wage at 38% of the standard one. The state's current hourly minimum wage is $9.87 and $3.75 for workers who are expected to make up the difference in tips.
In his ruling, Shapiro wrote that the Legislature does not have the power to adopt and amend an initiative in the same legislative session, as it did in 2018. Legislative sessions last two years.
More: Court: Legislature unconstitutionally amended minimum wage, sick time petition initiatives
More: Ruling on Michigan tipped wages could be 'massive, fundamental' change to restaurant industry
"Once the Legislature adopted the Earned Sick Time Act and the Improved Workforce Opportunity Act, it could not amend the laws within the same legislative session," Shapiro wrote in his 25-page opinion.
"To hold otherwise would effectively thwart the power of the People to initiate laws and then vote on those same laws — a power expressly reserved to the people in the Michigan Constitution."
Justin Winslow, president and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association, said Friday that Shapiro "prevented the immediate economic decimation of full-service restaurants" by putting his ruling on hold.
However, "it leaves a teetering industry unsure of its future and incapable of making informed decisions to regain stability," Winslow said. Michigan needs to have a discounted minimum wage for workers who receive tips, as 42 other states do, he said.
Attorney General Dana Nessel applauded the July 19 ruling, but her attorneys quickly appealed and requested a stay. In a filing, state attorneys said Shapiro's ruling should be put on hold until all appeals have been completed as a way of ensuring predictability and stability on the status of the law.
"The Department of Attorney General is divided on this issue by a conflict wall with Attorney General Nessel and staff on one side and a group of attorneys from the department on the other side," said spokeswoman Amber McCann. "The stay was filed by those on the side opposite the attorney general."
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan minimum wage hike from judge's ruling delayed to Feb.
