Michigan lawmakers introduce bills to slow down minimum wage increases
(CBS DETROIT) — Michigan's minimum wage and access to paid sick days will increase in February 2025, but business owners and tipped workers have called on lawmakers to intervene — and this week, the state Legislature has seen some movement in that direction.
It's a saga that began when the Michigan Supreme Court ruled over the summer to roll back a legislative process called "adopt and amend."
The court's decision means that Michigan's minimum wage will increase next year from $10.33 to $12.48 per hour and gradually increase the tipped minimum wage until it is phased out in 2029.
"It will cost us in excess of $3,000 extra in labor a year, and that's just us," said Chopper Schrauben, a business owner in Portland.
An increase in the cost to pay their workers isn't the only change business owners are facing. Businesses will need to provide sick leave to their workers as well if there are no changes.
Republican state Rep. Graham Filler and Democratic Rep. Nate Shannon are hoping their bill will slow down that transition. The bills would moderate the increase to the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2029 and would preserve the tipped wage structure in Michigan.
Jason Hester, who owns the Starlite Diner in Burton, sees these changes as a threat to small business owners being able to provide for themselves.
"For you know, small mom-and-pop restaurants, all of a sudden they go from being prideful and being able to take care of their kids now they have to get food assistance or rent assistance," he said.
