Michigan Senate passes compromise legislation on tipped wages
Michigan Senate passes compromise legislation to avert a court-ordered change to the state's minimum wage law. Feb. 13, 2025. Screenshot
As sweeping changes to Michigan's minimum wage and earned sick time standards, which pose concerns in the restaurant industry, are set to take effect next week, the state Senate found a compromise on Thursday to preserve tipped wages.
It's one piece to the puzzle, but after days of testimony and frequent rallies at the Capitol Building by members of the service industry asking lawmakers to intercede, supporters of the Senate's tipped wage compromise say coming to an agreement in Michigan's politically divided legislature is vital to save restaurants across the state.
'I've heard loud and clear from the people across my district, whether they are small business owners, whether they are waitresses, waiters, bartenders, that this was going to impact them in a negative way, and they wanted something to change here,' Sen. Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores) told media after session, addressing the changes to Michigan's law to take effect on Feb. 21 unless the legislature finishes a deal.
After the state legislature in 2018 adopted provisions in ballot efforts that would've raised minimum wage to $15, phased out sub-minimum tipped wages and set standards for required sick leave for employees, they watered them down after the election in a move the state Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional last summer. The court's decision mandated that the changes in the ballot efforts be implemented, but lawmakers have the opportunity to pass different policies, allowing hours of testimony to get insights from business owners and employees in Michigan.
Republicans in both chambers have been vocal in their support of maintaining Michigan's tipped wage offered to servers and bartenders, set at 38% of minimum wage, which hundreds of service industry professionals have rallied at the Capitol to support as many say they make far more with the current tipping system than they would at minimum wage.
After Senate Democrats had proposed gradually raising tipped wages to 60% whereas House Republicans favored maintaining 38% of minimum wage, lawmakers met in the middle with Senate Bill 8, which raises tipped wages to 50% by 2031.
It passed 20-12, with five Senators excused.
It's not a comfortable compromise, Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Township) told media after the vote on the legislation, but it was one that he said Republicans carried to the finish line as Democrats, who hold the majority in Senate only supplied 8 of the yes votes, while 12 Republicans gave the bill their support.
'Senate Republicans took the lead, and we're going to continue to protect hard working small business owners,' Nesbitt said. 'Today we're saying 'small business owners, Senate Republicans are going to have your back. Hard working folks in the hospitality industry, Senate Republicans have your back'.'
The eight Democrats who voted for the bill included Hertel, as well as Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids), and Sens. Sam Singh (D-East Lansing), Veronica Kleinfelt (D-Eastpointe), Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield), Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia), Sue Shink (D-Northfield Twp.), and Paul Wojno (D-Warren).
Senate Bill 8, which also allows minimum wage to reach $15 by 2027, two years faster than the plan the Republican-led House has passed, presents the clearest path to passage with House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) applauding the Senate's actions Thursday.
'Tonight's vote is a step in the right direction, but Michigan workers can't afford more delays,' Hall said in a news release Thursday. 'I put forward a sick time benefits plan that works for everyone — now it's time for Senate Democrats to do their part. The deal is on the table, and we can get this done now.'
However, not everyone was happy with the deal. Saru Jayaraman, President of One Fair Wage, called the bill a deliberate effort to strip money from the pockets of Michigan's lowest-paid workers.
'This is a blatant PAY CUT and betrayal of working people, and Michigan workers will remember exactly who stood with them and who sold them out and cut their wages. After an election cycle where workers made it abundantly clear that politicians must stand with them, we applaud the majority of Senate Democrats who listened to working people, and condemn the eight Senate Democrats who still chose to side with Republicans and corporate lobbyists to strip wages from the lowest-paid people in this state,' said Jayaraman. 'What does it even mean to be a Democrat if you vote to gut a minimum wage increase that was won in the courts and was just days away from taking effect? These senators have made their choice—now they will have to answer for it.'
Changes to minimum and tipped wages will still have to get both chambers' approval and lawmakers are still in negotiations on sick time policies.
The House's plan would exempt businesses with less than 50 employees from the sick leave law, while the Senate's plan would place different requirements for sick leave for businesses with fewer than 25 individuals than for businesses with 25 or more employees.
Both Nesbitt and Hertel told media members that the bipartisan nature of the minimum wage compromise bodes well for coming to an agreement next week on sick leave, but it will take a lot of conversations and work to cross the steep partisan divides in Lansing for the common good.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Post
33 minutes ago
- New York Post
Congress to grill Kathy Hochul on NY sanctuary laws — and local GOP offers spicy advice over what questions they should ask
ALBANY – State Republican lawmakers offered advice to their congressional counterparts ahead of Gov. Kathy Hochul testimony on Thursday over sanctuary policies – outlining a list of questions to fling at the Democrat. The GOP legislators sent a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer ahead of Hochul's trip to Washington, DC where she'll be grilled by a congressional panel on the Empire State's sanctuary laws. 'Governor Hochul's sanctuary state policies have played a direct role in the ongoing migrant crisis throughout our state, despite bipartisan concern including repeated warnings from New York City Mayor Eric Adams,' Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (R-Staten Island) wrote in the letter, cosigned by various other New York GOP lawmakers. Advertisement 'We believe that Governor Hochul must be held accountable for her failure to reverse the state's sanctuary policies and recklessness with taxpayer dollars,' Tannousis continued. Gov. Kathy Hochul is set to testify on capitol hill Thursday on New York's sanctuary city laws and its handling of the influx of migrants. Hochul is voluntarily appearing before the House committee on Capitol Hill and will testify alongside Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Advertisement In their letter, the Republican state lawmakers ask the House Republicans to ask Hochul to outline: Why New York continued to accept migrants during the height of the crisis The vetting process for migrants and concerns about public safety A shady $432 million no-bid contract awarded to DocGo to help mitigate the crisis Her justification for roughly $4 billion the state has spent dealing with migrants Why some municipalities weren't reimbursed with costs associated with the migrants Tannousis said he wants the House Oversight committee to follow through after Hochul's testimony to deliver 'accountability.' The governor has tried to navigate a vague middle ground when it comes to the state's sanctuary policy, which is still based on a 2017 executive order issued by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo who is now running for mayor of New York City. Advertisement Assemblyman Michael Tannousis and other Albany Republicans wrote a letter to the House panel suggesting areas where they should hammer Hochul. Michael McWeeney Hochul had promised specifics and clarity over her guidance on how New York would work with federal immigration authorities. Instead, her office only provided a list of four broad categories of situations that would trigger state law enforcement to work with the feds, such as if ICE has a judicial warrant or when relevant to investigating another crime committed in New York. Hochul had previously said she was 'happy to go down' to DC for the hearing. 'I'll tell them our policy in the state of New York is not to use state resources, our state police, to enforce the civil infractions,' Hochul said earlier this year.


Washington Post
37 minutes ago
- Washington Post
DNC votes to redo vice chair elections, dealing a blow to David Hogg
The Democratic National Committee has voted to hold new elections for two leadership positions, dealing a blow to DNC Vice Chair David Hogg that could lead to his removal after months of internal turmoil. In a 294-99 vote that concluded Wednesday, DNC members agreed to move forward with redoing the contest earlier this year that elected Hogg and another Democrat, Malcolm Kenyatta, as vice chairs. The DNC will now vote from Thursday through Saturday — and then Sunday through Tuesday — to fill the two slots, which both men can seek again.


New York Post
38 minutes ago
- New York Post
Democrats are in the polling dumps — fighting America on this key demand
The Democratic Party has never been more unpopular — yet no Democrat seems to understand why. Some say they're not fighting President Donald Trump hard enough. Others say they aren't messaging their agenda well enough. In reality, they're fighting too hard for an agenda that Americans reject, with a central demand of welfare for all. Thirty-two years after President Bill Clinton promised to 'end welfare as we know it,' no idea unifies the Democratic Party more than the belief that welfare should be never-ending. This vision of government dependency spurred their most notable policies of recent years, and explains their intransigent opposition to Republican reforms. While some Democrats show an increasing willingness to compromise on other leftist priorities, such as biological men in women's sports, the party brooks no dissent on welfare — even though Americans want to fix the system's many failures. Consider the ongoing federal budget battle. House Republicans have put together a reconciliation bill that would slow the rate of Medicaid growth — from a projected 59.6% increase to 40% — over the next decade. Democrats oppose even that, including GOP attempts to end waste, fraud and abuse. Yet the latest federal data show that 22% of Medicaid payments and 12% of food-stamp payments went to ineligible recipients. More than 70% of likely voters want to protect taxpayers from fraud and abuse, polls show, yet Democrats essentially deny there's a problem that needs to be solved. In fact, when the Trump administration proposed a rule in March to end $11 billion in improper ObamaCare subsidies — aiming solely to curtail fraud — Democrats immediately opposed it. Democrats are just as adamant when it comes to work requirements for welfare recipients. My organization, the Foundation for Government Accountability, recently found that six in 10 able-bodied adults on Medicaid don't work at all, hoovering up resources that would benefit the truly vulnerable. When voters in purple Wisconsin were asked two years ago if welfare recipients should work as a condition of receiving benefits, nearly 80% said yes — but national Democrats now say no. They also reject Republican attempts to block Medicaid payments for illegal immigrants, which would save billions of dollars over the next decade. More than 70% of voters don't want illegal immigrants to receive government benefits, yet Democrats bizarrely disagree. But it's not just Congress; Democrats are striking the same strange tune in state capitols. Over the past 10 years, virtually all Republican-led states have taken steps to purge waste, fraud and abuse from welfare programs. By contrast, Democrat-run states have expanded illegal immigrants' access to Medicaid and pushed able-bodied adults onto welfare programs. In recent months, Democratic governors in Kansas and Arizona have vetoed Republican bills that would ban food-stamp purchases of soda and junk food — a reform that could lower state and federal Medicaid spending and encourage healthier choices. Democrats have a long history of supporting restrictions on consumers' options, but as soon as welfare enters the picture, they oppose it. Apparently limiting freedom is fine by them, but limiting federal welfare is unthinkable. The left's unwillingness to support even modest welfare reforms reflects the reality that government dependency is the biggest thing Democrats now offer Americans — even beyond limitless immigration and the Green New Deal. The Affordable Care Act, the central achievement of Barack Obama's presidency, dramatically expanded Medicaid while creating a new welfare system for the individual health-insurance market. Joe Biden enacted a work-destroying child tax credit and sought perpetual expansions of Medicaid and food stamps under the guise of pandemic relief. A slew of Biden regulations made it easier for people to abuse the taxpayer's generosity, from Medicaid to food stamps to free school lunches for rich kids. Democrats' end goal is clear: Get every American on the dole. Yet insisting that government dependency is always the answer means Democrats can't publicly admit that seemingly infinite welfare has any shortcomings. In fact, the left's agenda of welfare-for-all is profoundly harmful, and voters know it. Democrats have built a welfare system that taxpayers can't afford while pushing millions of people out of the workforce — a dual assault on the economic growth. They've left fewer resources for disabled children and the elderly by prioritizing able-bodied adults and illegal immigrants. And they're corrupting the foundational American belief that welfare is temporary assistance whose recipients should work to get back on their feet. No wonder Democrats are so unpopular: They're fleecing taxpayers, crippling the economy, hurting the truly needy and giving handouts to those who don't deserve them — none of which has Americans' support. The first Democrat who wakes up on welfare will be the hero their party desperately needs. Hayden Dublois is data and analytics director at the Foundation for Government Accountability.