2 days ago
Voter referendum of minimum wage law submitted to Michigan canvassers
A supporter signs a One Fair Wage petition in 2022. | Ken Coleman
Updated at 12:25 p.m.
A group seeking to upend a new minimum wage law passed in February submitted a petition for referendum to the Michigan Board of State Canvassers on Wednesday – a move that restaurant groups have called misguided.
Meanwhile, supporters of the proposed referendum submitted by Voters to Stop Pay Cuts said the Michigan Supreme Court upheld 2018 voter-initiated laws to change the state's minimum wage law and that the Michigan Legislature should have let those laws go into effect without meddling with them.
One Fair Wage, which helped to spearhead the movement to change the minimum wage law only to have their attempts circumvented by the Michigan Legislature – twice – in a statement said workers are now prepared to fight the law head on.
'The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that these wage increases should be implemented, yet lawmakers rolled them back before they even took effect,' said Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage, in a statement. 'We're mobilizing to ensure voters – not politicians – have the ultimate say in whether these protections are upheld.'
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In proposed voter referendum language submitted to the Board of State Canvassers on Tuesday, Voters to Stop Pay Cuts said it is seeking to repeal Public Act 1 of 2025, which was born from Senate Bill 8, introduced by state Sen. Kevin Hertel Jr. The Michigan Legislature passed the bill in February and the bill was signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer shortly thereafter.
The act was a compromise with tipped-wage workers and restaurants who foretold doom and gloom if Michigan phased out tipped wages and instituted a more than $12 an hour minimum wage. That was likely without action from the Legislature after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that two voter-initiated laws passed in 2018 should have gone into law as written. The Legislature gutted the 2018 changes to minimum wage, tipped wages and paid sick time in the same session they were passed, which prevented the issues from going before the voters.
It was a controversial move known as 'adopt and amend' because legislators took up the legislation, circumventing voter input, and then amending them in the same session. Organizers who supported the initiatives sued and argued the scheme was unconstitutional. The Michigan Supreme Court's liberal majority agreed and struck down the amended laws in a landmark 4-3 decision. The state's high court also determined that the Legislature had no authority to adopt voter-initiated laws and amend them in the same session.
With that, the laws were set to go into effect in 2025, but a movement supported by tipped wage workers, restaurant and hospitality business owners rallied support to have the Legislature step in and amend the laws – which was now allowed because the appropriate time had passed for the Legislature to amend the laws. Whitmer signed the bill in February.
The resulting Public Act 1 of 2025 set minimum wage $12.48 in 2025, $13.73 in 2026, and $15 an hour starting in 2026. The act also kept tipped wages intact and raised their percentage of hourly wage on a graduated scale up until 2030, much like it did with non-tipped workers' minimum wage.
Voters to Stop Pay Cuts would like that law exorcised from statute, with referendum language arguing that Public Act 1 reduced the minimum wage for tipped workers and changed the way future inflation adjustments for minimum wage increases occurred in the future.
A notice from the board notes a suggested petition summary with explanatory materials is due on June 18. Canvassers plan to meet to discuss the summary on June 27. The deadline for the board to either approve or reject the summary is July 10.
The Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association squarely opposed the effort.
'PA 1 of 2025 represents that rare outcome voters hope for from their elected officials but rarely experience – a true bipartisan solution in the midst of a polarized environment,' said MRLA President and CEO Justin Winslow in a statement. 'This particular diamond in the rough was crafted after extensive input from tens of thousands of Michigan servers, business owners, and community diners ultimately passed by both the Republican-led House and Democratic-led Senate, and signed by Governor Whitmer.'
Winslow called the effort misguided and said Voters to Stop Pay Cuts was just One Fair Wage under a new name. He said suspending Public Act 1 would do nothing but slow the pace toward a $15 minimum wage.
'After six years of legal uncertainty, our industry finally has clarity and a responsible path forward. Michigan's restaurant workers and operators deserve certainty, not the chaos that would result from suspending thoughtful, bipartisan legislation,' Winslow said. 'We urge voters to decline to sign this irresponsible attempt to undermine worker-focused legislation that reflects the voices of actual Michiganders, not out-of-state interests.'
This story was updated to note that the referendum petition language was submitted on Wednesday.
