Michigan House committee advances two bills on minimum wage and sick leave
(CBS DETROIT) — It took two overflow rooms in the House Office Building in Lansing this week to accommodate everyone who wanted to testify.
On Thursday, a House panel advanced two bills that the vast majority of speakers who testified were pushing for.
Since last summer, workers who rely on tips have raised concerns about the impact of losing the tip credit will have on Michiganders.
"It's just going to be awful; it's going to be terrible; it's going to have such a negative effect personally and throughout our economy," said Lana Face, a server who testified in Lansing earlier this week.
House Bills 4001 and 4002 aim to address workers' and businesses' major concerns about the change. Both bills were approved by the Republican-led House Select Committee on Protecting Michigan Employees and Small Businesses on Thursday. The full House will consider the bills and could vote on them as early as next week.
House Bill 4001 protects the tipped wage credit in Michigan, increases the minimum wage to $12 per hour this year, and outlines a slightly slowed-down rate of increase until 2029 — the year the minimum wage is set to reach $15 an hour.
"Fifteen dollars an hour is not going to cut it," said Amy Covert, a server from Jackson, of losing the tip credit. "That's going to put me either working 90 hours a week, never seeing my kids, and never sleeping, or it's going to put me in a corporate job."
House Bill 4002 allows some businesses to be exempt from offering sick time to their workers. If passed, businesses with fewer than 50 employees would not be required to offer sick time. Those with more than 50 employees would be required to offer at least 72 hours annually. At a rally on Thursday, workers with One Fair Wage pushed back against the possible changes.
"It's impossible for us to live," said Endeara, a Michigan worker who did not want to provide her last name. "I don't know what else to say; just help us. Please."
Workers say they hope to see this legislation pass and get the governor's signature before Michigan's minimum wage is set to go up at the end of February.