Michigan lawmakers reach agreement on paid sick time ahead of Friday deadline

The Brief
Lawmakers in Lansing approved an amended bill on statewide earned sick leave.
The bill was tie-barred with a minimum wage bill that was approved by lawmakers on Wednesday.
The bill was approved less than two hours from the approaching deadline.
LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) - The Michigan Senate reached a deal on a statewide earned sick leave policy before the Friday deadline.
In a statement from the Michigan Senate Chamber, lawmakers approved an amended paid sick leave policy. They credited strong cooperation between both sides of the legislature to reach an agreement 72 minutes before the approaching deadline.
This bill was tie-barred with a minimum wage bill that was approved by the house on Wednesday and the Senate last week.
"Michiganders should be able to care for themselves and their loved ones when they are sick without fear of jeopardizing their wages or losing their jobs," said Sen. Sam Singh. "This legislation was thoughtfully crafted from extensive discussions held with workers and businesses alike and significantly improves earned sick leave access and Michigan's national standing in providing it."
Dig deeper
Lawmakers say the amended bill, HB 4002, would guarantee access to earned sick time for workers by requiring larger businesses to provide a minimum of 72 hours of earned sick time to full-time employees.
"Emergencies and illnesses are a part of life, and our core mission with this legislation is to help Michiganders sleep at night knowing that there is a reasonable amount of cushion for them when the unpredictable happens," said Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks. "This bill is informed by the people of Michigan and negotiated in good faith across bipartisan lines, and in years to come, other states will be modeling their own laws on what we passed today."
The bill now moves back to the House for final concurrence before heading to Governor Gretchen Whitmer's desk for her signature.
The backstory
On Wednesday, the Michigan House of Representatives approved a scaled-back version of the state's incoming tipped wage law, which reduces the increase that restaurant workers would earn while speeding up an increase to the minimum wage.
Meanwhile, the Michigan Senate passed the same bill last week following negotiations between Republican and Democratic lawmakers, hoping to address concerns from small businesses who are concerned the wage hike could force them to close.
The bill, SB 8, amends a law that was scheduled to go into effect on Friday, Feb. 21. Instead of the minimum tipped wage rate being 48% of Michigan's minimum wage, it would be 38% of the minimum wage.
SB 8 pushes an upcoming minimum wage hike to next year, with plans for it to reach $15 by 2027 - a year earlier than planned. The increased minimum wage scheduled for Friday is $12.48 an hour.
However, the bill also reduces the amount a worker who makes tips can earn. Instead of reaching 100% of the minimum wage by 2030, tipped workers would receive 50% of the minimum wage by 2031.
Timeline
The amended law includes the following schedule increase for minimum tipped wages:
Jan. 1, 2026 – 40% of minimum wage
Jan. 1, 2027 - 42% of minimum wage
Jan. 1, 2028 - 44% of minimum wage
Jan. 1, 2029 - 46% of minimum wage
Jan. 1 2030 - 48% of minimum wage
Jan. 1, 2031 - 50% of minimum wage
The amendment also changes the schedule of minimum wage increases:
Feb. 21, 2025 - $12.48
Jan. 1, 2026 - $13.73
Jan. 1, 2027 - $15
Big picture view
In 2018, a ballot proposal that called for raising Michigan's minimum wage was set to go before voters.
However, the Republican-majority legislature decided that instead of allowing the initiative to go on the midterm ballot in November, it would directly adopt the proposal into law.
Then, during the lame duck session - the period of time after election day but before the new governing session took effect - the legislature watered down the proposal.
The decision was the subject of a legal case that took years to move through the court system. Eventually, the Democratic-led high court ruled the decision was unconstitutional.
The Source
FOX 2 used information from a press release by Michigan lawmakers in Lansing, and from previous stories.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

New York Post

18 minutes ago

• New York Post

Bill Maher says Dems need to ‘do something' about ‘The View' after Whoopi Goldberg's Iran comments

'Real Time' host Bill Maher and Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, hammered Whoopi Goldberg and 'The View' on Friday after the co-host claimed that life for Black Americans is equivalent to women living under Iran's oppressive theocratic regime. Maher claimed that Democrats took a step 'back to sanity' after The New York Times took a more 'sensible liberal, not crazy woke' position on transgender issues. He then asserted that the second step Democrats should take is to 'do something about 'The View'' after Goldberg's comment comparing life for Black Americans to living under Iran's brutal regime. Goldberg sparked backlash during a heated argument with her fellow 'The View' co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin on Wednesday. Griffin elaborated on the many human rights violations perpetrated by the Ayatollah's regime in Iran, including executions of gay people and imprisonment of women who go outside with their hair uncovered. 'Let's not do that, because if we start with that, we have been known in this country to tie gay folks to the car. Listen, I'm sorry, they used to just keep hanging Black people,' Goldberg insisted as Griffin pushed back and said the situations weren't comparable. 3 Maher claimed that Democrats took a step 'back to sanity' after The New York Times took a more 'sensible liberal, not crazy woke' position on transgender issues. FOX News Hunt shot down Whoopi's assessment of life in America for Black people, noting the success he's found in the United States as a Black man. 'My district in the great state of Texas is actually a white majority district that President Trump would have won by 25 points. As I said, I'm a direct descendant of a slave, my great-great-grandfather, who was born on Rosedown Plantation. I am literally being judged not by the color of my skin but by the content of my character,' he explained. Hunt continued, adding, 'That's the progress because — like a lot of white people had to vote for me — a lot. So I don't ever want to hear Whoopi Goldberg's conversation about how it's worse to be black in America right now.' 3 Whoopi Goldberg and Alyssa Farah Griffin on life in the US and Iran The View, June 18, 2025. ABC 3 Hunt shot down Whoopi's assessment of life in America for Black people, noting the success he's found in the United States as a Black man. FOX News The Texas congressman also pointed out that his father, who grew up under Jim Crow, is now the father of a United States congressman in a white majority district who ran as a Republican. 'That's America,' Hunt stated. CNN Contributor Paul Begala brought up the fact that America has a holiday to celebrate the freedom of Black Americans from slavery — Juneteenth — but questioned why President Donald Trump 'doesn't want to honor' the occasion. 'I don't want it,' Hunt replied. 'I don't want Black History Month. I don't want all these days to make everybody feel special. I'm an '80s baby. Everybody's too sensitive anyway. We're all Americans anyway.'

New York Post

33 minutes ago

• New York Post

New Yorker dresses as ‘washed up scum' Andrew Cuomo in Mermaid Parade

A man dressed as a bizzare depiction of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo showed up to march in the Coney Island Mermaid Parade Saturday — with a special plea for his fellow New Yorkers. 'I'm trying to get reelected on Tuesday and I thought I'd bring my message to the voters,' the man who only called himself 'washed up scum,' sarcastically told The Post. 3 The man dressed as Andrew Cuomo in the Mermaid Parade insisted people call him 'washed up scum.' Samantha Olander The costume was complete with messy green strings to represent algae the former Governor would have encountered as he washed up on the shore, a torn-up dress shirt — and Cuomo's oversized head. On his backside, the man had a sign that read 'don't rank me,' a reference to the Big Apple's ranked choice voting, where electors place up to five mayoral candidates in order of preference. 3 Voters in NYC can rank up to five candidates in order of preference for the mayoral election. Samantha Olander 'I made the state fill up with as much scum as I could when I was governor and I'd like to do that to the city,' the mystery man said, adding it was his first mermaid parade. Cuomo is the frontrunner heading into Tuesday's Democratic mayoral primary, though surging socialist Zohran Mamdani has been making up ground — cutting the ex-lawmaker's lead in half from just a month ago. The Ex-Governor is ahead 55% to 45% against Mamdani in the latest poll released Wednesday. The heated NYC Democratic mayoral primary has lit a fire under Big Apple voters — twice the number of New Yorkers are turning out for early voting compared to four years ago, data from the city Board of Elections shows. 3 Cuomo resigned as New York Governor in disgrace in 2021. Stephen Yang

CNBC

2 hours ago

• CNBC

Republican Party has nearly five times more cash on hand than the Democrats

The Republican National Committee has almost five times the cash on hand as its Democratic counterpart, as Democrats seek to regain their footing following a disappointing 2024 cycle. The RNC reported having $72 million on hand at the end of May, compared to just $15 million for the DNC, according to campaign filings out Friday. While the RNC has for months held a cash advantage over the Democratic National Committee, the $57 million gap is the widest disparity between the two parties since at least July 2020, according to California Target Book's Rob Pyers. It's still early, but the GOP's cash edge could give the party an early boost as it looks to build out campaign infrastructure ahead of next year's midterms. "The single most important thing the DNC can and should be doing right now is raising money," Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod told CNBC. The filings come as the DNC has faced internal tension since President Donald Trump's return to the White House. Earlier this month, leaders of two large labor unions each declined their nominations to continue serving on the committee, dealing a blow to Chair Ken Martin. Martin has also overseen internal divisions over ex-DNC Vice Chair David Hogg's bid to challenge sitting Democratic incumbents. Hogg stepped down from his role earlier this month amid backlash. Some Democrats say that the fundraising gap underscores deeper concerns within the party. "The base of the party and donors alike do not have confidence in the direction of the party," said Cooper Teboe, a Democratic strategist in Silicon Valley. Teboe said that the party has not presented "a positive, inspiring vision." The DNC, however, points to a surge in grassroots support. The party says it raised roughly $40 million in individual donations since Martin became chair in February, a record for that four-month period. The contributions go to a range of areas, according to the DNC, including "building up critical infrastructure from tech to organizing to in-state investments for critical, target races." "This is only the start, but it's a record-setting start that allows Democrats to meaningfully invest in every part of the country," Martin said in a statement. The DNC's war chest is roughly double what it held during the same period in 2017, suggesting there is time for them to catch up. "The goals Chair Martin has set out — investing in all 50 states and building the state of-the-art infrastructure necessary to win back the White House in 2028 — are ambitious and necessary, but they can only be achieved by raising money," Elrod said. Looking ahead, Teboe said that Democrats may be successful in next year's midterms "as a reaction to Trump's overreach but it will take a new generation of voices to get the party out of this mess." "Those voices will emerge in the 2028 primary and we will have the chance to rebuild a stronger Democratic Party outside of the influence of the old guard that seems incapable of understanding what motivates normal Americans," he said. The Republicans' money advantage comes after a 2024 election cycle during which Tesla founder Elon Musk poured nearly $300 million into helping elect Republicans. Musk's surge of donations to help elect Trump certainly took some pressure off the rest of the party's fundraising apparatus. It's unclear what the RNC might have decided to pay for last year's elections, were it not for Musk's millions. Musk last month said that he was going to do "a lot less" political spending in the future. It's also unclear how Trump will use the millions he has raised in a group of PACs since he won the November election. Should Trump choose to donate to Republican candidates and get out the vote efforts next year, the RNC could again find itself under less pressure to shell out cash than the DNC. But Trump's financial support has traditionally not been geared towards helping the party at large. Rather, Trump has contributed relatively small amounts to help elect his closest allies. He has also played a significant role in Republican primary races, endorsing MAGA candidates who, in some cases, have struggled to win the backing of moderate Republicans and independent voters.