Michigan Legislature continues debate on sick time and minimum wage changes
The Michigan Legislature remains locked in a debate over amendments to the Earned Sick Time Act and the state’s Minimum Wage Law as the Feb. 21, 2025, effective date for current legislation quickly approaches. The House and Senate have proposed differing versions of bills addressing these issues, with key disagreements over tipped worker wages, paid sick leave for small businesses, and accrual policies for seasonal and part-time workers.
Minimum wage law amendments
Two bills — Senate Bill 8 and House Bill 4001 — aim to amend Michigan’s minimum wage law. While both bills seek to adjust wage structures, the primary difference between them is how they handle wages for tipped workers. The House version, HB 4001, passed over to the Senate a few weeks ago, but the Senate instead voted on SB 8 this week, which includes different provisions regarding what percentage of the minimum wage tipped workers should earn. The ongoing dispute between the chambers could delay resolution on this issue.
Earned Sick Time Act amendments
Similarly, Senate Bill 15 (SB 15) and House Bill 4002 (HB 4002) propose changes to the Earned Sick Time Act. HB 4002, passed by the House weeks ago, is currently under Senate consideration, while SB 15 remains on the Senate floor after extensive committee discussions. The primary disagreements between these bills center on the number of hours small businesses must provide in paid and unpaid sick leave, as well as the definition of a “small business.” While both chambers have agreed to define small businesses based on employee count, specific thresholds remain unresolved. Additional differences involve how paid sick leave accrues for seasonal and part-time employees.
With one week before the February 21, 2025, effective date, lawmakers face significant pressure to reconcile differences and send final legislation to Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The Governor has suggested that the Legislature pass a bill postponing the effective date to July 2025, allowing more time for debate and potential compromise.
For more information on this topic, contact Deena Bosworth at bosworth@micounties.org.
Podcast 83 reviews ‘disappointing’ budget provisions, new road plan from governor
The governor’s plans for the fiscal 2026 budget and for Michigan roads are the focus of the newest episode of Podcast 83.
“(The governor) proposed a 4 percent increase in revenue sharing (for FY26), but really it wasn’t a 4 percent increase in revenue sharing,” explained Deena Bosworth, MAC’s governmental affairs director. “It was a 3.6 percent increase in the overall amount that we got last year in revenue sharing.
“As a reminder for our members, there was an additional $30 million put into county revenue sharing last year and that went out in a different formula than what we originally were receiving in county revenue sharing. So, there was the base of the $261 million and then an additional $30 million that went out to counties based on an inverse relationship that they have to their taxable value compared to the rest of the state.
“Well, the governor separated those lines, those dollars, out in her budget recommendation this year, and said, we’re only going to give you a 4 percent increase on that $261 million base, and we’re just going to give you that $30 million that you got last year, but we’re not giving any increases on it. … We’re slightly disappointed in that, but also a little disappointed in the fact that she didn’t include the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund, which she didn’t include last year, either.”
In the rest of the budget, Bosworth said, “It was really pretty much flat funding for anything that had anything to do with counties. I mean, there was no increase in any, any of our line items: not county jail reimbursement, not prosecutors, not in the Child Care Fund.”
Later in the episode, Bosworth and host Stephan Currie, MAC executive director, reviewed the governor’s new road proposal, which calls for $3 billion from a variety of sources.
“Some of the proposed new taxes that are being proposed would be Facebook ads, Twitter ads, things like that would be taxed. Amazon delivery fees,” said Currie. “You could see a delivery fee tax that goes towards the roads, covering Uber, Uber Eats, those kind of food deliveries, taxi services, limo services. … In addition, there’s apparently a loophole, which I didn’t know about this until reading about it a little bit today, in the marijuana tax, where there’s not all the marijuana that’s being sold is being properly taxed at the point of sale.”
To view the full episode, recorded on Feb. 10, click here.
Previous episodes can be seen at MAC’s YouTube Channel.
And you always can find details about Podcast 83 on the MAC website.
Staff picks
- Michigan’s minimum wage set to jump,. Here’s how it compares to other states. (MLive)
- State and Local Sales Tax Rates 2025 (Tax Foundation)
- Ohio Chamber emerges as unexpected ally for solar projects (Governing)
- House cats with bird flu could pose a risk to public health (Kaiser Health News)