The Michigan legislature was within its authority to amend two ballot initiatives in 2018, one to significantly raise the minimum wage and the other to greatly expand the availability of paid sick leave to employees, the Michigan Court of Appeals has held. Mothering Justice v. Attorney General, 2023 Mich. App. LEXIS 625 (Mich. Ct. App. Jan. 26, 2023).
In doing so, the Court of Appeals reversed a court of claims decision that would have implemented those initiatives as approved by the voters, beginning in mid-February 2023. Now, the more modest minimum wage increases and paid sick leave changes enacted by the legislature in 2018 will remain in effect.
The court of claims in 2022 held that the state legislature violated the Michigan Constitution when, in 2018, it enacted and, within the same legislative session, amended two ballot initiatives. The first initiative would have significantly raised Michigan’s minimum wage, while the second would have expanded the obligations of employers to provide paid sick leave. As a result, the court of claims voided the amended laws adopted by the legislature and ordered reinstatement of the ballot initiatives as originally presented. (For further details on the events leading to the court of claims decision and the decision itself, see our articles, Michigan Court Voids State’s Minimum Wage and Paid Medical Leave Acts, Creating Compliance Limbo; Order Issuing Changes to Michigan Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave Law Stayed Until...
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