LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Restaurant and retail associations
denounced raising the minimum wage during a Michigan House committee
hearing Wednesday, clashing with Democratic lawmakers who back an
increase.
The Michigan Restaurant Association, National Federation
of Independent Business and other groups said a wage hike would cut
into businesses’ profits, which could cause closures and layoffs. Many
members said an ongoing ballot drive to up the wage to $10.10 an hour
would be especially "devastating" because it eliminates a separate
payment scale for tipped workers.
"If you could move something
forward so at least it’s a compromise, it’ll be better than that ballot
that’s moving forward. That’s the devastating one for us," said Jim
Holton, MRA chairman and owner of Mountain Town Station Brewing Company
& Steakhouse in Mt. Pleasant.
Restaurateurs said they might
support a revision to the bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Randy
Richardville, R-Monroe, which currently raises the wage to $9.20 from
$7.40 by 2017, and to $3.50 from $2.65 for tipped workers. They urged
House members not to tie the wage to inflation, as it is in the bill.
Richardville’s
bill would allow the minimum wage to rise by up to 4 percent annually
to adjust for inflation starting in October 2017. Democrats say the
measure would limit the need for future legislative action on the issue.
But Rep. Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, said it would discourage economic
growth in Michigan because business owners won’t invest in a state where
wages go up frequently.
Government Operations Committee chair
Rep. Pete Lund, R-Shelby Township, wouldn’t indicate what changes might
be made to the Senate bill before the committee sends it to the full
House. The committee will reconvene at 9 a.m. Thursday, he said.
The Republican-led Senate passed the bill 24-14 with bipartisan support last week.
Democratic
lawmakers advocated for increasing the minimum wage during the hearing,
saying a raise would lift thousands of Michigan residents out of
poverty and an inflation measure would help them stay out.
"The
benefit obviously is allowing people to keep up with the increases that
happen each year, because otherwise we’re just going backward," said
Gilda Jacobs, president of the Michigan League for Public Policy and a
former Democratic state lawmaker.
Richardville designed the bill
to nullify the ballot drive led by the Raise Michigan coalition, which
would amend current law to $10.10 an hour by 2017, including for tipped
workers. His bill would repeal the existing wage law and enact a new
one, making the ballot measure moot.
House Democrats’ dilemma is
whether to vote for a bill that minimum wage advocates say silences
voters. The ballot campaign led by Raise Michigan has collected more
than the 258,000 signatures needed to appear on the November ballot.
Rep.
Rudy Hobbs, D-Southfield, said he leans toward "a very soft yes" vote
on the current bill, but would not support the bill if the committee
removes the inflation measure or lowers the target wage from $9.20.
"We’re
going to have a hard time getting it out of committee in terms of the
way we want to see it as Democrats … and what Republicans have
supported in the Senate," he said.