Activists have turned in petition signatures to raise Michigan’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2017.
As The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Jake Neher reports, that’s despite a new minimum wage law signed by Governor Rick Snyder just one day earlier.
That new law raises Michigan’s minimum wage to $9.25 an hour by 2018. It also repeals the old minimum wage law the Raise Michigan coalition hopes to amend to boost the wage to $10.10 an hour. That provision could make the group’s campaign moot.
Mark Brewer is an attorney for Raise Michigan. He says he doesn’t think so.
“If and when the voters vote ‘yes,’ in our view it raises the minimum wage in this state as set out in these petitions,” he says.
Brewer did not rule out a court battle if state officials try to keep the initiative from moving forward or refuse to enforce a $10.10 an hour minimum wage if it’s approved by voters.