The Michigan House bill is HB 4052.
One might recall Seattle was the first city in the USA to pass a minimum wage of $15.00. Now, Michigan's hostile House is prohibiting communities from doing the same thing.
This is the same bill with few modifications from December when it was tabled in committee. The bill is on it's way to the Michigan House floor for a vote.
May 19, 2015
By Emily Lawler
...The bill is a re-introduction (click here) of a concept first discussed in December, which aimed to ban local communities from stepping into the employee-employer relationship by establishing ordinances for things like mandatory sick leave or wage levels. However, one draft of the bill included language that may have undone local protections for LGBT people....
...To those protesting, the bill looked like a "death star."
"If this bill passes the voices of millions of Michigan voters will be silenced very suddenly. That's why it's a death star," said Erik Shelley, communications coordinator with Michigan United.
After the chanting subsided, the committee went back to taking testimony on the legislation.
Genesee County Commissioner Pegge Adams testified against the bill, saying that local government is more accessible to citizens and the legislation would be a state overreach....
Supposedly, the LGBT language was removed from the bill, but, if the gay community can be spared from oppression, why shouldn't everyone else? The bill should be discarded as a mistake. I don't see how a city can't raise their minimum wage if necessary. Raising the minimum wage is one of the quickest ways to increase the commerce of a city.
This bill isn't interested in the average people and carries with it the idea the state can control cities methods of conducting business. I doubt the cities can even provide reasonable packages to their own employees and new hires. It prohibits Michigan cities from being competitive.
This is the bill's e-page (click here).
It is a really terrible bill. It has to be tested in the courts if it passes. It obviously is intended to oppress the will of the people at the local level. I don't think they can do this. It's pretty outrageous.
I think it is an assault against organized labor. It will be applicable to local government, but, there are implications to organized labor. There are public employees that are members of organized labor. It can most probably be taken to the federal courts through the Labor Relations Board (click here).
One might recall Seattle was the first city in the USA to pass a minimum wage of $15.00. Now, Michigan's hostile House is prohibiting communities from doing the same thing.
This is the same bill with few modifications from December when it was tabled in committee. The bill is on it's way to the Michigan House floor for a vote.
May 19, 2015
By Emily Lawler
...The bill is a re-introduction (click here) of a concept first discussed in December, which aimed to ban local communities from stepping into the employee-employer relationship by establishing ordinances for things like mandatory sick leave or wage levels. However, one draft of the bill included language that may have undone local protections for LGBT people....
...To those protesting, the bill looked like a "death star."
"If this bill passes the voices of millions of Michigan voters will be silenced very suddenly. That's why it's a death star," said Erik Shelley, communications coordinator with Michigan United.
After the chanting subsided, the committee went back to taking testimony on the legislation.
Genesee County Commissioner Pegge Adams testified against the bill, saying that local government is more accessible to citizens and the legislation would be a state overreach....
Supposedly, the LGBT language was removed from the bill, but, if the gay community can be spared from oppression, why shouldn't everyone else? The bill should be discarded as a mistake. I don't see how a city can't raise their minimum wage if necessary. Raising the minimum wage is one of the quickest ways to increase the commerce of a city.
This bill isn't interested in the average people and carries with it the idea the state can control cities methods of conducting business. I doubt the cities can even provide reasonable packages to their own employees and new hires. It prohibits Michigan cities from being competitive.
This is the bill's e-page (click here).
It is a really terrible bill. It has to be tested in the courts if it passes. It obviously is intended to oppress the will of the people at the local level. I don't think they can do this. It's pretty outrageous.
I think it is an assault against organized labor. It will be applicable to local government, but, there are implications to organized labor. There are public employees that are members of organized labor. It can most probably be taken to the federal courts through the Labor Relations Board (click here).
January 22, 2015
Introduced by Rep. Poleski and referred to the Committee on Commerce and Trade
A bill to limit the powers of units of local government to adopt, enforce, or administer certain local mandates for employers; to prohibit local minimum wage, benefit, or leave requirements; to prohibit certain ordinances regulating the development of real property within unites of local government; and to void local requirements that are adopted in violation of this act....
I am concerned this bill might also have applications retroactively.
