LANSING — Today, the House of Representatives voted on the One Fair Wage and MI Time to Care citizen ballot initiatives, which would increase the minimum wage and guarantee paid sick leave for all, respectively. The proposals passed rather than going to the ballot in November. In response, state Rep. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor) issued the following statement:
“My colleagues and I have consistently advocated for securing strong paychecks and earned paid sick leave for Michigan’s working people, yet our calls to action have been consistently ignored by the House majority—until today. They’re suddenly taking action now not out of some profound change of heart or enlightenment about the real, tangible economic injustices faced by most Michiganders, but out of expedience and to circumvent the democratic process by denying people the ability to vote on these measures. We’ve seen this film before, and we know how it likely ends…but today, we get to also write a different ending. While I support the premise of both proposals today, and I firmly believe that these votes should not have been taken up in the Legislature and instead given to the people to decide, I voted yes on these measures because the economic justice that they provide outweigh the gamesmanship of the legislative majority. They are core issues of economic justice that need to be addressed. In the wake of their passage, I will not stand for the legislative majority modifying these proposals and making them unrecognizable and I will fight to ensure that they stay in-tact."