LANSING — Today, the House of Representatives voted on the MI Time to Care citizen ballot initiative, which would guarantee earned paid sick leave for all. State Rep. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) introduced a bill to provide earned sick time in 2015 and again in 2017, but Republican leadership failed to act on her House Bill 4307. The proposals passed. In response, Rep. Chang issued the following statement:
“For years, my Democratic colleagues and I have been promoting policies that would help working families in our state care for themselves or their sick loved ones without fear of jeopardizing their paychecks. And the activism and hard work of hundreds of thousands of Michiganders joined together on this issue led us to where we are today. Although I would have preferred to send these issues to the ballot in November to let Michigan voters decide, I was nevertheless pleased to vote in favor of this common-sense initiative today. This initiative is sound public policy that will protect public health and improve the lives of working families in Michigan. I will work with the earned paid sick time advocates as hard as I can to hold legislative leaders accountable for maintaining the integrity of this important solution for our families.”
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