LANSING — Today, Legislative Republicans passed SB 1175, gutting the citizen-led ballot initiative that was passed into law back in September. In response, state Rep. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) issued the following statement:
“I am incredibly disappointed in today’s action to gut the earned paid sick time law. Michigan workers should not be forced to sacrifice their job security to care for themselves or a sick loved one, yet too many in our state face that impossible decision every day. Leaders in Michigan have long advocated for this commonsense policy that provides Michigan families the freedom to access earned paid sick leave to help keep workers and the public healthy and to help businesses thrive with productive workers. We owe it to the more than 400,000 Michiganders who signed on in support of this policy to stay true to its original intent and do right by working families.
“Delaying the minimum wage increase and weakening the ability of workers to earn paid sick leave are changes that run counter to what an overwhelming majority of voters clearly want and counter to the future for Michigan families we should be building. Moreover, fearmongering that the current laws would hurt Michigan’s economy is irresponsible because it fails to match up with research from other states that shows that businesses indeed benefit from such policies and that, on the whole, workers use paid sick time responsibly."
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