© 2024 MICHIGAN PUBLIC
91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids 91.3 Port Huron 89.7 Lansing 91.1 Flint
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

This week in Michigan politics: Minimum wage and Mackinac

Flickr user borman818

In this Week in Michigan Politics, Jack Lessenberry and Christina Shockley discuss the passage of a new minimum-wagebill and the Mackinac Policy Conference.

Minimum wage

Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill yesterday to raise the minimum wage to $9.25 an hour by 2018. It would then rise with inflation. The bill would also set the minimum wage for tipped workers at nearly 40% of the regular minimum wage. Organizers of a petition drive to raise the wage to $10.10 an hour say this won't stop them and they'll turn in petition signatures today.

Republicans say the petition drive is now null and void because the petition drive relates to a law that doesn’t exist anymore. Lessenberry says that the people behind the petition drive will appeal that to the courts.

“My guess is that the odds are against them,” Lessenberry says.

Lessenberry says if the minimum wage petition drive is on the ballot in November, it will bring more Democratic voters to the polls to vote on the matter. That idea is what caused Republican lawmakers to act so fast on passing the minimum wage bill.

Mackinac Policy Conference

The Mackinac Policy Conference is taking place this week. Lessenberry says one of the big focuses of the conference this year is STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education, but the Detroit bankruptcy and the related "grand bargain" as well as road funding are likely to be talked about.

Christina began her career in radio at Michigan Radio while a student at the University of Michigan. She was a producer and researcher for The Todd Mundt Show, and then hosted Weekend Edition.
Related Content