Over the two weeks, there has been considerable media coverage of a legislative effort to raise the minimum wage. The increase, introduced by Republicans in the Senate and passed unanimously, was approved last week Tuesday by the Michigan state House by a margin of 73 to 34. Following the support of both legislative chambers, the minimum wage increase is now headed to Governor Jennifer Granholm who supports the bill. The increase of $1.80 an hour to $6.95 an hour in October will be the first increase to the minimum wage in nine years.
However, while the legislative will increase the minimum wage for a variety of workers, it is doing so at the expense of a grassroots ballot initiative that would not only increase the minimum wage in the short term but also index the minimum wage to inflation so that workers earning the minimum wage would get regular raises. Many Republicans and their business counterparts are threatened by this measure, which has the support of labor unions and Democrats, and are concerned that the ballot proposal would increase turnout from low-income voters who traditionally vote Democratic. Organizers with ACORN have also pointed out that the legislative effort will likely confuse voters and possibly impede signature-gathering efforts, a fact that could prevent the inflation-indexed wage from appearing on the ballot in the fall. Similarly, the legislative measure exceeds the ballot initiative’s minimum wage by ten-cents, a fact that puts campaigners in the position of asking people to sign onto a measure that would effectively make the minimum wage lower. This fact has not been lost on Republicans, with Ari Adler, spokesperson for Republican Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema of Wyoming, telling the Associated Press that “if you vote for the ballot initiative in November, you are voting to lower the minimum wage in Michigan.” While Alder’s statement is true in the short term, the legislative increase would only raise the minimum wage to a maximum of $7.40 in 2008 at which point future increases would be unlikely.
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