LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan election officials have approved the petition form for a group wanting to raise the state’s minimum wage and eliminate a smaller wage paid to tipped employees.
One Fair Wage Michigan — which is led by advocates for restaurant workers — cleared the procedural step Tuesday at the Board of State Canvassers. It needs roughly 252,000 valid voter signatures in a six-month window to submit the proposal to the Republican-led Legislature.
If lawmakers didn’t act, the measure would go to a public vote in 2018.
Michigan’s hourly minimum wage is $8.90 and rises to $9.25 in January. Under the proposal, the wage would rise to $12 by 2022.
The minimum wage for tipped employees would gradually increase from $3.38 until reaching the minimum wage for all other workers in 2024.