LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has signed Republican-backed laws to significantly scale back citizen-initiated measures to raise the minimum wage and require paid sick leave for workers.
The term-limited Republican governor's move Friday is sure to prompt a lawsuit over an unprecedented strategy adopted by lame-duck lawmakers.
To prevent the minimum wage and sick time initiatives from going to voters, Republican lawmakers approved them in September so they could be altered after the election. The maneuver is praised by businesses as necessary to protect economic gains but is criticized as an unconstitutional attack on voters' will as Michigan and Wisconsin Republicans are trying to dilute the powers of incoming elected Democrats.
One law slows down a boost in Michigan's minimum wage. The other law exempts smaller businesses from having to provide earned sick days.
