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Court rules Michigan lawmakers' adopt and change dirty trick unconstitutional [1]

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Date: 2022-07-21

Republican House Speaker Lee Chatfield, right, and Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel speak in support of newly introduced legislation that would curtail law enforcement's ability to take ownership of seized property in criminal cases, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019, in the House chamber in Lansing, Michigan. (AP Photo/David Eggert)

A few years ago, I signed a petition to increase Michigan’s minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2022. As of this year, the minimum wage in Michigan is $9.87 an hour. Was the proposal defeated at the ballot box? Or maybe it just didn’t get enough signatures to get on the ballot?

What actually happened with that particular petition was that Michigan lawmakers pulled a dirty trick known as “adopt and amend.” Foreseeing that Michigan voters were going to vote for the minimum wage increase, the state’s legislators decided to instead adopt the proposal before the election.

If a petition proposal has already been adopted by the legislature, then there’s no need to put it to the voters in the general election. By adopting a proposal before it goes to the voters, the lawmakers can then almost immediately proceed to water down the proposal or scuttle it altogether.

They can do that under the state constitution. Not so fast. The Michigan Court of Claims ruled a couple of days ago that they actually can’t do that. Colin Jackson for Michigan Radio:

The practice of adopting a ballot initiative into law, then later changing it in the same legislative session, is unconstitutional. That’s according to the Michigan Court of Claims in a ruling that came down late Tuesday afternoon. At issue were two petitions circulated in 2018. One would have raised the minimum wage to $12 an hour — including for tipped employees. The other would have set rates for racking up paid sick time. The Republican-led Legislature passed them itself [as the Earned Sick Time Act and the Improved Workforce Opportunity Act respectively] before they could go before voters. Then lawmakers weakened them during a lame duck-session following the election.

For example, in the case of the minimum wage increase, the legislature watered it down to reach $12.05 by 2030, by which time $15 will buy even less than it does today. Meanwhile, hardly anyone questions whether CEOs deserve what they get paid.

The court ruled that the legislature can’t adopt and amend. In a statement, Attorney General Dana Nessel (D-Michigan) hailed the ruling as a

a victory for the residents of Michigan whose efforts to bring an issue before their elected representatives were wrongly circumvented by the Legislature in 2018. ... As Judge Shapiro noted in his opinion, the constitution ‘grants the Legislature three options to address a law proposed through the initiative process—enact the law, reject the law, or propose an alternative. Article 2, § 9 does not permit the Legislature to adopt a proposed law and, in the same legislative session, substantially amend or repeal it.’ The actions undertaken by the legislature in 2018 denied the will of the people and distorted the purpose of Michigan’s citizens initiative process. This is a victory for Michiganders and for democracy.

If I’m understanding correctly, the versions of the Earned Sick Time Act and the Improved Workforce Opportunity Act as originally adopted by the legislature are now restored, and the versions as amended by the legislature are struck down.

Republicans still have plenty of other dirty tricks left to circumvent the will of the people. Constant vigilance is required.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/21/2111659/-Court-rules-Michigan-lawmakers-adopt-and-change-dirty-trick-unconstitutional

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