Tensions were high at a Board of State Canvassers meeting over ballot initiatives to increase the state’s minimum wage and to require employers offer earned sick time.
The board was ready to decide whether to certify the proposals, but an attorney for a business group that opposes the measures told the board a technicality prevented the board from legally voting on it Thursday. So the Board went to recess without a vote until the next day.
Doctor Alicia Renee Farris is with Michigan One Fair Wage. That’s the group behind the initiative to increase the state’s minimum wage. She said, “It’s certainly an effort to run out the clock and to suppress votes and to disenfranchise voters. There’s no other way to look at this.”
Several business groups oppose the measures. They’ve filed challenges with the board against both groups. One of their challenges is that there are problems with the groups’ signatures.
Danielle Atkinson is with the earned sick time proposal. She said she’s confident they have enough valid signatures, and this is something voters want to see on the ballot.
“So that we can ensure that two million people are able to not miss a paycheck when they stay home to get well,” she said.
The board needs to make a decisions in the next few days in order to avoid risking missing deadlines to make the November ballot. The board’s staff recommended it certify both proposals.