Michigan Senate OKs minimum wage hike to $9.20, killing petition drive
Source: Detroit Free Press
LANSING Despite angry protests from advocates for a minimum wage hike to $10.10 per hour, the Senate passed a hike in the states minimum wage to $9.20 per hour by a vote of 24-14.
The bill, however, also scuttle a petition drive that would raise it to the higher amount.
Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, introduced the bill last week and offered it up for a vote Thursday afternoon. Ten of the 12 Democrats in the Senate joined 16 Republicans in approving the measure. There were no committee hearings on the bill, which would repeal the existing minimum wage law and reinstate it with one that gradually raises the hourly rate from the current level of $7.40 to $9.20 per hour by 2017 and from $2.65 to $3.50 per hour for tipped employees like waitresses and bartenders.
Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20140515/NEWS06/305150133/minimum-wage-protest-Michigan-Legislature