The Michigan Supreme Court ruled 4-3 on Wednesday, striking down the Michigan Legislature's "adopt and amend" strategy, overruling a lower court's decision.
The majority opinion, which came down on the last day of the Supreme Court session, was written by Justice Elizabeth Welch and joined by Justices Richard Bernstein, Kyra Harris Bolden and Megan Cavanagh.
"Article 2, § 9 of the 1963 Michigan Constitution provides the Legislature with three—and only three—options upon receiving a valid initiative petition. The Legislature may not adopt an initiative petition and then later amend it in the same legislative session; such an act violates the people’s right to propose and enact laws through the initiative process under Const 1963, art 2, § 9," the ruling reads.
WATCH: Previous report about adopt and amend
Arguments were heard on the case in July after the Michigan Court of Appeals overturned a ruling from a lower court judge in 2023.
The appeals court voted 3-0 ruling the state legislature was constitutional in what's known as the adopt and amend rule in Michigan which allows the legislature to take up citizen-led petitions, adopt them, and then pass them before they ever get to a ballot.
The legal battle started in 2018 from One Fair Wage, which sought to allow voters to decide on raising Michigan's minimum wage to $13.03 an hour and tipped worker wages to $11.73 per hour in 2023. Another petition dealt with sick leave.
They had enough signatures to go to the ballot, but the Republican-led Michigan legislature instead adopted both bills, and then amended them later, increasing the minimum wage to $12.05 per hour by 2030. A Court of Claims judge ruled that the adopt and amend policy was unconstitutional, but the Court of Appeals judges ruled that it was legal. The Supreme Court disagreed.
According to the ruling, because the law would have gone into effect 205 days after enactment, it will now go into effect 205 days after July 31, 2024.
That means that the Wage Act and Earned Sick Time Act will go into effect Feb. 21, 2025. Under Michigan's current minimum wage law, the minimum wage is $10.33 per hour and tipped workers earn $3.93 per hour. Now, the minimum wage will go up at least $2 per hour, depending on inflation.
The minimum wage will also continue to go up three years after 2025 based on inflation.
Justices Elizabeth T. Clement, David Viviano and Brian Zahra dissented.
"There is certainly reason to be frustrated by the Legislature’s actions here: enacting laws proposed by initiative 2 petition to avoid ballot approval only to substantially alter them in the same legislative session. But nothing in Article 2, § 9 restricts the Legislature from doing so. And as tempting as it might be to step into the breach, this Court lacks the power to create restrictions out of whole cloth. That power remains with the people, as our Constitution dictates. I therefore dissent. I would have affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeals," Clement wrote in her dissent.
Michigan League for Public Policy President and CEO Monique Stanton released a statement that reads, "We applaud the Michigan Supreme Court for their decision today to rectify this injustice and show their strong support for families, communities and the economy. The ‘adopt and amend’ scheme of the Legislature in 2018 usurped the will of Michigan voters, and this ruling will not only help restore peoples’ faith in the system, it will help lift up families and kids across Michigan."
