Employment & Labor Insider

I've written about the Michigan Paid Medical Leave Act here and here. There was a question about the exact date on which it would take effect, but according to the Detroit News, it is supposed to take effect today.

Moreover, the state's minimum wage will increase from $9.25 an hour to $9.45 an hour, also presumably today.

I've written about the state legislature's "adopt-and-amend" strategy in connection with the Paid Medical Leave Act. According to the News, the same thing was done with the minimum wage law: Legislators in 2018 adopted a voter initiative to increase the minimum wage, moderated it, and passed the moderated version with the blessing of then-Gov. Rick Snyder (R) in the eleventh hour before his term was to expire.

The voters approved an increase in the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2022. Under the version that became law, the minimum wage will increase to $12.05 an hour . . . but not until 2030.

The "adopts-and-amends" of the PMLA and the minimum wage are both under review by Dana Nessel, attorney general in the current administration of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D).

After Attorney General Nessel announced her review in February, the Republican-majority Legislature adopted resolutions asking the state Supreme Court to issue an advisory opinion as to whether the Legislature had the right to "adopt and amend" voter initiatives during the same legislative term in which they were approved by voters.

As yet, the state Supreme Court has not decided whether it will issue an opinion. 

Barring any new action by Attorney General Nessel, the laws will take effect today. But the drama will continue.