On Wednesday, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer filed an amicus brief with the Michigan Supreme Court opposing the Legislature's "adopt and amend" maneuver, which stymied two petition drives to increase Michigan's minimum wage and require employers to provide sick time, on the grounds that the Legislature's actions violated the Michigan Constitution.
"Michiganders turned out in historic numbers to get minimum wage and paid sick leave on the ballot, and we need to respect their wishes," Whitmer said. "Every person should be able to trust that their elected officials have their best interests in mind, which is why we must end the unconstitutional games that the Legislature has been playing with voters. Today's filing gets us one step closer to restoring the public's trust in state government."
In 2018, hundreds of thousands of registered voters in Michigan signed petitions to place two proposals on the ballot. The two proposals, Michigan One Fair Wage and MI Time To Care, would have raised Michigan's minimum wage and required employers to provide workers with one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, respectively.
However, rather than allowing voters to weigh in on the proposals, the Republican-controlled Legislature enacted the proposals into law to keep them off the ballot and then, soon thereafter, amended them significantly to weaken their requirements.
Whitmer's amicus brief concurs with Attorney General Dana Nessel's position that this "adopt and amend" maneuver is unconstitutional because it removes the people's power to propose and enact statutes through public initiative.
In addition, the Department of Attorney General filed a brief, late Wednesday, opposing the constitutionality of the adopt and amend process. The brief, filed by Attorney General Dana Nessel and Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud, says the process violates the Constitution of the State of Michigan and subverts the will of the People.
Wednesday's filing said, in part, that adopt and amend is "insulting to the will of the people, as it is a gross manipulation of the process the People intended. This case presents just that sort of question that is so basic and fundamental to the operation of our government that it offers a 'solemn occasion' for this Court to uphold the will of the People."
In April 2019, the Michigan Supreme Court asked the Attorney General to file two separate briefs on the constitutionality of the adopt and amend process, making arguments both for and against it. The brief in support of the process was filed by Deputy Solicitor General Eric Restuccia on May 15. Due to its unique role as the People's attorney, the Office of Attorney General often acts as a legal advocate on different sides of a given issue while safeguarding the integrity of either side.
The Michigan Supreme Court has set a hearing date of July 17 and asked the Department of Attorney General to present oral arguments on both sides.
Published: Fri, Jun 21, 2019
