LANSING – Sen. Rick Jones on Thursday announced that he would be introducing a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $8.15 an hour and $2.65 an hour for tipped workers, but where that bill will end up without support from his own Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville is still questionable.

“It’s a starting point for discussion,” Jones (R-Grand Ledge) told members of the media prior to session on Thursday.

Jones’ argument is that he is not trying to pre-empt in any way an expected ballot proposal in November that would raise the minimum wage across the board to $10.10 an hour, even for tipped workers such as waiters and waitresses. Rather, Jones said the proposal is about jobs.

“I’m hearing from waiters and waitresses that are petrified that their jobs could go away and restaurants could be closed (by the ballot proposal),” he said, adding that he wants to keep up the discussion on minimum wage jobs because they are very good jobs often held by college kids or single moms, he said.

Jones said he is not sure if keeping tipped workers’ pay much lower would improve the chances of moving the legislation. But he does know that the typical waiter or waitress “makes $15 or $16 an hour” already, so keeping a difference between them and non-tipped workers is important regardless.

But one vote he does not have in his caucus is that of his leader, Richardville (R-Monroe), who told reporters after session that he’s been pretty clear that he does not support raising the minimum wage in any way.

“I think that artificially raising the wages and not letting the market work is what got us into this problem to begin with,” Richardville said. “I have a lot of respect for Rick, and I know what he’s trying to do, and he has a lot of the business community supporting it, but the one person he doesn’t have is me at this point.”

Asked where the bill could end up, Richardville agreed that it would likely go to the Senate Government Operations Committee, which Richardville chairs, since a similar bill proposed by Sen. Bert Johnson (D-Highland Park) some time ago is also there.

“However, that doesn’t mean it’s dead,” he said. “Mine is either a cemetery for some bills, or in other cases, it’s for the ones nobody else wants. This one would probably be in the latter category.”

And at least one more group, the Michigan State AFL-CIO, did not support Jones’ endeavor. In a statement, President Karla Swift said the proposal is inadequate for the working poor and intended to stifle a serious effort to raise wages.

“Although this bill does not offer any real solutions, it is a reminder that, if they decided to do so, Republicans in the Legislature could address the critical issue of wages through the legislative process,” she said. “Now, in an election year, they decide to offer up legislation that is inadequate for workers in a blatant attempt to appease special interests. Michigan voters won’t buy it.”

Meanwhile, Johnson told reporters that if Jones can muster up support in the Republican caucus, he will have a friend in Johnson in terms of support across the aisle.

“Is it where we want to be at the end of the day? No. But do you ever get everything that you ever want out of this process? … No,” Johnson said. “So you take what you can get because what you can get is progress for your people.”

Johnson expressed optimism that the bill could be a pre-cursor to doing something bigger on the issue down the road. He also said that he’s not necessarily okay with the fact that tipped workers would still make less, but he recognizes that the tipped workers argument “offers a new brand of issues with respect to what is going to be the November ballot proposal,” Johnson said.

“A fair wage ought to be a dignified wage, and that’s just something that has to be addressed wholesale,” Johnson said. “But I think you’ve got to do incremental things in this Legislature. We, as Democrats in the super-minority, have learned that.”

Asked about his thoughts on what the alternative could mean for the November ballot proposal, Johnson said, “Ostensibly, it would probably take a lot of air out of the balloon, and that’s not what I’d like to see happen.

“However, a lot of this political stuff comes to a grinding halt because of the politics that are playing out over the summer here in the primary and the general election,” he said. “So when you can move on something as substantial as this … you’ve got to be as reasonable as possible and maybe you come back for a second bite at that apple in the new term. So we’ll see.”

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