LANSING – Though some details are yet to be addressed, Michigan voters can likely expect to be asked to put a minimum wage increase on the 2014 ballot.

The Raise Michigan Committee, announced Monday, is hoping to see the electorate act where legislative Republicans and Governor Rick Snyder have indicated they would not.

The group, which includes the Center for Progressive Leadership, Michigan United, MOSES, the Restaurant Opportunity Center (ROC) Michigan, Mothering Justice and Building Movement Project/ People’s Platform, is arguing the current $7.40 minimum wage is not sufficient to support a family.

“By the time I pay for gas to get to and from work, there’s not much left of my pay check. Raising the minimum wage could do a lot for mothers like me,” Shannon Bryson, 33, of Muskegon, said in the release announcing the proposal. “I see people evicted from their homes because they don’t earn enough to pay their rent, and during this cold, cold winter, I see children whose parents can’t afford to dress them warmly enough.”

The group noted there are a number of bills in the Legislature currently to raise the minimum wage, but did not indicate which model it would follow.

The issue is also likely to see union support. Michigan State AFL-CIO President Karla Swift said the current minimum wage is “bad for our state.”

“Contrary to the outdated image of high school kids flipping burgers, less than a quarter of minimum wage workers are teenagers and many are the breadwinners for their families,” she said in a statement. “The Michigan labor movement firmly believes that anyone who works fulltime should earn enough money to afford life’s necessities.”

How much money is appropriate, though, is still under discussion, Danielle Atkinson, director of Mothering Justice, said.

“We’re using the next few weeks as a time to figure out how we want to do this,” Atkinson said. “We’re looking at what would have the most impact for low-wage workers.”

The discussions include whether the change should be through voter-initiated legislation or constitutional amendment.

Atkinson said funding for the campaign is also still under discussion. “There are a variety of national and in-state donors that are interested in helping with this,” she said.

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lon Johnson said the proposal reflects the energy in the state for increasing the minimum wage, and party spokesperson Josh Pugh said the party is excited about the proposal.

“It’s not surprising to see that there’s a lot of energy surrounding this issue,” Johnson said in a statement. “Democrats at all levels are fighting to increase the minimum wage because we believe that people who work hard and play by the rules deserve a fair shot at supporting themselves and their families.”

A Democratic source said the proposal would go through the regular party process for considering endorsement of a proposal and that the party surely would get behind it.

But the Michigan Chamber of Commerce criticized the proposal.

“Proponents of this proposal hope to use strikes and public protests as the means of generating public support for this issue and to increase voter turnout in an election year, but we are confident the voters in this state will understand the damaging economic realities of this proposal,” Wendy Block, director of health policy and human resources for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement. “If Michigan increases the cost of employing entry-level workers, lower-skilled workers will see less job opportunities because employers will be forced to hire higher-skilled job applicants to fill multiple roles or cut jobs to absorb the costs associated with the increase.”

Jim Holcomb, senior vice president of business advocacy and general counsel for the Chamber, said studies have shown every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage means a 5 percent cut in employment for workers in that wage range.

“The only true minimum wage is zero,” Michael LaFaive, fiscal policy director for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said. “Which is what too many more people will be making if such a hike passes.”

Backers have said such dire warnings have proven hollow when previous increases to the minimum wage have occurred.

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