by: John Clore | 3/1/2025 at 7:34 AM
LANSING, MI. — In yet another example of liberal overreach, Michigan lawmakers hastily pushed through a minimum wage deal last week, leaving business owners scrambling to cover rising payroll costs. This last-minute compromise was not only reached 12 hours past the deadline, but now leftist activists are demanding retroactive pay for workers, a blatant attempt to squeeze small businesses even further.
The real issue? Democrats and progressive activists have hijacked the debate over wages, ignoring how their policies hurt the very workers they claim to support. Instead of letting businesses grow organically and reward employees based on merit, they are forcing arbitrary wage hikes that disrupt the economy and drive inflation higher.
A Power Grab Disguised as Fairness
“There’s conflicting interests, and the difficulty is negotiating and figuring out who has the power,” said Michael Lynn, a professor at Cornell University. And the power clearly lies with liberal bureaucrats and the activist class, not hardworking business owners.
Rather than allowing a free-market solution, Democrats have pushed for more government interference in pay structures, aiming to phase out the tipped wage system, a move that has already led to declining restaurant jobs in progressive strongholds like Washington, D.C. and California.
Republicans Stand for Economic Freedom
While liberal states continue their march toward government-controlled wages, conservatives like President Donald Trump have a different vision: eliminating taxes on tips and overtime instead of punishing business owners with payroll hikes.
Trump previously called the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour “a very low number” but has wisely left wage decisions to individual states, arguing that each region should determine what is best for its own economy. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed this stance last month, reinforcing that wage decisions are better left to the states, not Washington’s out-of-touch elite.
Meanwhile, in Michigan, the Democrat-controlled government is forcing businesses to comply with higher labor costs, hiking tip earners’ base pay to $4.74 per hour, with a plan to reach 50% of the state’s minimum wage by 2031. Business owners, already struggling with inflation, must now find ways to pass these costs onto customers—whether by raising prices, reducing staff, or cutting hours.
The Real Victims? Tipped Workers and Consumers
While progressives push for a universal pay floor, many tipped workers prefer the current system, knowing that excessive government meddling will only lead to fewer jobs, lower tips, and more expensive dining experiences.
“Customers won’t come in and buy a burger for $18,” said Megan Hendrien, a server at Shield’s Pizza, who says she regularly earns over $20 an hour in tips—far above the so-called “fair” wages activists claim to fight for.
Washington, D.C. serves as a cautionary tale. The city eliminated the tipped wage system, only to see a decline in restaurant employment and a backlash from workers who saw tips decrease. In Michigan, the same result is inevitable—fewer jobs, more automation, and higher costs for consumers.
A Progressive Tax-and-Spend Agenda Disguised as “Equity”
The National Restaurant Association and other industry experts have warned for years that phasing out tip credits would devastate the industry, but progressive activists refuse to listen. Instead, they push a one-size-fits-all wage model that punishes small business owners and servers alike, while bloated government bureaucracies continue to expand.
The conservative solution is clear: let the free market work. Instead of mandates that burden business owners and take away employee freedom, focus on cutting taxes, reducing red tape, and allowing workers to keep more of what they earn.
For now, Republicans remain the only party defending economic freedom in Michigan, standing against leftist overreach that puts ideology over economic reality. Michigan businesses are paying the price for Democrats’ reckless wage policies—and it’s only a matter of time before the workers they claim to champion start feeling the pain as well.