LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Michael Webber on Thursday issued the following statement after voting to send earned sick time changes to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her signature:
“Last week, I voted to preserve Michigan’s tipped credit, and tonight, we completed the final piece of the puzzle by approving a bipartisan solution on changes to the earned sick leave proposal.
“Over the last several months, thousands of restaurant workers and small business owners have voiced their dismay with the overbearing new mandates set to take effect on February 21st and called on their elected officials to come up with a solution.
“Senate Republicans led negotiations on both reforms and were able to force changes that acknowledged the concerns of people in every one of our districts and ultimately prevent the economic disaster these radical new laws would have caused.
“What we ended up with was a bipartisan compromise that weighed concerns from both employees and employers while fighting to keep jobs in Michigan and helping small businesses keep their doors open.
“The nature of a compromise means not everyone got everything they wanted, but everyone did get a chance to make their voices heard and no one left the negotiating table empty-handed. This solution isn’t perfect, but it does protect our businesses from out-of-state interests, offers flexibility to adapt to policy changes, and maintains employee benefits without driving mom-and-pop shops out of business.”
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