LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Roger Victory, R-Hudsonville, issued the following statement on Thursday after the Legislature sent the governor legislation to preserve the state’s tipped wage and enact a workable paid sick leave benefit:
“This bipartisan compromise will save the tipped wage for service workers in Michigan, but most importantly, it will save roughly 50,000 good-paying jobs and help hundreds of family-owned restaurants across our state keep serving their customers.
“The reforms will also give our small businesses clarity and flexibility to implement sick leave policies for their employees. In doing so, it will ease the regulatory burden on our small, local employers.
“In divided government, you don’t always get what you want. But this negotiated agreement will help ensure the future of our small businesses in Michigan and preserve the tipped wage for our service industry employees.
“Based on the number of phone calls to my office and the passionate conversations I’ve had with both workers and employers, this is one of the biggest issues I’ve worked on during my time in the Senate.
“My Republican colleagues and I have been asking Democrat leadership to listen to our workers and our small business owners for months, and I am sure that these reforms would not have been enacted without the tremendous outreach efforts of local workers. This is an example of what can be done when citizens get involved.”
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