State Rep. Mike Harris on Wednesday joined a bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives in supporting a plan to protect Michigan workers and small businesses by preserving the tipped wage.

Harris, R-Waterford, said the bipartisan deal between the Republican House and the Democrat Senate will maintain the tipped wage option, which keeps restaurant prices more affordable and encourages customers to tip servers and bartenders generously. Harris noted the legislation was the best possible solution that could get the necessary support from Senate Democrats. Preserving the tipped wage will save the income and jobs of workers and keep local restaurants open, and Harris added that more action is needed this week to protect workers and small businesses from job-killing earned sick time mandates also set to take effect on Friday.

“Michiganders’ very livelihoods are on the line, and we’re listening to the workers and small-business owners calling for their representatives to act,” Harris said. “House Republicans made preserving the tipped wage and protecting flexible earned sick time options our top priority this year — so workers can keep their jobs. With this deal between the House and Senate, we’re taking a step in the right direction by voting to save the tips of hard-working restaurant staff. I’ll keep working to achieve a bipartisan solution to put a stop to the heavy-handed mandates that will close small businesses, send many workers to the unemployment line, and rob other workers of their paid time off. There’s no time to waste, and I’m ready to get this done.”

SB 8 maintains the base wage for tipped workers at 38% of the standard minimum wage through 2025 while implementing annual increases, eventually capping at 50% of the minimum wage in 2031. The standard minimum wage will increase to $15 by 2027. Under Michigan law, tipped workers always make at least minimum wage; if their tips and the base wage don’t add up to the minimum, the employer must make up the difference.

SB 8, which will head to the governor’s desk after a procedural motion in the Senate, is legislatively tied to House Bill 4002, a bill to address the paid sick time issue currently sitting in the Senate. Both would have to be signed into law for SB 8 to take effect. Sick-time negotiations between House and Senate leadership are still ongoing.