State Rep. Donni Steele on Thursday released the following statement regarding recently agreed upon legislation to save small businesses and tipped workers from devastating mandates set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Friday.

“Passing this legislation before the midnight deadline was key toward ensuring the economic powerhouse that is Oakland County would remain functioning,” said Steele, R-Orion Township. “Without the changes we approved tonight, small businesses would have had to shell out tens of thousands of dollars to wade through unrealistic mandates. Tipped workers would have been penalized because restaurants couldn’t afford to employ them. While Oakland County is an economic driver of Michigan, they weren’t immune to the impending chaos. This deal isn’t great; I’ll be the first to say it. But we did what we had to do to keep our tipped workers employed and small businesses open.”

House Bill 4002 guarantees all workers have access to sick time while clarifying the strict, complex rules that were originally set by the Michigan Supreme Court. The plan allows employers of all sizes to choose the sick time plan that works best for their businesses and create unique policies regarding unforeseen incidents. The legislation also safeguards businesses from baseless lawsuits and other attacks from left-wing activists.

A plan to protect tipped workers, Senate Bill 8, passed the House Wednesday, maintains the tip credit at 38% through 2025 while implementing annual wage increases, eventually capping at 50% of the minimum wage in 2031.

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