An effort to place an initiative on the November 2024 ballot asking whether to raise the hourly minimum wage to $15 has failed. The Michigan Supreme Court rejected a request to override the decision made by the Board of State Canvassers that will keep the question off the ballot.

The group Raise the Wage Michigan asked the state’s top court to overrule the Board of State Canvasser’s refusal to certify its petition to boost the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2027. The petition, if the board had approved it, would have advanced to the November 2024 ballot.

The current minimum hourly wage is $10.33.

The board approved the petition language, first brought forth by Raise the Wage, to lower the threshold for making an employer subject to the minimum wage. The threshold would go from two employees to one. Raise the Wage, however, changed the wording when it then circulated petitions. The petitions said the law would apply to employers with 21 or fewer workers.

The court said this change could have eliminated the minimum wage for employers with fewer than 21 workers instead of raising the minimum wage for all employees.

The canvasser’s board deadlocked 2-2 and rejected the revised petition submitted for its final approval.

Justice Brian Zahra wrote a concurring opinion.

“It was abundantly reasonable for the Board to conclude that plaintiff failed to obtain preapproval of an accurate statement of the petition submitted for final approval, which, rather than increasing the minimum wage for all employees, may have served to eliminate it for thousands,” Zahra wrote.

The ruling cited polling from the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association that 61% of Michigan restaurant operators said they would lay off more than 25% of their tipped employees if the minimum-wage offset is substantially reduced or eliminated.

Zahra said the decision was best made by lawmakers and the democratic processes.

“As repeatedly indicated in similar cases, it is not the role of this Court to second guess and question the administration of election disputes properly left to the bipartisan oversight of the Board of State Canvassers,” Zahra wrote.

Justin Winslow, president and CEO of the trade group MRLA, welcomed the ruling.

"We are relieved that the Michigan Supreme Court agreed with Michigan Opportunity that the drafting errors in Raise the Wage's submission were so significant as to render it fatally flawed,” Winslow said in a statement. “While the restaurant and broader hospitality industry still operate in the long shadow of the pending Adopt-and-Amend ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court expected later this year, this ruling will provide some solace to the nearly 500,000 industry employees and nearly 20,000 operators that they can return their focus to serving up Pure Michigan hospitality to millions of Michiganders every day."

Michael LaFaive, senior director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said the ruling is “a win for Michigan.”

“It means greater opportunity for job seekers and for those who work under the tipped minimum wage,” LaFaive told CapCon. “Mandated minimum wages throttle opportunities for lower-income workers that can have long-term pay consequences. In addition, research and experience have shown that the net pay of tipped workers may decline. It’s not hard to see why. Restaurant goers presume their servers enjoy a much higher wage and are less likely to offer generous tips.”

Twenty-seven Michigan school districts will receive 97 school buses powered by electricity and three fueled by propane. The cost, nearly $24 million, will come from the federal Clean School Bus Program.

Buses powered by electricity often cost three times more than diesel buses, but they emit fewer tailpipe emissions over the long run.

The transportation sector accounts for almost 28% of Michigan’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Michigan aims to be 100% carbon neutral by 2050.

The school system in Grand Rapids will receive $5.18 million for 15 buses. Trenton will receive $2 million for 10 buses, Allen Park will get $1.04 million for five buses and Comstock will get $1.04 million for three buses.

Propane buses are significantly cheaper than EV buses. The Dearborn Academy is spending $1.04 million for three EV buses, but Gwinn Area Community Schools will spend only $35,000 for a propane-fueled bus.

Electric and propane buses could carry fewer maintenance expenses, such as oil changes and transmission repairs.

But EV school buses lose about 33% of their range during severely cold weather.

Rep. Pat Outman, R-Six Lakes, told CapCon the Tri-County Area Schools in his district doesn’t want EV school buses, which wouldn’t have the range needed for the rural district that spans Montcalm, Kent and Ionia counties.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants 2 million EVs on Michigan roads by 2030, but there are currently 46,792. The MI Healthy Climate plan says the state must build 100,000 EV chargers in 2030 but there are only 1,533 stations with 3,577 charging ports.

“I never think these electric vehicles will be what we want them to be,” Outman told CapCon in a phone interview. “From supply chain to just practicality, I don’t see them becoming as mainstream as they want them to be.”

Outman said Whitmer and the Biden administration are “trying to dictate the market through policy” but many consumers don’t want to drive EVs in his rural district.

Phil Roos, director of the Michigan Department for Environmental, Great Lakes, and Energy, said Michigan had 17 EV school buses before Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021. It should have close to 200 buses once the 97 new vehicles are delivered.

“I applaud the Biden administration and our hardworking congressional delegation for investing in electric school buses, improving air quality, allowing schools to invest in the classroom, and helping us meet the goals of the MI Healthy Climate Plan,” Roos said in a statement.

The state is 1.9 million vehicles short of its 2030 EV goal.

“These Bipartisan Infrastructure Law dollars will help 27 school districts purchase new electric and clean school buses, providing a safer and cleaner ride to school for students while reducing costs for schools, allowing them to put dollars back into the classroom,” Michigan Chief Infrastructure Officer Zachary Kolodin said in a statement. “By investing in clean school buses, we’re not only upgrading our transportation systems; we’re improving air quality by reducing diesel fumes, safeguarding the health of students and communities across the state.”

Michigan has nearly 17,000 buses that transport more than 800,000 students each school year.