LANSING, Mich. — Michigan House Republicans made a statement Friday by walking out of the house floor during session.
"Today is the last day of the year in order to work on it," said Republican House Rep. Bryan Posthumus who represents Michigan's 90th house district. "And there's a drop dead date here, like this is going into effect in two months from now, that's a problem."
According to Rep. Posthumus from Kent County, the party walked out of their lame-duck session after House Democrats refused to negotiate over keeping the state's tipped wage system.
"We're here to protect our restaurant workers and our restaurant industry that's been ravaged by the Whitmer administration," said Rep. Posthumus.
As of right now, the state's minimum wage is set to be increased. People who are concerned about the hike are worried about the impact on tipped workers, such as waitstaff and bartenders. The minimum wage increase will start in January, and will eventually rise to $15 in 2030.
Restaurant industry employees have said in the past they make more than minimum wage, and if it does go into effect, they're worried patrons will tip less and that the cost of food will rise.
Lyons said that Friday was one of the last days they could have worked on the issue.
"The Speaker of the House took it off the board, said we're not going to deal with this," said Rep. Posthumus. "We're not going to talk about it. And so there for us, Republicans, there's no point in us working on the far left California style progressive policies if we're not going to focus on the number one issue facing the voters."
Michigan House Dems released a statement on the walkout saying:
"If Matt Hall and his caucus aren't going to do their job, they should return their salaries for the rest of the year. Michigan Democrats are trying to fix roads and lower costs for Michiganders while the MIGOP is pulling cheap political stunts that are an insult to the taxpayers that pay them. "