LANSING, Mich. — From cheaper auto insurance to placing the first legal sports gambling bets -- there are a number of policies that passed in 2019 that will truly kick off 2020.
Medicaid work requirements
Starting Jan. 1, abled-bodied adults ages 19 through 61 who are enrolled in "Healthy Michigan" will have to report 80 hours of work or job searching per month. If they don't, an individual could lose their health care coverage.
An individual can apply for an exemption, which would excuse them from reporting work hours. The deadline for the request is Jan. 31.
Minimum wage increase
Workers in Michigan can expect a raise starting Jan. 1. Minimum wage is set to go up 20 cents, making it $9.65. The state will also raise hourly and tipped workers' wages to $3.67, an eight-center increase from 2019.
State websites show plans to increase the minimum wage again in 2021 to $9.87 for hourly employees and $3.75 for tipped, hourly workers.
Sports betting and internet gaming
Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a group of bipartisan House bills legalizing internet gaming and sports betting on Dec. 20. The revenue from online gaming and sports betting through the state's casinos will support the school aid fund and the First Responder Presumed Coverage Fund (FRPCF).
Additionally, this bill package allows tribal casinos to participate in online gaming and sports betting at an equal level to the Detroit casinos. This revenue will support important tribal community activities.
Cheaper auto insurance
Michigan drivers who want unlimited medical coverage for crash injuries will pay $100 per vehicle starting in July, which will be 55% less than the record-high $220 annual fee they currently pay. The $100 fee will be the lowest in 17 years.
The law also requires insurers for eight years to reduce on average the PIP portion of policies by 10% (unlimited benefit), 20% ($50,000 of coverage for those on Medicaid), 35% ($250,000), 45% ($500,000) or entirely.
Recreational marijuana
Michigan became the 10th state in the nation to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use in early December 2019, but 2020 will be the first full year that it's legalized.
In the first couple weeks of sales, Michigan consumers topped more than $3 million dollars and half a million in tax revenue back to the state. And experts expect continued success from the new retail frontier, generating more than $1 billion a year in revenue according to the Associated Press.
A few first for the recreational marijuana industry could take place in the new year, including small businesses could start making their own products, laws for gifting marijuana could shift and traveling across Midwest state lines could shift.
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