Outgoing GOP state legislatures are cramming through conservative laws before they lose power

Republican lawmakers in Michigan are planning to amend a minimum wage law before the midterms before Democrat Gretchen Whitmer replaces outgoing GOP Gov. Rick Snyder.

In September, the state's Republican-controlled legislature passed a proposal to raise the Midwestern state's minimum wage. But by voting on the measure, the state prevented the law from being passed as a ballot referendum, which can only be overturned with three-fourths of the state legislature. So the path is now clear for GOP lawmakers to alter the law they oppose, which only requires a simple majority vote.

It's unclear exactly how the legislature wants to change the law — which was designed to raise the minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2022 and gradually raise the tipped worker minimum wage from $3.50 — but the GOP has acknowledged its plan is to fundamentally change the measure.

"I'm angry. I'm really angry," said Tracy Pease, a 47-year-old waitress and minimum wage advocate, told the Washington Post in September. "It's not just that I had a vested interest in this. But the point was to go to the people, and now they have circumvented our vote. They have taken away our vote."

One Fair Wage, a group that backed the wage hike, pledged to sue the legislature if it attempts to water down or repeal the law.

The Republican-controlled legislature in Michigan also passed a law mandating that employees qualify for somewhere between 40 and 72 hours of paid sick leave — a measure Republicans oppose — in order to alter it with a simple majority during the lame-duck session.

It's also unclear exactly how Republicans will change the law, but Michigan's Chamber of Commerce has warned that the requirements would put "severe compliance burdens" on employers.