Defeated Republicans scramble to push through unpopular laws before Dems take over
GOP governors and legislators on their way out the door are trying to poison the water for incoming Democrats
IGOR DERYSH NOVEMBER 19, 2018 10:30PM (UTC)
Republicans in Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin are scrambling to pass unpopular legislation before Democrats take over next year.
In Michigan, the Republican-majority state legislature passed a minimum wage increase earlier this year so that the issue would not go to a voter referendum, which would have been harder to amend, the Associated Press reports.
The minimum wage increase and new sick leave laws were set to appear on the November ballot -- but Republicans preemptively voted to approve it just so they could roll it back later. Under Michigan law, lawmakers can amend a bill they passed with just a simple majority, but would have needed 75 percent of legislators in both chambers to amend a voter-approved referendum.
The lawmakers raised the minimum wage to $12 per hour and required that employers grant 40 to 72 hours of paid sick leave per year.
After Democrats swept every statewide election, Republicans are rushing to amend the law to appease the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which called the minimum wage hike “extreme,” before Democrat Gretchen Whitmer is sworn in as the state’s new governor in January.
“It’s something that smacks every Michigan voter in the face and tells them that this Republican Party doesn’t care about their voice, their perspective,” House Democratic leader Sam Singh told the AP.
A similar scenario is playing out in North Carolina, where Republicans are working to enact a new voter-ID requirement before they lose their supermajorities in both state legislative chambers in January.
https://www.salon.com/2018/11/19/defeated-republicans-scramble-to-push-through-unpopular-laws-before-dems-take-over/
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