Rushing to clean up the mess they made when they rushed this bill through last April.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- The state House passed legislation Tuesday that would keep some salespeople, nurses, truck drivers and others ineligible for mandatory overtime pay when Michigan's revamped minimum wage law kicks in.
The bill passed 57-49 along party lines, with Republicans supporting the bill and Democrats opposing it.
The bill now goes to the Senate.
The legislation, introduced last week, moved through a House committee and the full chamber in the same day. Supporters say the legislation is needed to make sure the same workers who do not qualify for mandatory overtime now will remain exempt when Michigan's new minimum wage law takes effect Oct. 1.
Several business representatives and workers who operate partly on flexible schedules or commissions testified in a House committee Tuesday that making more employees eligible for overtime could eventually hurt them. If forced to pay overtime, those businesses may lay off workers or cut back on hours, they said.
Always the threat of job elimination. Just another excuse to hold down wages. Ask for more money, we will cut your hours or cut your job.
Democrats weren't buying it.
Union representatives and Democrats said they are upset about the legislation because it was rushed through the House without proper negotiation and debate. Many Democrats who co-sponsored the bill voted against it Tuesday.
"In these tough economic times, overtime pay is how thousands of working men and women make ends meet so they can better care for their families," House Democratic Leader Dianne Byrum of Onondaga said in a statement. "Republicans should stop protecting the status quo and stand up for our working families instead."
Liz Boyd, a spokeswoman for Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, said the administration is "still assessing the impact" of the bill but does not "see a need for this legislation."
Funny thing is, the Republicans knew about this quirk last April when they pushed the original bill through. At that time, they chose to ignore it.
House Republicans were aware of the bill's impact on overtime -- business groups quietly cautioned them -- but they decided to pass it quickly and deal later with fallout, said GOP spokesman Matt Resch.
"We'll see what we need to do to address it," he said. "It all happened so quickly."
Obviously your wages and overtime aren't a big concern to Republicans. If they actually cared about workers, they would put a little more time and effort into their legislation- instead they ignore the problem they were warned about and then waste more time trying to cover their own ass.