Supporters of raising Michigan's minimum wage to $12 an hour are launching a 2018 ballot drive.
The initiative was announced Thursday in Detroit by a group representing restaurant workers.
Michigan's hourly minimum is $8.90 and rises to $9.25 in January. Under the proposed ballot measure, all workers — including those earning tips — would make $12 per hour starting in 2022.
The wage would rise to $10 in 2019, $10.65 in 2020 and $11.35 in 2021.
Organizers need roughly 252,000 valid voter signatures to put the initiated law before lawmakers and potentially voters.
The last time labor organizers began collecting signatures for a higher minimum wage, in 2014, Republican legislators and Gov. Rick Snyder approved a smaller minimum wage boost to head off the ballot initiative.
