LANSING, MI - The House joined the Senate Wednesday in approving the minimum wage hike and paid sick day initiatives, setting the stage for a historic plan to adopt and later change the legislation instead of putting it on the ballot.

The House voted 78-28 to approve the minimum wage hike and the earned sick time proposals.

The two legislative initiatives in question are Michigan One Fair Wage, which would gradually raise Michigan's minimum wage to $12 an hour and include tipped workers; and MI Time To Care, which would mandate employers let workers earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked.

With that approval from both chambers, the petitions will be solidly in the legislative realm and not be subject to a vote of the people. As such, the Republican-controlled legislature can amend the measures with a simple majority vote instead of the three-fourths vote they would have needed to amend a proposal that went on the ballot and was approved by voters.

Unlike in the Senate, where Democrats voted against the measures, Democrats were divided on the votes in the House.

Rep. Leslie Love, D-Detroit, called the legislative plan to adopt and amend the minimum wage measure "nothing less than voter suppression" and urged lawmakers as they moved forward to follow the spirit of the petition Michiganders had signed.

She and Rep. Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor, were gaveled down and had their microphones turned off during portions of their speeches arguing against approving it. No representatives spoke in favor of either measure's approval.

On paid sick time, Rep. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, said the proposal was important. She herself has introduced earned paid sick leave policies in two legislative terms. She said she would fight for the proposal as good public policy. She voted for it, but regarding amendments warned "Approve and remove is not what Michiganders signed up for."

The Senate passed the measures earlier today.

House Speaker Tom Leonard, R-DeWitt, said that while there were no specific amendments proposed at this time he thinks the proposals are poorly written and need revision.

He previously declined to adopt and amend the marijuana legalization petition, citing a lack of clarity on a plan to replace it. Asked why he was comfortable adopting these without a specific amendment plan, he said he thought these had room for improvement whereas there was no way to make the marijuana legalization initiative better.

With passage by both chambers, the proposals need no signature from the governor and are now law. However, they don't go into effect until March. The legislature plans to amend them before they go into effect and before its session ends in December.

It's possible, too, that the issue ends up in court. Mark Brewer, an attorney for both the paid sick time and minimum wage proposals, said earlier this week a legislative adopt-and-amend plan would be unconstitutional.

Michigan One Fair Wage, the group pushing the minimum wage increase, declared victory after the legislature's passage, saying they would sue to keep the law in place.

"...we will sue the legislature if it moves to amend the legislation in lame duck," said One Fair Wage campaign manager Pete Vargas.

"Doing so would violate the Michigan Constitution, which disallows the legislature from adopting a measure and then amending it in the same legislative session. We can declare victory now because there is no legal way to amend the legislation this year."

House Democratic Leader Sam Singh, D-East Lansing, also declared victory, saying between now and the election Republicans would commit to "not gutting this in Lame Duck."

Danielle Atkinson, chair of MI Time To Care, the group behind the paid sick time proposal, said they would shift to advocating the law be implemented in its current form instead of amended.

"We know, just as legislators know, that voters across Michigan approve of the policy as-written. Our job now is to make sure the legislature does not cave to lobbyists and special interests and use the lame duck session to weaken the law it passed today," Atkinson said.

Note: This story has been updated with additional comment.