2026 Gubernatorial Candidate Responses

QUESTION 1: Would you SUPPORT reforms to the Earned Sick Time Act to exempt businesses with fewer than 50 employees?

SBAM Policy Position
Earned Sick Time Act implementation has proven burdensome for many businesses, particularly those with small workforces or atypical schedules. SBAM supports reforming the Earned Sick Time Act to exempt businesses with fewer than 50 employees, similar to existing exemptions for the Family Medical Leave Act.

QUESTION 2: Would you OPPOSE additional employer mandates for pay and benefits?

SBAM Policy Position
Employer mandates, like recently proposed paid family leave requirements, create undue burden on small employers, forcing them to divert resources from the benefits employees prioritize, reducing their flexibility, and making hiring costly.

QUESTION 3: Would you OPPOSE legislation that redefines standards to make it harder to be an independent contractor?

SBAM Policy Position
Independent contractors are small businesses, and many small businesses utilize independent contractors to fill roles within their business that do not warrant a full-time employee. Recent federal rules and state proposals seek to restrict independent contractors and force them to recategorize as employees.

QUESTION 4: Would you OPPOSE new laws that would further limit the business owner’s autonomy in hiring and firing an at-will employee?

SBAM Policy Position
It is imperative to small businesses that they maintain autonomy over personnel decisions that affect their business, and the ability to hire and fire at-will employees.

QUESTION 5: Would you OPPOSE efforts to increase minimum wage on small businesses? Do you SUPPORT maintaining the tipped wage credit in Michigan?

SBAM Policy Position
When minimum wage increases exceed typical market rates, the wage scale shifts for all employees, making employment more expensive, and driving up consumer prices.

QUESTION 6: Would you OPPOSE measures to revert Michigan’s system to the previous framework?

SBAM Policy Position
Michigan’s Workers’ Compensation system used to be among the costliest in the nation, but bipartisan reforms have made us a national model with predictable costs and fair outcomes.

QUESTION 7: Would you OPPOSE legislation that allows our 1,800+ local governments to create an inconsistent patchwork of labor laws?

SBAM Policy Position
Michigan is home to 1,800+ local governments. Current law sets wage and labor regulations at the state level and provides a consistent regulatory environment.

QUESTION 8: Would you SUPPORT legislation that implements the Launch Michigan framework?

SBAM Policy Position
Launch Michigan is a bi-partisan, multi-sector, nonprofit organization that exists to create conditions through policy and advocacy to re-imagine Michigan’s system of public education. It represents a unique partnership between business, labor, and philanthropy. SBAM aligns with the Launch Michigan educational reform framework, which helps students develop skills and prepare them to enter into the workforce.

QUESTION 9: Would you OPPOSE additional mandates on health insurance that require that specific benefits are offered?

SBAM Policy Position
Coverage mandates on health insurance add costs to already unaffordable health insurance expenses.

QUESTION 10: Would you SUPPORT legislation to allow small businesses to form their own risk pools in Association Health Plans, regardless of industry?

SBAM Policy Position
Under current rules, small businesses are unable to band together to form their own risk pools with businesses outside of their industry.

QUESTION 11: Would you SUPPORT measures that require health system transparency that exposes conflicts of interest and promotes competition?

SBAM Policy Position
Vertical integration and market consolidation of health systems have presented barriers to both transparency and competition by introducing conflicts of interest and potential for price hikes.

QUESTION 12: Do you OPPOSE proposals to increase the Michigan Corporate Income Tax (MCIT)? (Currently 6%) Do you OPPOSE efforts to implement a graduated income tax (GIT) in Michigan? Would you OPPOSE making services subject to the sales tax?

SBAM Policy Position
To ensure the continued success and future growth of Michigan’s economy, lawmakers must guarantee that the state’s tax structure and economic development strategy support, not hinder, small businesses. To promote economic growth and prosperity while cultivating an environment friendly to entrepreneurs and innovation, Michigan’s policies should support homegrown business expansion, attract entrepreneurs, and instill a simple, yet equitable taxation system.

QUESTION 13: Do you SUPPORT adding economic development for small businesses as an explicit part of the mission of the Michigan Strategic Fund (where economic development incentives are approved)?

SBAM Policy Position
Small businesses should be a central part of Michigan’s economic development strategy and should remain a part of Michigan Strategic Fund’s mission while having a seat at the table of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

QUESTION 14: Would you SUPPORT legislation that increases claimant accountability in the unemployment insurance system, including stronger reporting requirements that mitigate “ghosting”?

SBAM Policy Position
Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund is 100% funded by employers through a payroll tax. The UI system exists to support individuals who find themselves unemployed through no fault of their own, but shortcomings in reporting requirements have caused some to exploit the system.

QUESTION 15: Do you SUPPORT repeal of those standards in favor of the use of technologies that are commercially proven to be affordable and reliable? Do you SUPPORT a balanced energy portfolio that allows for existing domestically sourced base load (such as natural gas) in addition to renewable energy?

SBAM Policy Position
In 2023, Michigan’s energy policy was rewritten to mandate 100 percent of energy production by renewable sources by 2040. This policy relies on yet-to-be-invented technologies that do not currently exist. SBAM opposes this policy and supports a policy built around affordability and reliability.

QUESTION 16: Do you SUPPORT childcare solutions that integrate small private providers while supporting businesses offering childcare as a benefit option?

SBAM Policy Position
State supported childcare and early childhood education options allow for the use of private providers.