Capitol News
April 7, 2024
The Legislature was on spring break for two weeks in late March and early April. It returns April 9 to face budget decisions in May and June. It will welcome two new House members in early May via special elections on April 16 in Warren and Westland districts.
SCRAP THE $300 CAP UPDATE
Big News This Month — First, the Governor’s Director of Legislative Affairs has granted our request for a meeting with our leadership to explain the need to eliminate the 37-year-old $300 cap on our 3 percent annual cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) for defined benefit (DB) State retirees. At the same meeting we hope to learn about the administration’s concerns and position on the matter.
Second, the United Auto Workers, Local 6000 Membership Council passed a Resolution of Support on March 21 and personally delivered a copy of the resolution to the Governor and the Chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Thank you, Local 6000!
This occurred after a full-page story on page 5 of Local 6000’s March Newsbreak featuring SERA Legislative Committee member R. Cole Bouck’s Letter Sending Request, Sample Letter, and examples of how the $300 COLA cap affects pension income along with a method to calculate one’s own capped COLA shortfall.
Third, SERA’s letter sending campaign has been working! Bouck reports that 773 contacts generated through the letter sending campaign have been made with most legislators; 385 letters went to Governor Whitmer. Moreover, 123 letters were sent to House Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Angela Witwer (D-Grand Ledge) and 139 letters were sent to Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Senator Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing). These are only the contacts we know about and do not include the phone calls, appearances at legislative coffee hours to bring up the subject, or e-mails. Keep communicating with your own legislators and the Governor every chance you have — ask about the status of re-introduction of Senate Bill (SB) 775 of 2021 to Scrap the Cap on our annual COLA!
STATE RETIREMENT BOARD UPDATE
During public comment at the State of Michigan Retirement Board meeting on March 21, I briefed the Board on SERA’s various activities in our quest to eliminate the 1987 legislation capping DB retirees’ annual COLA at $300. The Board is composed of nine members — five gubernatorial appointments representing the general public, State employees, State retirees, judges, and the National Guard, plus ex officio members representing the State Treasurer, the State Personnel Director, the Attorney General, and the Auditor General. The State retiree representative is Lauri Schmidt who also serves as the elected vice chair of the Board. Schmidt retired as the Benefits Division Manager for the Michigan Civil Service Commission. The Board helps the Office of Retirement Services implement the State Employees’ Retirement Act.
0.96 Percent COLAs for Recent Retirees — At the meeting, the Board received from the actuaries a Review of Optional Forms of Payment Factors for members of the State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS). This review is done periodically to assure that actuarial assumption factors are in line with experience over the preceding five years. One factor is the average benefit at retirement for the 7,143 new retirees in the five-year study. The actuaries found that the average pension benefit in the five-year study was $31,405 and the average COLA was 0.96 percent (due to the $300 cap).
February Stats — There were 105 DB State retirees in February 2024. Only 14 (13 percent) had annual pensions less than $10,000 and so will receive a 3 percent annual COLA for the remainder of their lives. The rest, 87 percent, received annual pensions of $10,000 or above and will have their annual COLA capped at $300 per year for the rest of their lives.
The average annual pension was $32,282.37 for these recent DB State retirees and the average age was 61.62 years (Corrections Officers (COs) have a lower retirement threshold than non COs). There are 61,178 DB State retirees.
Since the $300 cap was passed in 1987, $1 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $2.71 today.
REDISTRICTING UPDATE
Background — In December, a federal court of appeals panel found the original 2022 redistricting maps unconstitutionally used race as a factor to draw lines for seven House districts in southeast Michigan (Agee v. Benson (USWDM Docket No. 22-00272)). The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) submitted new lines for 15 House districts by the court-imposed deadline of March 1.
Court Decision — Plaintiffs thereafter registered their objections and wanted three more majority Black opportunity districts drawn but the court rejected their request because none of the plaintiffs were residents of the three proposed extra districts and therefore had no standing to make that request. Other plaintiff objections were also rejected. The court had its own Special Masters look at the redrawn districts and issued a decision on March 27 finding that the new district lines met the court’s standards. Plaintiffs’ spokesperson indicated they would not likely appeal the decision.
Filing Deadline — Now the candidates for the November 2024 election of the Michigan House in southeast Michigan will know the boundaries of their districts. None of the incumbents of the targeted 15 House Districts must run against each other. April 23 is the deadline for all candidates for federal, state, or local municipality office in Michigan to file their intention to run for office.
Senate Is Next — On April 2, the federal court panel set a deadline of July 26 for the six new State Senate maps around southeast Michigan. The State Senate is not up for election until 2026. Economics Professor Jon Eguia with the Michigan State University Institute for Public Policy and Social Research said he believes the commission would need to redraw at least eight Senate districts, including Senate Districts 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, and 11 that were ordered redrawn by the federal appeals panel as well as Senate Districts 2 and 7.
GOVERNOR SIGNS FAMILY PROTECTION ACT
Governor Whitmer has signed a nine-bill package called the Family Protection Act which repeals Michigan’s criminal ban on surrogate parenting contracts and updates the law to create a clear legal link between parents and children born through assisted reproduction and in vitro fertilization. Michigan was the last state in the country to have a ban on surrogacy. The new law will help infertile and same sex couples avoid the cost and legal maneuvers necessary under the Michigan ban.
Little noticed in the media was how the new law might also help in providing unused and donated human embryos for stem cell research on therapies and cures for diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson’s, and other conditions. Human embryo and embryonic stem cell research is highly regulated and protected under Michigan’s Constitution Article I, Sec. 27 passed by voters in 2008.
Because there were not the votes in the Legislature to give immediate effect, the bills will not become law until the 91st day after the Legislature adjourns later this year. The Michigan Catholic Conference and Right To Life of Michigan opposed the bills.
OTHER NEWS
Officeholder Disclosure — Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson unveiled an online portal in March for public officials to disclose their personal finances as required by Proposal 1 of 2022, which changed lawmaker term limits and required financial disclosure for public officials for the first time. Currently serving public officials must file through this portal by April 15.
EPIC revisions — Legislation to modernize Michigan's estate-planning statutes and allow Michigan residents to electronically sign wills, powers of attorney, and other estate planning documents still needs work before it comes up in committee again, according to the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee. Ingrid Tolentino, CEO of MetLife Legal Plans issued a statement saying “Most Americans die without leaving a will in place, often leading to families having to spend significant time in probate court and wasting money on associated costs. By enabling the signing, witnessing, and notarizing of estate-planning documents online, House Bill 4654 presents an incredible opportunity to make the process of passing down assets to future generations more accessible and efficient, and less expensive. In a world where we can now do almost everything electronically, Michigan should take this important step in becoming the next state that champions safe, affordable access to wills and other estate planning documents for everyone.” If the bill becomes law, Michigan would be the 14th state to codify electronic signatures for wills.
RNC Sues SOS — The Republican National Committee has filed a lawsuit in federal court (USWDM Docket No. 24-00262) seeking to have the court compel Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to remove some voters from the rolls and properly maintain them in compliance with its interpretation of federal law. It contends that Benson and the Bureau of Elections have failed to maintain clean and accurate voter registration records in violation of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. Benson has called the lawsuit “A PR campaign in a lawsuit filled with baseless accusations that seek to diminish people's faith in the security of our elections.”
Detroit Disability Power and the Michigan Alliance for Retired Americans have moved to intervene in the lawsuit, asserting that the lawsuit was an attempt to exploit the U.S. Voting Rights Act to prohibit vulnerable Michigan residents — especially the elderly and those living with disabilities — from exercising their right to vote. They have asked the court to let them intervene in the case and asks the court to dismiss the lawsuit.
MI Supreme Court Vacancy — Two Michigan Supreme Court Justice positions will be on the ballot in November 2024. Justice Kyra Harris Bolden announced that she will run for re-election for her expiring term. She joined the Michigan Supreme Court on January 1, 2023, when she was appointed by Governor Whitmer to fill the unexpired term of Justice MacCormack, who resigned.
Michigan Supreme Court Justice David Viviano, one of three Republicans on the seven-member Court, announced recently that he would not run for re-election this year. He has served on the court since 2013 when he was appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder, and was elected and re-elected in 2014 and 2016.
Democrats and Republicans will nominate replacement candidates at fall State party conventions.
High-Speed Chases — Michigan State Police announced that they would only engage in a high speed chase if there is probable cause to believe the driver or occupant of the pursued vehicle has committed a life-threatening or violent felony. The policy change is aimed at protecting the safety of officers and innocent bystanders, particularly in urban areas.
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