Capitol News
June 9, 2024
SCRAP THE CAP UPDATE
Appropriation Bills Move to Conference Committees — Our five-year effort to Scrap the Cap on the defined benefit annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of $300 hit another milestone this month. The General Government appropriation bills in each chamber with boilerplate language about our actuarial study were adopted and conferees were appointed to iron out any differences in the ~160-page bill financing eight different departments. The conferees are State Sens. John Cherry (D-Flint), Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing), and Jon Bumstead (R-North Muskegon); and State Reps. Felicia Brabec (D-Ann Arbor), Rachel Hood (D-Grand Rapids), and Ann M. Bollin (R-Brighton). Our actuarial study boilerplate provision is in the Department of Technology, Management, and Budget section of the bills.
The following language is in Senate Bill 760 S-1 as amended, Sec. 894, the Senate General Government Appropriations bill and House Bill 5516 H-2, Section 822l, the House General Government Appropriations bill:
- The office of retirement services shall contract with the state’s actuary to conduct a study that provides an array of options and corresponding costs related to providing an increase in the cost-of-living adjustment in the state employees’ retirement system created under section 2 of the state employees’ retirement act, 1943 PA 240, MCL 38.2, which is currently the lesser of $300.00 or 3% of a retiree’s pension.
- The study must include all of the following:
- Options for 1-time and permanent adjustments.
- The number of individuals impacted.
- The short- and long-run costs of providing cost-of-living adjustments.
- The cost of the study must be paid for from work project funds established and available for the purpose of conducting actuarial studies.
Organization Resolutions Adopted — Our effort to seek other employee and retiree organizations to support our Scrap the Cap effort has resulted in four supportive resolutions so far. Thank you to the United Auto Workers, Local 6000; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Michigan 925; Michigan State Employees Association (MSEA), AFSCME Local 5; and AFSCME MI Retirees Chapter 255.
If you or your spouse belong to any retiree, employee, or labor organization, contact SERA Legislative Committee member R. Cole Bouck at somretiree@gmail.com to ask for the model resolution and get help with approaching your organization. These resolutions are sent to legislative leaders and the Governor to indicate wide support for our quest.
REVENUE FORECAST AND BUDGET
Whether or not the state can afford to increase the $300/year COLA for State defined benefit retirees depends on the State’s revenue and many competing budget priorities. At the May 17 Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference, the Whitmer administration and both the Senate and House Fiscal Agencies agreed on revised economic and revenue figures for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2024 and for the upcoming 2025 and 2026 fiscal years. According to State Treasurer Rachel Eubanks, our economy is strong and stable. We are adding jobs and bringing more people back to work, marking a strong recovery in labor participation from the pandemic downturn.
| Overall Revenue Forecast (General Fund and School Aid Fund Combined) |
|||
| Fiscal Year | January 2024 | May 2024 | Change from January to May |
| FY 2024 | $31.54 billion | $31.73 billion | $188.1 million |
| FY 2025 | $32.33 billion | $32.40 billion | $ 75.5 million |
| FY 2026 | $33.41 billion | $33.46 billion | $ 45.4 million |
REDISTRICTING UPDATE
On May 21, the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) chose six proposed draft State Senate maps and advanced them for public review and comment as part of its response to the federal court decision finding State Senate districts 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, and 11 violated the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. The MICRC has labeled each proposed plan with a bird name: Cardinal, Crane, Dove, Finch V2, Heron, and Starling V3. The MICRC is scheduled to hold public hearings the week of June 10 in Detroit, along with virtual public comment on the MICRC web page at www.michigan.gov/micrc.
Public comment will conclude no later than June 21. A final map is to be adopted by the MICRC and sent to the court for final approval no later than June 27. Objections to the plan can be filed by the plaintiffs no later than July 5, with the MICRC’s response to be filed July 12. A reviewing special master hired by the court, Bernard Grofman of University of California-Irvine, is to submit a report by July 12. The parties can comment on Grofman’s assessments no later than July 19. The court is to approve a remedial Senate plan no later than July 26. Appeals may follow.
While responding to the federal court order to construct race-blind district lines that give minority voters an opportunity to elect officeholders of their choice, there are seven criteria outlined in the Michigan Constitution the MICRC must also use in its deliberations. Potential new district boundaries will affect future control of the State Senate in the 2026 election and beyond. Based on the MICRC’s partisan fairness published measures, a Gongwer News Service analysis showed four of the six maps did not materially alter the number of seats favoring one party, while one (Heron) boosted Democrats by a seat and one (Dove) increased Republican control by a seat. Some of the proposed maps pit incumbents against each other, which is not a criterion that the MICRC can use to draw its lines.
SOM RETIREMENT BOARD
Lauri Schmidt of Williamston has been reappointed by Governor Whitmer to the State of Michigan Retirement Board representing State retirees. She retired in 2017 from the Civil Service Commission as Director of the Employee Benefits Division. Schmidt has been serving on the Board representing State retirees since 2019 and was just re-elected as Vice Chair. Her term will expire at the end of 2027. The appointment is not subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.
The SOM Retirement Board provides oversight of the State Employees’ Retirement System Defined Benefit (DB) Plan, the Judges Retirement System DB Plan, and the Military Retirement Provisions that in total service nearly 88,000 active and retired employees. The governor appoints five of the nine members to represent active and retired State employees, judges, National Guard, and a member from the general public. Four board members represent the State government offices that are required to participate in the board – Department of Treasury, State Personnel Director, Attorney General, and Auditor General. The Board is housed in the Office of Retirement Services at the Department of Technology, Management, and Budget.
OTHER NEWS
Conservation Officer Raises — The State House and Senate have approved House Concurrent Resolution 13 sponsored by Rep. Amos O’Neal (D-Saginaw) to waive the usual wage setting process to approve State employee wage increases for about 300 Conservation Officers and some supervisors in the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy to take effect before October 1, 2024.
Judges 401(k) Bill — Reported out of the House Judiciary Committee on May 22 was House Bill (HB) 5328 sponsored by Rep. Jimmie Wilson (D-Ypsilanti), which would amend the Michigan Judges Retirement Act. Under the current judges’ defined contribution plan, the employer makes a mandatory contribution of 4 percent. The employer also matches 100 percent of the contributions made by the employee, up to a maximum of 3 percent. The provisions of the bill would increase the employee contribution subject to an employer match to 5 percent.
Officeholder Financial Disclosure Clarified — In a formal Attorney General opinion requested by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to clarify some vagueness in the new officeholder financial disclosure law, Attorney General Dana Nessel stated that public officials can be required in their annual financial disclosures to report the lobbyist providing them with gifts or travel payments. All payments of any value made by a lobbyist or agent to a charity in lieu of honoraria must be reported as well.
The opinion also said the Department of State can require officials to report factual information like the date of gift, travel payment, or other payments along with the name and identification number of the lobbyist involved. Officials are also required to report gifts, travel payments, and reimbursements from lobbyists or lobbyists’ agents as outlined in State law, regardless of whether the lobbyist reported them. The Department of State can require public officers to provide identifying information, such as an address, for reporting sources of unearned income, securities, and investments.
Find officeholders’ personal financial disclosure filings at www.michigan.gov/sos and use the search feature for“ personal financial disclosure” to find the web page with the information.
Property Tax Increase — Anderson Economic Group is projecting that Michigan homeowners can expect an average increase in their property taxes of about 3.3 percent in 2025. This is down from increases of 5 percent in both 2023 and 2024, the group said. Under Michigan law, increases in taxable value are capped at the rate of inflation or 5 percent, whichever is less. The cap does not apply to increases in value from new construction or remodeling, nor does it include whether a property is sold during the past year, in which case the taxable value is reset to the state equalized value.
Death Certificate Process — Currently, a physician is to complete their portion of a death certificate within 48 hours of being presented with it. Failure to comply is a misdemeanor. However, many certificates are filled out physically, then faxed to a funeral director to then be uploaded into the electronic system. Those steps can result in delays.
Death certificates are necessary to deal with insurance processing, burial or cremation plans, and settling legal affairs for the deceased. Many families cannot wait on certificates due to religious beliefs, with the Hindu faith requiring a loved one be cremated within 24 to 48 hours of their death, and Jewish families requiring the deceased be buried within 48 hours for instance.
Under HB 5043 sponsored by Rep. Julie Rogers (D-Kalamazoo), and HB 5044 sponsored by Rep. Mike Mueller (R-Linden), physicians would be required to enter the death certification directly into the electronic system and replaces the misdemeanor penalty with medical license sanctions if not completed in a timely manner. The bills have been reported out of the House Health Policy Committee and await action by the full House chamber.
Delta County Canvassers — After the May 7 local elections in which three county commissioners were recalled, the Delta County Board of Canvassers made up of two Democrats and two Republicans deadlocked 2-2 on certifying the election. This sparked a letter from the Secretary of State Bureau of Elections reminding the Board of their ministerial duty to certify election results or face a misdemeanor Willful Neglect of Duty criminal charge. The Constitution and Michigan Election Law do not authorize canvassers to refuse to certify election results based on claims made by third parties of alleged election irregularities, or a general desire to conduct election investigations. The statutes further define the obligation of canvassers as a“ ministerial, clerical and nondiscretionary” duty to certify election results based solely on election returns. Proper venues of recourse for individuals who have reviewed available election material and believe fraud occurred exist, which include contacting local law enforcement and/or filing a challenge through the courts.
Election Recounts — Senate Bill (SB) 603 sponsored by Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) and SB 604 sponsored by Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) would amend the Michigan Election Law to modify the requirements for requesting and conducting a recount. Among other changes, the bill would specify that a recount is an administrative process; modify the threshold for an automatic recount; allow ballot question committees to petition for a recount; provide a standard form to be used when filing a recount petition or counter petition; require a petitioner to allege an error, rather than fraud or mistake, in the election results and require enough votes to be recounted to change the results; amend the requirements for whether votes in a precinct can be recounted; and increase the financial deposit for filing a recount petition.
SB 604 would make complementary changes to the Code of Criminal Procedure. Testimony indicated the bills are needed to discourage frivolous recount requests and to clarify recount procedures given the disputes in 2020. Both bills passed the Senate along party lines and were reported out of the House Elections Committee on May 21.
Editor’s note: Mary Pollock is the Lansing SERA Chapter and SERA Coordinating Council’s Legislative Representative. She may be contacted at michigansera@comcast.net.
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