Capitol News
October 6, 2024
Election season means the Michigan House is not likely going to meet for roll call in October and until a couple days after the election for 2025 House leadership elections. The Michigan Senate is not facing elections this year.
SCRAP THE CAP UPDATE
Actuarial Study — Recall that the Governor signed the Fiscal Year (FY) 24-25 General Omnibus Appropriations Bill containing a proposed actuarial study about State employee retiree’s defined benefit annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) on Wednesday, July 24, with Immediate Effect. The 3% or $300 maximum COLA has been in place since 1987 and affects over 85 percent of the 60,000 State employee defined benefit retirees.
Clarification — SERA recently asked for a meeting with Anthony Estell, Office of Retirement Services (ORS) Director, to clarify some of the issues for the actuarial study. He says he is waiting for clarification from the Appropriations Committee Chairs. SERA then asked the lead legislator on this issue, Sen. Sarah Anthony, for a Zoom meeting to clear up some definitional issues to help ORS understand what is intended. We are waiting for replies.
Three Cost Estimates — Once the parameters are defined and the data is pulled from the database of retirees and their beneficiaries, the actuaries will take a few months to produce a report estimating the cost of the three options for a COLA going forward to replace the 3% or $300 cap:
- Using the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E)
- $808 cap which would be adjusted annually by the CPI-E
- 4% or $400 cap.
Timeframe — Since the Budget Office develops the Governor’s FY 2025 Executive Budget proposal in the months preceding its introduction in February 2025, it is important to finish the study sooner rather than later to catch the Fiscal Year 2026 budget cycle that concludes in June 2025 for implementation October 1, 2025. The Legislature and Governor must choose among the options (or do nothing) and come to an agreement, which always takes some time.
COMPETITIVE RACES TO WATCH
Post Election — Although the election period ends at 8 p.m. November 5, it may take a few days for all unofficial election results to be reported. By November 7 at 9 a.m., each County Board of Canvassers composed of two Republicans and two Democrats must meet to canvass the election (go over each precincts’ results) and certify the official results, which they must complete by November 19. The county clerk then sends these to the Secretary of State within 24 hours. By November 25, the State of Michigan Board of State Canvassers must meet to canvass the election results for final certification. December 5 at 5 p.m. is the deadline for candidates or ballot question committees at the November Election to submit the post-election campaign statement. Recounts requested by candidates may change final vote tallies.
Majority Party — The majority party gets to appoint committees and their chairs and set the agenda for policy (bill) considerations. Consequently, party majority control is extremely important. For instance, the 2010 red wave produced a Republican trifecta (Governor and both chambers controlled by the same party) in 2011. It then decided to impose a tax on some pension income to finance other Republican priorities. The 2022 blue wave produced a Democratic trifecta in 2023. It then decided to phase in reduction of retirement income taxes.
Current House Status — Currently, the 110 seats in the Michigan State House are held by 56 Democrats and 54 Republicans with no vacancies. Only one Representative is term limited (1 R); seven are not returning (3 R; 4 D) for eight open seats. Republicans need to change party representation in only three districts and retain what they have to take majority control of the Michigan House.
Republicans have the advantage of having more safe seats (47) than the Democrats (44). Whereas the Democrats in 2022 had the wind at their backs with a popular Governor and voter-initiated proposals on the ballot, 2024 is a presidential election year when low propensity, infrequent voters may decide to vote and present a wild card for any predictions.
Nineteen to Watch — Most districts slant one way or the other with highly predictable results. And over 90 percent of incumbents win re-election. However, there are swing districts to watch in Michigan House races. According to the Kelley Cawthorne lobby firm, these are the 19 State House races to watch for potential upsets:
| 27th: Rep. Churches D v. Rylee Linting R* | 28th: Rep. Thompson R v. Janise O’Neil Robinson D |
| 29th: Rep. DeSana R v. Kyle Wright D | 31st: Rep. Miller D v. Dale Biniecki R* |
| 38th: Rep. Andrews D v. Kevin Whiteford R | 44th: Rep. Haadsma D v. Steve Frisbie R* |
| 46th: Rep. Schmaltz R v. Daniel Mahoney D* | 48th: Rep. Conlin D v. Brian Ignatowski R |
| 54th: Rep. Steele R v. Shadia Martini D* | 55th: Rep. Tisdel R v. Trevis Harrold D |
| 57th: Rep. Kuhn R v. Aisha Farooqi D | 58th: Rep. Shannon D v. Ron Robinson R |
| 61st: Rep. Mentzer D v. Robert Wojtowicz R | 62nd: Rep. St. Germaine R v. Michelle Levine-Woodman D |
| 76th: Rep. Witwer D v. Andy Shaver R | 81st: Stephen Wooden D v. Jordan Youngquist R (Open) |
| 83rd: Rep. Fitzgerald D v. Tommy Brann R* | 103rd: Rep. Coffia D v. Lisa Trombley R* |
| 109th: Rep. Hill D v. Karl Bohnak R* |
*Also on Gongwer Top Ten Likely to Flip
Congress — The U.S. Congress currently has 220 Republicans, 211 Democrats with four vacant seats, so the potential change in majority control may be possible. Michigan’s Congressional House delegation is currently split at seven Democrats and six Republicans. Four districts are considered competitive with two open seats. The major party candidates are:
- 3rd District Rep. Hillary Scholten D v. Paul Hudson R
- 7th District (Open Seat) Curtis Hertel D v. Tom Barrett R
- 8th District (Open Seat) Kristen McDonald Rivet D v. Paul Junge R
- 10th District Rep. John James R v. Carl Marlinga D
U.S. Senate — Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat is open due to the retirement of Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Six candidates are vying for the post. The two major party candidates are Elissa Slotkin, Democrat, and Mike Rogers, Republican.
U.S. President/Vice President —The U.S. President position is open due to the incumbent, President Joe Biden, deciding not to run for re-election. Eight candidates are vying for the post. The two major party candidates are Kamala Harris/Tim Walz, Democrats, and Donald J. Trump/J.D. Vance, Republicans.
SERA SUPPORTS ELDER PROTECTION BILLS
Michigan SERA recently supported five bills at the October 2 hearing in the Senate Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety:
Senate Bills (SBs) 922 – 925 enhance protections against financial exploitation, abuse, and neglect of vulnerable adults. Specifically, they would create a process for certain elder and vulnerable adults to petition a circuit court to enter an elder and vulnerable adult personal protection order (PPO). They also would allow a county or region to create a vulnerable adult multidisciplinary team that would work within that area to protect against and bring awareness to vulnerable adult abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation. Additionally, the bills would include embezzlement from a vulnerable adult during and after the vulnerable adult’s life as a violation of racketeering statutes and modify the way penalties for fraudulent use or attempted use could be calculated.
SB 870 would amend the Open Meetings Act to allow a member of a public body with a disability to fully participate in a meeting remotely upon request. The Open Meetings Act requires all meetings of a public body to be open to the public and held in a place available and accessible to the public. However, the current Act permits telephonic or video conferencing only for a member’s absence due to military duty. The bill would expand this to any member with a disability as conventionally defined. An S-1 substitute was adopted for SB 870 that clarifies that the bill would not apply to a meeting of the Legislature where a formal vote is taken. The bill, members were told, would also apply to local elected governments.
The bills were reported out of Committee to the Senate floor for further consideration.
TWO MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES IN 2025
The State will see two minimum wage increases next year, the first on the regularly scheduled date of January 1, 2025, and the second on February 21 with the implementation of a wage increase set to take effect after a recent Supreme Court battle that took six years to resolve. The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity issued a guidance on September 18 saying the first wage increase, taking effect on January 1 as normal, will be $10.56 per hour, up from the current $10.33. The tipped employee rate of hourly pay will increase from $3.93 to $4.01 per hour.
On February 21, 2025, the minimum wage will increase to $12.48 per hour, with the minimum hourly rate for tipped workers increasing to $5.99. When the change begins in February 2025, tipped workers will be making 48 percent of the minimum hourly wage rate. In 2026, that will increase to 60 percent and will continue to increase by 10 percentage points each year until 2030, when it will reach 100 percent of the regular minimum wage.
Business groups are urging the Legislature to change the minimum wage law, particularly the tipped wage phaseout. The Democratic-led House and Senate have not signaled what they might do. Consumers will likely see increases in cost of goods and services dependent on minimum wage labor.
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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