Capitol News
December 8, 2024
There is little time before the close of the year for the 102nd Legislature to address an avalanche of bills. All bills not approved by the end of session in December will have to be reintroduced in the 103rd Legislature after January 1, 2025. Watch the Lansing SERA Facebook page for updates on our priority bills mentioned below as we will not be publishing a SERA-Nade in January.
SCRAP THE CAP UPDATE
House Bill 6089/Senate Bill 1144 Introduced — House Bill (HB) 6089, a bill identical to Senate Bill (SB) 775 of 2021 sponsored by former Senator Curtis Hertel (D-East Lansing), would eliminate the $300 cap on defined benefit State employee retiree annual Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA) while retaining a 3 percent annual COLA. It was a surprise introduction sponsored by State Representative Emily Dievendorf (D-Lansing). When we got wind of her intent to introduce the bill, SERA urged by e-mail all Representatives from both parties to co-sponsor the proposed bill; 11 other Democrats signed on. It was introduced November 13 and referred to the House Labor Committee chaired by State Representative Jim Haadsma (D-Battle Creek). Though we’ve asked, we haven’t seen a cost estimate for HB 6089.
The next effort was to get the Speaker of the House Joe Tate and the Committee Chair to approve putting the bill on the December 5 Committee agenda. Despite SERA Legislative Committee member and grassroots organizer Cole Bouck’s energetic efforts, and many SERA members contacting the decision makers, the bill was not on the agenda for the Committee meeting. There are two more potential hearing dates on December 12 and 19 at this writing. However, there are many other labor-oriented bills referred to that Committee waiting for action. UAW national president Shawn Fein and many Michigan union leaders are demanding that their high priority bills be considered.
Meanwhile, Senator Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) introduced the same bill in his chamber, SB 1144, on November 26 with no co-sponsors. It was referred to the Senate Committee on Labor chaired by Senator John Cherry (D-Flint). It also has regularly scheduled meetings on Thursday mornings.
Projected cost to the state was the main barrier in 2020 and 2021 when we were advocating for a bill like SB 775 of 2021 to be introduced in a Republican majority Senate. As a result, we began considering alternative formulas for an annual COLA.
Actuarial Study — In last month’s Capitol News, I wrote that there was clarification needed in some of the language in the appropriations act boilerplate about the actuarial study of potential annual COLA formulas. It involved whether the actuary would use as its starting point our base salary at retirement or our current pension with all the $300 accumulated annual COLAs since we retired. We recently received a statement from Senator Sarah Anthony’s office that the current pension amount would be used.
We’ve also received word from Office of Retirement Services Director Anthony Estell that with clarifications he also sought, the actuarial study is underway with an expected delivery date in late January or early February. Hopefully that will be in time for the Fiscal Year 2026 budget process.
Recall that the actuarial study calls for estimating the cost of three options for future COLAs for defined benefit State employee retirees:
- Replacement of the current 3% or $300 cap with a cost-of-living adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index for Americans 62 years of age or older (CPI-E).
- Replacement of the $300 cap with an $808 cap adjusted annually according to the Consumer Price Index for Americans 62 years of age or older. [$808 cap was derived based on 2021 CPI-E since 1987 applied to $300]
- Replacement of the 3% or $300 cap with a 4% or $400 cap. [This option was not SERA’s idea, and we’ve not yet identified just where it came from.]
OTHER LAME DUCK LEGISLATIVE NEWS
The Michigan House is scheduled to meet Tuesday — Thursday until December 19 (except no session on December 17 when the presidential electors are meeting in the Senate chambers). The Michigan Senate is meeting the same days, and recently added December 23 to its schedule. During this time the Democrats will still have the trifecta they won in 2022. However, the House Democratic majority of 56-54 is having difficulty with full attendance, so it has been taking up only non-controversial bi-partisan bills on days when there aren’t all 56 Democrats present for one reason or another.
State of Michigan (SOM) Defined Benefit (DB) Pension Proposed — A bill to provide a DB plan and retiree health care for new SOM employees and an option for current SOM employees to buy into it was introduced November 12 and sponsored by State Representative Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park). The bill is HB 6061 and was referred to the House Labor Committee. State Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth) is a co-sponsor.
This bill was developed by the Coalition for Secure Retirement of which SERA is an active member. There is plenty of evidence that the pure 401k defined contribution strategy for retirement security is not supplying all employees with sufficient funding for their retirement. And having a secure pension option will help in recruiting and retaining qualified and dedicated long-term employees.
Special Needs Trust — HB 5986 sponsored by Rep. Kara Hope (D-Holt) would amend the State Employees Retirement Act to allow a State employee retiree to assign their pension benefits to a Special Needs Trust for a disabled beneficiary. This ensures the intended financial support for a loved one without jeopardizing the beneficiary’s eligibility for public benefits such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income. This is an important change for those retirees with dependents with a disability. The bill was reported out of the House Families, Children, and Seniors Committee and now awaits consideration by the full House. SERA supported the bill at the Committee hearing.
Direct Access to Physical Therapy — Michigan’s current restrictions on direct access to physical therapy without getting a referral from a doctor are among the most restrictive in the country. SB 668 would permit people to directly access physical therapists for at least 60 days. The bill was passed by the Senate in October and was reported out of the House Health Policy Committee on December 5. SERA supported the measure in the House Committee hearing.
Vulnerable Adult Protections — Legislation to provide further protections to vulnerable adults from abuse and financial exploitation cleared the Senate with bipartisan votes in October and will have a hearing in the House Families, Children, and Seniors Committee on December 10. SBs 922 — 925 include provisions for enhanced penalties and protections for vulnerable adults through personal protection order laws and allowing for the extension of prosecutions against offenders whose victims were alive when the exploitation began but are no longer living. The key bill in the package, SB 922, would create personal protection orders specifically to address situations involving financial exploitation of vulnerable adults, as well as threats or acts of violence against them. Vulnerable adults are defined as an individual who is/was 60 years of age or older, or who has/had a developmental disability. SERA supported the bills in the Senate and House Committee hearings.
Guardianship Bills — HBs 4909 — 4912 would amend the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC) to modernize guardianship and conservatorship provisions in Michigan law. Attorney General Dana Nessel herself testified about the need for reform and the decades of attempts to achieve it without success. The bills passed the House in October last year and after four hearings in the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety this summer, were reported out on November 14 for consideration by the whole Senate. Michigan SERA supported the bills in the Senate hearings.
Guardians and conservators are individuals appointed through a probate court action. They are obligated to act in the best interests of an incapacitated individual. According to testimony, the current system of appointing guardians and conservators does not effectively protect wards from abuse and often awards guardianship to professional guardians instead of keeping a ward with a willing family member. Additionally, the Attorney General’s Elder Abuse Task Force recommended modifying EPIC to require consistency and accountability among the expectations of guardians and conservators. Modifications to EPIC are expected to ensure that elders’ and wards’ best interests are met and that they are protected from abuse.
Hate Crimes Bills — The Michigan House passed amendments to Michigan’s Hate Crimes Act on November 13 to remove the controversial intimidation verbiage and replace it with stalking. It also makes it clear that the constitutional right to free speech is protected and includes hateful speech. Earlier amendments last year expanded coverage to add attributes, such as age, sex, sexual orientation, or disability, that would allow violent or threatening behavior based on these characteristics to be classified as a hate crime. HBs 5400 and 5401 define the line between protected free speech and prohibited criminal action. The bills were received in the Senate and referred to the Senate Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety for additional hearings.
Election Petition Process — Two separate legislative packages seeking changes to the petitioning process advanced December 4 in the House and Senate after being reported by the Senate Elections and Ethics Committee to the whole Senate for consideration. The House package includes HBs 5571 — 5576 and the SBs 1108 — 1110. The bills aim to combat the rampant fraud on petition signatures over the past few election cycles. The main bill in the package would prohibit paying signature gatherers per signature to remove incentives for deception and fraud that was rampant in the 2020 and 2022 election cycle.
Law enforcement pension proposal — Still languishing in the House Labor Committee is Senate Bills 165-167, a package of bills approved by a bi-partisan vote in the full Senate aimed at allowing state employees who work in law-enforcement related fields to opt into the State Police Retirement System.
HAPPY NEW TAX YEAR
When you file your 2024 taxes in 2025, those of you with birth years 1959 through 1962 will join the 1946 — 1958 birth year babies in getting an increased maximum retirement income deduction due to the gradual elimination of the pension tax in Public Act 4 of 2023. For single filers, it will be a maximum deduction of $32,020; for joint filers, the maximum deduction will be $64,040. For joint returns, the birth year of the older spouse can be used. In tax year 2025, the retirement tax deduction is scheduled to increase again and bring in the 1963-1966 babies. Those born in 1945 or before have been tax exempt all along.
POST-ELECTION MATTERS
Board of State Canvassers (BOSC) Certifies November 5 Election — The bi-partisan BOSC received and certified unanimously all 83 county election results on November 22 with only three commenters raising questions about the news that a non-citizen was allowed to vote in Ann Arbor. In the 2020 election cycle, many Michigan Republicans were upset about the outcome of the presidential election, and numerous lawsuits were filed. One member of the board, Republican Norm Shinkle, abstained on the certification vote following weeks of claims from some Republicans that fraud had tipped Michigan to now-President Joe Biden, who won the state by 154,000 votes.
Bureau of Elections Director Jonathan Brater commended the dedicated efforts of thousands of clerks, election staffers, canvassers and inspectors who administered a “successful” election. “Officials faced the challenge of implementing numerous major changes to our election system made by amendments to our state Constitution passed by voters in 2022, as well as laws enacted by our Legislature the last two years,” Brater said. “Election officials got started early last year to prepare for statewide elections in 2024, while also administering local elections in 2023 and their other responsibilities. We had many new initiatives that in a typical year would be significant projects on their own.”
Presidential Electors Meet — Michigan’s Republican presidential electors selected at their party conventions will convene at 2 p.m. in the Michigan Senate chamber on December 17 to formally cast their votes for President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance. These will be sent to the Archivist of the U.S. for transmission to Congress. On January 6, Congress will meet in a joint session to tally the Electoral College votes. Vice President Kamala Harris will serve as the presiding officer.
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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