Legislative Report
May 2010
The major legislative focus of the politicians in Lansing was in three areas during the month of April. After returning from a two week Easter break, legislators resumed their work on the budget and passage of the texting while driving legislation and resolution of the differences between the House and the Senate on a retirement incentive bill for state employees and teachers. Success of the ban on texting while driving was celebrated in late April as the Governor signed the bills into law on the Oprah Winfrey television program. As the month ended, the legislature was still wrestling with the bill intended to entice a large number of state employees and teachers into retiring as part of a budget balancing measure.
The personal ambitions of the politicians were in the forefront as the result of so many legislative seats being up for grabs due to term limits, a number of incumbent politicians seeking higher political office, the rumors that Governor Granholm might be on a short list for nomination to the Supreme Court with the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens this summer, and the surprise announcement that Congressman Bart Stupak of the 1st Congressional District would not seek reelection. The idea of there being an open seat in the first Congressional District had politicians living within that District salivating. It even had some changing their official residence as State Senator Jason Allen did when he moved from Traverse City to Alanson which is in the 1st District. He is now a Republican candidate for Stupak’s congressional seat. A number of other legislators toyed with the idea of running for the 1st District seat but decided against it.
One of the more interesting political squabbles was between Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and State Senator Andy Dillon, both of whom are running for governor. Bernero criticized Dillon for not showing strong support for the new federal health care legislation. Dillon then asked Bernero to release the names of those attending a Bernero fundraiser at the home of Ken Ross, head of the Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation. Implicit in the request was that Ross was putting the squeeze on those in the insurance industry which he regulates to contribute to Bernero’s campaign. Then along comes Alma Wheeler Smith, the other Democratic gubernatorial candidate, to criticize both Bernero and Dillon for their petty bickering instead of presenting their plans for correcting the state’s problems. Such infighting among many politicians will intensify the closer we get to the August primary election.
Governor Granholm caused a political fight when she appointed 16 individuals to the boards of the various universities in the state. Taking a page from former Governor Engler’s playbook, Governor Granholm made the appointments of both Republicans and Democrats to the boards for terms which begin on January 1, 2011, some nine months away. It is also the same day she leaves office as a term limited Governor. The Senate which has an advice and consent role in such gubernatorial appointments, after meeting in Republican caucus, informed the Governor that they would reject the appointments because, in their opinion, they should be made by the next governor and should not be made nine months early. They further informed her, that they would reject any appointment she makes to take effect after September 3, which is 60 days before the general election in November. The Senate has 60 days in which to reject appointments. Within the Senate itself was some infighting as some senators sought to act upon each appointment individually while the majority wanted to reject them collectively which finally was the method used to reject the appointments.
Some of the bills which were acted upon during April and which may be of interest to retirees/seniors are as follows:
Ban on texting while driving — HB 4370, SB 468 and HB 4394 are now Public Acts 58, 59, and 60, respectively. Collectively, these bills make it unlawful to operate a vehicle while using a hand held or lap held wireless device to send and receive text messages. The law would not prohibit an individual from using such a device to report an accident, medical emergency, road hazard, or in a situation where a person’s personal safety was in jeopardy. Violation of this law would be a civil infraction resulting in a fine of $100 for the first offense and $200 for subsequent offenses. The revenue received from fines will go to support public libraries. There would be no points entered on one’s driving record for such violations. These Acts take effect July 1, 2010 and supercede any local ordinances addressing texting while driving.
Retirement incentives and other retirement modifications — SB 1226 is the vehicle used to address the Governor’s proposal to encourage state employees to retire. Employees would have a May 1 to June 1 window to apply for retirement and would have until June 25 to withdraw their application. The Senate version of this bill is so vastly different from the House version that explaining the differences here would only serve to confuse the situation. The two versions of the bill have gone to a Conference Committee where three senators and three representatives will reconcile their differences and presumably come up with a proposal that will be acceptable to both chambers. The Governor had hoped that the bill implementing her cost saving proposal resulting from the retirements would have been complete by now. Neither the bill addressing state employees nor school employees has passed. The issues centers around how much incentive there should be and what the richer incentives will do to the projected savings. Hopefully, in next month’s report we will be able to explain in detail what and how rich the early retirement plan will be.
Require public employees to pay 20% of health care premiums — SB 1046 would create the Publicly Funded Health Care Insurance Contribution Act to require public employees to pay a certain percentage of their health care insurance premium beginning January 1, 2011. The bill, as written, requires public employers to pay not more than 80% of the premium costs of health insurance plans. There is a provision which would allow the employer payment to increase to 90% provided the plan included a health savings account in combination with a high deductible health plan that complies with Federal laws and guidelines. Should the requirement limiting the amount of the health care premium paid by the employer conflict with collective bargaining agreements currently in effect, the provisions of the bill would not take effect until the union contract had expired. The bill has been reported out of the Senate Committee on Regulatory Reforms and is awaiting action by the full Senate. Senate Joint Resolution “P” would amend the state constitution to require any health care benefit offered to public employees to conform to cost allocation requirements established by state law. This Joint Resolution also has been reported out of the Committee on Regulatory Reforms. It would require a vote of the people if the legislature approves it.
Governor’s line-item veto of language regarding genealogy collection — Governor Granholm vetoed language in HB 5394, a supplemental appropriation bill, which would have required the Library of Michigan to maintain custody of the non-Michigan genealogy and federal documents collection and not to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of these collections. In her veto message to the legislature, the Governor stated, “I want to preserve the Library of Michigan’s flexibility in exploring suitable candidates to assume these collections. Therefore, I have vetoed sections 101(7), 302, and 1001.”
Reduce state departments down to eleven — SB 1075 eliminate several existing principle state agencies by combining them with other current state agencies as follows: Attorney General would encompass the current Attorney General, Civil Rights and Civil Rights Commission. A new Business Assistance Department would include the current Energy, Labor and Economic Growth Department along with the Michigan Strategic Fund. A new Health and Human Services Department would include the current Community Health and Human Services Departments. Finally, a new Public Safety Department would include the following current departments: Corrections, Military Affairs, and State Police. The bill would require the heads of the new departments to perform certain analysis of its functions. The bill has been reported out of the Senate Committee on Reforms and Restructuring and will be considered by the full Senate.
Miscellany
UBS settlement on pension funds — State Treasurer Robert Kline and Attorney General Mike Cox have announced that Michigan pension funds will share in a $117 million national settlement made by the investment firm UBS. UBS was the investment banker for HealthSouth and participated in a cover up of the failing financial condition of HealthSouth which eventually suffered a financial collapse resulting in a loss of millions of dollars to various state pension funds. HealthSouth and the accounting firm of Ernst and Youngblood have previously settled with the pension funds.
Michigan Catastrophic Claims Fund cost increase — Vehicle owners will experience a rate increase of $18.02 in their insurance costs to maintain the reserves used to pay for catastrophic claims resulting from major injuries incurred in automobile accidents. The total amount paid to the Fund now will be $143.09 per vehicle. Michigan provides unlimited coverage for catastrophic claims awarded from the Fund, the only state to do so. In the 1990s, voters rejected placing a limit on medical benefits paid by the Fund.
Governor set election dates for vacated House seat — Governor Granholm has set the dates for the elections to fill the 95th District House seat vacated when former Representative Andy Coulouris resigned to accept a job in Washington, D.C. The election dates will coincide with the primary election in August and the general election in November which is a considerable cost savings by avoiding special elections.
Democratic endorsement convention — The Michigan Democratic Party held a so called endorsement convention to endorse candidates who will run for Attorney General and Secretary of State in the August primary. David Leyton, Genesee County Prosecutor was endorsed over Richard Berstein, Chair of the Wayne State University Board of Governors, to be the Party’s Attorney General Candidate. Wayne State University Law Professor Jocelyn Benson was endorsed by the Party over Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey as the Party’s choice for Secretary of State. Both Mr. Leyton and Ms. Benson still will have to run in the August Democratic primary against any other Democratic candidates. The endorsement merely means that they are the Party’s selected candidates for those offices.
People in the News
State Representative George Cushingberry, a Detroit Democrat and chair of the House Appropriations Committee, was hospitalized for high blood pressure at a Detroit hospital for several days.
State Representative Kate Ebli, a Democrat from Monroe, has announced that she is experiencing a recurrence of breast cancer for which she was treated in 2004. She indicated her cancer is under control and her doctor is please with her response to treatment. Consequently, she is planning on running for reelection.
Eddie Washington, Jr., has been appointed as Director of the Michigan State Police by Governor Granholm. He previously was the Deputy Director. A twenty six-year veteran of the department, he replaces Pete Munoz who was recently named as U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Michigan.
Craig DeRoche of Novi, a former Republican House Speaker, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of impaired driving after being arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated in Saline, Michigan. His blood alcohol level was .249. He is to be sentenced May 25.
Joe Harris, a former City of Detroit Auditor General was appointed as Emergency Financial Manager of the City of Benton Harbor after the Governor determined that City was experiencing a financial emergency. Harris’ most recent position was teaching governmental accounting at Wayne State University.
Kieth Butler, pastor of a Detroit area mega church, resigned as Republican National Committee member from Michigan to address the increasing demands of his Church.
Dale Kildee, a Democratic U.S. congressman from Flint, has squelched rumors that he is not a candidate for reelection to Congress. Rumors began to surface when Representative Bart Stupak announced his retirement. The 81 year old Kildee who has been a congressman since the mid 1970s will run for reelection.
Editor’s note: Alvin Whitfield is former President of the Lansing SERA Chapter and former Chairperson of the Michigan SERA Council and current Legislative Representative for both the Council and the Lansing Chapter. He may be contacted at 1241 Runaway Bay Drive, C-3, Lansing, Michigan 48917; phone 517/703-9666; e-mail: alwhit@worldnet.att.net.
Return to top of page