Legislative Report
November 2010
Finally, the first phase of the political craziness has ended. Observing the campaign/election process, it is no wonder that relatively little gets accomplished once politicians take office. It is the American way and as contemptuous and disorganized and confusing as political campaigns appear to be, we all accept the end result and look to those elected for sound governance. While there may be battles of words, our politicians do not resort to physical battles and the most serious wounds are to opponents’ egos.
So here are the outcomes of all the robocalls, glossy mailers, negative political advertisements, knocks on the door, yard signs everywhere which we have experienced over the last four or five months:
Governor: Rick Snyder, Republica from Ann Arbor
Lt. Governor: Brian Calley, Republican from Portland
Attorney General: Bill Schuette, Republican from Midland
Secretary of State: Ruth Johnson, Republican from Royal Oak
The Republicans won control of both chambers of the legislature and will have a supermajority in the Senate with a 26-12 majority. They picked up 20 seats in the House and will have a 63-47 majority there.
One Supreme Court Justice, Robert Young, Jr. of Grosse Pointe, was reelected to another eight year term. His fellow Republican-nominated candidate, Mary Beth Kelly, a Wayne County Circuit Court judge, was elected to her first eight year term on the Supreme Court. Their elections continue the conservative bent of the Court.
With the Constitutionally mandated question of whether there should be a constitutional convention going down to defeat, we will not have to worry about the pros and cons of that issue until 2026.
With the voter approval of Proposal 2010 -2, it is highly unlikely that Michigan will have anyone convicted of a felony involving the breach of the public trust within the last twenty years or a breach of public trust while holding a public office through election or appointment serving in a governmental position in the future.
The next major challenge to SERA is to fight any attempt to get SERA-opposed legislation passed during the lame duck session between now and December 31. With there being such a large turnover of legislators beginning January 1, 2011, those currently in office likely will push to get certain legislation passed before leaving office. Your SERA leadership will be poised to fight any attempt to get bills such as HB 5345, the Dillon health care pooling plan passed. We, along with many other organizations, are closely monitoring any attempts by legislators to accomplish this feat. Of course we will continue our vigilance as the new administration takes office.
There was no legislative action on bills currently before the legislature during the month of October for the obvious reason that legislators were back in their districts campaigning for reelection or the election of their replacements if they were termed limited. The following is a summary of the Governor’s action on bills which may be of interest to our membership:
Revenue Generating bills signed — The Governor did sign two bills reported on in last month’s Legislative Report which were part of her budget balancing proposals for 2011. They were the tax amnesty bill (HB 6421) and the escheats bill dealing with unclaimed property (SB 884). These bills are now Public Acts 198 and 197, respectively.
Governor vetoes Liquor bill — Governor Granholm vetoed HB 6007, the details of which were explained in last month’s Legislative Report. The bill began in the House as a simple bill to allow the serving of liquor in certain types of retirement centers. It was expanded in the Senate to include a number of additional items such as expanding the time liquor could be sold on Christmas Day, allowing alcohol products to be sold at 7 a.m. on Sundays, allowing restaurants to sell alcohol products off premises, and allowing the licensing of certain community colleges to sell spirits. The Governor believed the bill was too expansive and may have been in conflict with existing laws. As a result of this, the Governor vetoed the bill.
Miscellany
State charged with unfair labor practice — An administrative law judge concluded that the State of Michigan was guilty of an unfair labor practice as the result of its failure to grant a 3% pay increase to some 14,000 non-unionized employees after initially agreeing to do so. Unionized employees successfully bargained for the 3% pay increase effective October 1, 2010. The normal pattern is for non represented employees to get the same increase as union employees. This was the plan until the Governor, through the Office of the State Employer, withdrew the previously agreed upon increase. The Michigan Association of Governmental Employees (MAGE) filed a grievance as a result. In a harshly worded opinion, the Administrative Law Judge took the state to task because Sharon Bomarrito, Director of the Office of the State Employer, refused to testify during the hearing and even ignored a subpoena to do so. The administrative law judge opined that the state was willing to accept a finding of an unfair labor practice rather than risk a negative outcome of the hearing which would cost the state some $45 million if it were ordered to pay the 3% wage increase for non represented employees. The result of the hearing officer’s decision is the requirement for the state to post that it is guilty of an unfair labor practice in strategic locations such as its website. The administrative law judge also ordered the state to pay MAGE’s cost of the hearing which probably will be in the range of $100,000. The case certainly will be appealed to the Employment Relations Board and then the Civil Service Commission and may end up in civil court. Unrelated to the hearing, MAGE officials asked the Governor to use some of the surplus from the fiscal year which ended September 30 to pay the 3% increase to the non-represented employees.
Visa/Mastercard lawsuit settlement — The State of Michigan is part of a lawsuit settlement with Visa and Mastercard which will permit merchants to allow discounts on purchases when a credit card with a lower processing fee is used. The processing fee is the amount the merchant pays the credit card company when a customer uses a credit card. American Express was not a part of the settlement and the lawsuit continues against that company. You may anticipate hearing more about the mechanics of the settlement form the credit card companies and/or the merchants. Michigan is one of seven states which, along with the U.S. Justice Department, sued the credit card companies to force them to negotiate more attractive processing fees with merchants and allow them to pass the savings on to the customers. Hopefully, this settlement will stimulate the economy by driving down business costs.
Attorney General joins U.S. Justice in suit against Michigan Blue Cross/Blue Shield — Michigan and the U.S. Justice Department are suing Michigan Blue Cross and Blue Shield over their reimbursement rate structure contained in their contracts with hospitals. Basically the “Blues” contracts with hospitals require reimbursement rates lower than the rates which are paid by other health insurers. The suit alleges that the “Blues” cut reimbursement rates to 45 smaller hospitals while it increased rates to 23 larger hospitals. Blue Cross/Blue Shield has special status in Michigan as a non-profit organization due to the requirement that it be the insurer of last resort. The lawsuit eventually could result in this non-profit status being changed.
Civil Rights Commission adopts resolution against assistant attorney general — The Michigan Civil Rights Commission adopted a resolution condemning Andrew Shirvell, an assistant attorney general, who is accused of harassing the University of Michigan gay student body president, Chris Armstrong. The Commission’s resolution stated that Mr. Shirvell’s actions should not be tolerated by anyone, let alone a public official. Mr. Shirvell is currently on leave from the Attorney General’s office. Mr. Armstrong has filed a complaint against Mr. Shirvell with the Attorney Grievance Commission which could result in serious sanctions against Mr. Shirvell.
No Michigan city named in top 25 most dangerous — Using FBI data, NeighborhoodScout website named the top twenty five most dangerous cities. Based on the identification of where a person would be a victim of crime, no Michigan city was included in the list of the top 25 cities in the United States. This flies in the face of the general assumption about the dangerousness of the City of Detroit.
People in the News
Robert Jones, a Democratic State Representative from Kalamazoo and a former mayor of Kalamazoo, recently died. Mr. Jones was a candidate for the 20th District state senate seat and thought to have a good chance to win the seat. He was elected to the house in 2006.
Bobby Hopewell, current mayor of Kalamazoo was selected to replace Mr. Jones as the Democratic 20th District Senate candidate. Mr. Hopewell’s regular job is Director of Hospitality for Borgess Medical Center. He will not benefit from any absentee votes already cast for Mr. Jones inasmuch as voter cannot elect a dead person. Absentee voters who voted for Mr. Jones prior to his death had the opportunity to obtain a new absentee ballot after Mr. Jones death.
Governor Granholm received the “Insignia of First Commander, Order of the Polar Star” from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. The honor is bestowed by the Swedish government to royalty or foreign residents for service to help Sweden. Ms. Granholm was on a trade mission to France and Sweden. Governor Granholm hosted King Gustaf in Dearborn in 2008.
Charles Blockett, Jr. a retired Civil Service Department employee and personnel consultant, was appointed by Governor Granholm to the Michigan Civil Service Commission, as an Independent, for a term expiring December 31, 2014. Mr. Blockett replaces Kelly Keenan who resigned from the Commission.
Gary Olson, Senate Fiscal Agency Director, was honored as the recipient of the Steven D. Gold Award given by the National Council of State Legislatures, the National Tax Association, and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. The award is given to individuals who “have made significant contributions to state and local fiscal policy.” Mr. Gold at one time was the head of fiscal studies for the National Association of State Legislatures.
Justin Amash, a Republican State Representative from Kentwood was included on a list of Time Magazine’s top 40 civic leaders under 40. Mr. Amash was a candidate for the U.S Congress and Time said he was “poised to surf the Tea Party’s wave to victory in the 3rd Congressional District.” Mr. Amash did, indeed, win the Congressional election.
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.
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