SB 1227 clears the House
Early this afternoon, the House passed SB 1227 by a vote of 59-45. This legislation will allow public school employees an early out retirement package.
The bill provides retirement incentives as follows:
The final average compensation used for computing the increase in the multiplier shall not exceed $114,000. Any final average compensation above the $114,000 would have a 1.5% multiplier.
The bill requires all school employees to contribute 3% of their salary to the public employee retirement health care account unless the employee makes less than $18,000 a year. The employee, in that case, would contribute 1.5% during the 2010 fiscal year. For the fiscal year beginning on or after October 1, 2011, members whose salary is less than $18,000 shall contribute 3% to the public employee retirement health care account.
The substitute bill also gives the Department of Technology, Management and Budget a $4.5 million appropriation to the implement the changes of the early out.
Democrats gave a self-imposed deadline for getting the measure (SB 1227) done by Friday so schools would have time to plan for retirements and new hires before the beginning of the school year. With the House passage of the bill, it now goes to conference committee for the House and Senate to work out their differences.
Members of the conference committee include Rep. Mark Meadows (D-East Lansing), Rep. Martin Griffin (D-Jackson), Rep. James Bolger (R-Marshall), Sen. Mark Jansen (R-Gaines Twp.), Sen. Judson Gilbert (R-Algonac), and Sen. Deborah Cherry (D-Burton). At this time, there is not a meeting scheduled for this conference committee, but MEA will keep you informed of any developments.
The Senate may be reluctant to meet in conference as their version of the bill does not provide a retirement incentive.
Please note: MEA members who are eligible for retirement are advised to wait to submit any paperwork until the Legislature and Gov. Jennifer Granholm pass a final bill.
Reminder:
Many school districts have policies about communicating with legislators on school time and equipment, so wait until you are away from school to contact your legislators or use your personal cell phone when you are off duty.
posted April 30, 2010