Capitol Chaos -- Friday, Oct. 30, 2009
Dillon Health Care Plan – Prescription for Disaster
Hearing on 5345 continues
Lori Spotts, president of the Tecumseh Education Association, testified before the House panel dealing with the Dillon health care plan (HB 5345) yesterday afternoon. Her message was that government shouldn’t be in the room when decisions are made about her health care. That is a discussion between her and her doctor only.
Spotts spoke of her situation and experience when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008.
She told the committee that she had read HB 5345 and said, “To be honest, it scares the hell out of me. My doctor and I made the best decisions about my recovery. There was no place for government.”
Spotts tried to dispel the perception that school employees have “gold standard” benefits. As a negotiator for her local association, she shared how Tecumseh EA members have taken cuts in salary and cuts in benefits. She noted that she was grateful for the benefits she has—benefits that were negotiated at the local level rather than being dictated by a panel of political appointees.
Don Wotruba, director of legislative affairs for Michigan Association of School Boards, testified in support of the proposal. He told the committee that his organization views the health care debate to be: how much to pay for health care versus pay raises.
When asked about high administrative salaries, Wotruba defended high administrative salaries in order to meet the demands of the job and the high level of education required by school boards for such positions.
Wotruba urged lawmakers to support a mandatory pool that allows groups to opt out only if their health care plan is better and more cost effective.
Michael Shibler, superintendent of the Rockford Schools, testified that he opposes the bill because it would just create a health care bureaucracy with a 13-member board.
News of the Day
Campaign finance bills pass the House
The package of bills that would make changes to the state’s campaign finance law, including allowing public employees to have their union PAC donations deducted from their paycheck, passed the House yesterday.
The proposed legislation would overrule recent court and secretary of state opinions that found the cost of administering payroll deductions constitutes public spending for campaign-related purposes. However, the legislation requires unions to pay the administrative costs of the payroll deduction. House bill 4245, which provides for the payroll deduction, passed by a vote of 64-42.
House Bill 4284 eliminates the requirement to obtain annual consent for contributions from individuals who give on an automatic basis. Written consent is still required but not on an annual basis. It passed by a vote of 69-37
The third bill in the package, HB 4997, which makes only donations over $20 reportable as opposed to any donation amount, passed on a 62-43 tally.
MEA supports the bills; please contact your state senator to encourage them take up and support the package of bills.
Rep. Corriveau (D-Northville) introduced HB 5565 to restore the $52 million in funding for the 20j schools.
However, the bill only provides for the spending side of the equation. He did not have a plan on how to provide for revenue to fund the bill.
He was quoted as saying, “Our children’s education is too important to let it get sideswiped by political games that are putting Michigan’s schools at risk. The single most important investment we will ever make is in our children. Restoring this funding will renew our commitment to our children and their future.”
Corriveau is hopeful that the bill will be taken up in committee next week.
Dillon tells freshmen caucus to solve K-12 gap
House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.) met with the co-chairs of the bipartisan freshman caucus to discuss K-12 funding Thursday. Rep. Lesia Liss (D-Warren) and Rep. Bill Rogers (R-Brighton) are the co-chairs.
Dillon gave the caucus leaders the challenge to fix the school aid budget. They accepted the challenge and hope to have something back to the speaker by a Dec. 1 deadline.
Vote November 3
Don’t forget to vote this coming Tuesday, November 3. Many school board seats and millage/bond proposal are on the ballot. Contact your UniServ office for names of recommended candidates and the MEA position on millage or bond proposals.
Capitol Chaos -- Wednesday, Oct. 28
News of the Day
Senate panel moves 20j override request
Today the Senate Appropriations Committee moved SR 88 to the Senate Floor for concurrence. SR 88 is a resolution sponsored by Senator John Pappageorge (R-Troy) that asks the Michigan House of Representatives to begin the process of overriding Governor Jennifer Granholm’s veto of Sec. 20j funds in the 2009-10 K-12 School Aid budget.
Testimony was provided by a number of superintendents representing 20j schools. They included the school districts of Livonia, Troy, Farmington, Birmingham and Royal Oak. Each pointed out the cuts they have made in their budgets and the additional cuts they must make if the legislature fails to restore funding. All testified that they are donor districts. (Their districts pay more in taxes than what they receive back from the state in school aid.)
Mike Shibler, Superintendent of the Rockford Public Schools, testified that the 20j funds cost the non 20j schools $35/student. He supports restoring the 20j funds but not at a cost to non 20j districts.
The message of all who testified was not only about restoring 20j funds. They emphasized the need to make funding of schools a priority and requested that the legislature establish a more stable and adequate tax base for funding schools.
The resolution passed on vote of 10-5. Republicans voting in favor were: Ron Jelinek, John Pappageorge, Cameron Brown, Allen Cropsey, Tom George, Roger Khan and Tony Stamas. Republicans voting no included: Bill Hardiman, Mark Jansen and Michelle McManus.
Democrats voting in favor included: Michael Switalski, Glenn Anderson and Liz Brater. No votes were cast by Deb Cherry and Irma Clark-Colman.
Valde Garcia and Jim Barcia were not in attendance.
The House Ethics and Elections Committee today approved three bills that would amend campaign finance law. Notably, the legislation would affect public employee payroll deductions for donations to union political action committees (PAC). Now, the measures go to the full House for consideration.
MEA supports the bills; please contact your state representatives to encourage them to vote yes on the following bills:
House Bill 4245 allows public employees to contribute to a union PAC by payroll deduction if the union fully compensates the public body for the use of any resources.
House Bill 4284 eliminates the requirement that labor organizations and others obtain annual consent for contributions from individuals who give on an automatic basis, such as through payroll deduction. Written consent would still be required, but not every year.
House Bill 4997 does the same thing as House Bills 4245 and 4284 but also affects communications to elect or defeat a candidate, including automated telephone calls. Automated calls and other electronic communications would have to clearly state the name and address or telephone number of the person paying for the communication. Further, telephone communications could not take place before 9 a.m. or after 8 p.m.
Dillon Health Care Plan – Prescription for Disaster
Hearing on 5345 Continues
A hearing is scheduled for Thursday, October 29, 2009, in Room 352 of the Capitol for 1:30 p.m. or after session, whichever is later.
Providing testimony will be the following:
Mike Duggan, CEO, Detroit Medical Center
Mike Shibler, Superintendent of Rockford Public Schools and
Lori Spotts, Tecumseh Education Association President, on behalf of MEA
Evan Falchuk, President and CEO, Best Doctors
Capitol Chaos -- Monday, Oct. 26
News of the Day
Governor Holds Round Table Discussions on Budget
Governor Granholm visited West Michigan last Friday to meet with superintendents, school board members and school staff looking for solutions to the education funding crisis.
The Governor met with members of the school communities in the Muskegon and Kent ISDs encouraging them to support her ideas for a short-term fix and long-term changes to how schools are funded. As she sees it, tax reform is key to avoiding any further budget dramas like we’re seeing now.
After the Governor explained the state’s financial crisis and her reasons for cutting an additional $127 from state aid, on top of the $165 already cut, she heard the impact the cuts will have on education—in addition to the budget slashing schools have already endured.
She heard of the potential elimination of 600 jobs in Kent County and 225 teaching jobs in Ottawa County. Kent City has already eliminated guidance counselors and day custodians. In Whitehall, this new round of cuts could mean cutting programs in fine arts and eliminating athletics and extra-curricular. The message was clear—schools are no longer cutting the number of programs—they’re cutting education quality.
John Mierz, a Whitehall teacher and MEA member, was invited to participate in the discussion. He told the Governor that it’s impossible for districts and staff to do any long-term planning when there’s such funding uncertainty.
Arch Lewis, MEA Research Consultant and a participant in the discussion agreed. “We need a long-term systemic. It’s obvious Prop A isn’t working. We need to get money to schools that will be a permanent revenue source.”
For the short term, the Legislature has 30 days to implement immediate solutions like freezing schedule increases in personal tax exemptions, or having special interest groups pay a percentage of their tax exemptions as a way of closing tax loopholes.
The Governor ended both discussions with the same challenge. “We have to mobilize like we’ve never mobilized before and fix this problem. Contact your legislator and tell them to vote for the needs of public education. Kids only have this moment. The Legislature must be convinced. Are you willing to help me?”
Emergency meetings deal with school funding crisis
In an emergency meeting on Monday, the State Board of Education urged the Governor and the Legislature to immediately find money to reduce the cuts in school funding. Meanwhile, the governor held another round-table discussion in Rochester.
Local MEA leaders and staff attended the meeting. They supplied stories about the cuts in their local districts and its effect on the classroom and students. Oakland County superintendents spoke of cost cutting measures they have been making over the past several years.
Sen. Mike Bishop (R) Rochester, Rep. Tom McMillin (R) Rochester Hills, and Rep. Kim Meltzer (R) Clinton Township were in attendance at the meeting.
Leon Drolet, former State Representative, organized a group of anti-tax proponents to demonstrate outside the Rochester Public Schools Administration building during the roundtable discussion. He had his huge pink pig parked in the parking lot to denote pork barrel spending.
At the urging of the Governor, contact your legislator today. Phone, email, or text legislators and tell them we must save public education. Urge them to look for revenue by reforming our antiquated tax structure and fixing our broken school funding system. For our economic survival, education must be a priority.
Dillon Health Care Plan – Prescription for Disaster
Hearing on 5345 Continues
A hearing is scheduled for Thursday, October 29, 2009, in Room 351 of the Capitol for 2 p.m. or after session, whichever is later.
Testifying on behalf the MEA will be Lori Spotts, President of the Tecumseh EA and Superintendent Mike Shibler, Rockford Public Schools
"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." --Robert F. Kennedy, Former U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator
Capitol Chaos -- Tuesday, Oct. 20
News of the Day
Making the Case for More Revenue
Yesterday, Gov. Granholm signed the K-12 budget (and its $165 per pupil cut) into law, but cut an additional $54 million through line item vetoes, including elimination of 20j funds. MEA President Iris K. Salters issued a press statement afterwards – you can read it at http://www.mea.org/press/102009_further_cuts_to_K12_budget.html.
Obviously all these cuts – regardless of who made them or how they were made – are devastating to our schools and our students. We have to treat the Governor’s actions yesterday as they were intended – as a call to arms in our state to update our antiquated tax structure so it provides adequate funding for public schools.
This afternoon, President Salters joined other education leaders at a press conference with Gov. Granholm calling on the Legislature to enact these critical tax reforms and bring in the revenue necessary to pay for the quality of life we want in our state. Stay tuned to www.mea.org for coverage of that press conference.
Also on the budget front, the remaining budget bills that were being held in the Senate have been delivered by Sen. Bishop to the Governor for her consideration – she has until the end of the month to sign the bills, sign them with line item vetoes, or veto them altogether.
Dillon Health Care Plan – Prescription for Disaster
Study: HB 5345 would COST $870 million
A study by Public Policy Associates was released today showing that HB 5345, the proposed mandatory statewide health insurance plan for public school employees, would cost up to $870 million to set up and operate in its first year. The study found that the massive savings claimed by the bill’s proponents are “largely illusory.”
The media immediately began covering this new study, which was issued by the Coalition for Accountability in Reform, a growing coalition representing taxpayers, police, firefighters, teachers, insurance companies and others with concerns about HB 5345 – MEA is a member of this coalition. Stay tuned to future editions of Capitol Chaos that will delve deeper into this study and its findings. For now, you can read media coverage at:
Capitol Chaos – Oct. 8-9
News of the day
K-12 budget passes with $165 per pupil cut
Just before midnight, state legislators passed a K-12 education budget that included a $165 reduction in per pupil spending. While the cut is less than the $218 originally proposed, this is still a deep reduction that will have an adverse impact on the education of Michigan’s children.
The budget also continues to fund several key programs, including early childhood and at-risk programs, but that doesn't mean those programs are off the hook. Lawmakers gave school districts the option of cutting them at the local level and using the money allocated to them somewhere else. And the reality is, the size of the per pupil cuts may make it necessary for local districts to cut some of the very programs that make them most successful.
We should all be proud of the way we stood up for Michigan students as the Legislature wrestled with the budget mess, but our voices cannot go silent now.
The lesson of the past two weeks is that we have a chronic budget problem that cuts alone cannot cure. Michigan needs fundamental tax reform that leads to stable, predictable and sufficient revenue for our most important investment—the education of our children.
Rest assured that MEA will continue to advocate for this badly needed change. We will we still need your help. If there is anything we have shown throughout this process, it is that together we can make a difference.
Melton testifies on school reform bill
House Education Chair Tim Melton (D-Auburn Hills) went before the Senate Education Committee Thursday to outline his turnaround plan for “failing schools.” MEA supports Melton’s package of bills because it allows for the creation of a charter school as a last resort, not a first option and expands bargaining rights to include privatization of support services. The bills also require extensive oversight of any newly created charter school.
The MEA strongly opposes the Senate Neighborhood Schools Plan because it is simply a way to expand charter schools with even less oversight than is currently in place, despite no evidence that charter schools are more successful than traditional public schools.
Senate committee members have said publicly they hope to merge the two plans in order to best leverage the state’s chances for federal Race to the Top grants.
Tax incentives: Michigan taxpayers deserve info, transparency
Testifying Thursday before a Senate panel considering sunshine legislation on tax credits given to film production companies doing business in Michigan, an MEA representative told lawmakers that there is a “troubling lack of clear evidence” that tax incentives create good jobs and grow Michigan’s economy.
The Senate Finance Committee approved Senate Bills 796 and 889 to require the state film office to provide more information to the public about jobs created by film production companies receiving tax incentives. A recent report commissioned by MEA found that Michigan lacks sufficient data to effectively measure whether tax incentives create, attract, or save jobs.
“Michigan taxpayers deserve detailed information and transparency when it comes to how their tax dollars are spent,” Teri Battaglieri, special assistant to MEA President Iris K. Salters, told lawmakers.
MEA didn’t weigh in on the specific Senate Bills approved by the Senate Finance Committee Thursday, but Battaglieri shared some of the findings from the report on tax incentives.
Sen. Nancy Cassis, R-Novi, said greater public disclosure – for example, how many new jobs are created as a result of tax credits and whether those jobs are filled by Michigan residents – would help lawmakers determine whether the tax credits are beneficial to the state.
Capitol Chaos – Wednesday, Oct. 7
News of the day
The House passed three new revenue bills totaling $163 million Tuesday to try to restore funding to education and other areas of the budget facing damaging cuts. These bills are a good start, but they are just a start—much more action is needed to prevent cuts that would devastate schools and the Michigan Promise program.
The revenue bills passed include a 3 percent tax on physician billing, which would allow the state to leverage more federal Medicaid funding, a freeze on a schedule increase in the personal income tax exemption, and a 15 percent cut in state business tax credits. Several additional revenue bills are expected to be taken up in the House when it convenes at 1:30 this afternoon.
We are still in a very tough fight. House Democrats led the passage of the new revenue bills, with all 43 Republican members of the House voting against all three bills. The Senate, which went back in session this morning at 10 a.m., could take up the bills today, but they face an uphill battle. Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop and other key senators have vowed to fight any revenue increases.
One important note—during debate in the House, Republican legislators tried to tie-bar charter school reform bills to the revenue bills, but were unsuccessful. It’s critical that we reinforce the message with lawmakers that reform bills should not be tied to any new revenue.
No deal on K-12 budget
Despite media reports and an announcement by Speaker Andy Dillon, there is no deal on a continuation budget for K-12 education. Sen. Bishop reported today that “two sides are close to a permanent budget” but refused to give details. At last report yesterday, the funding cut was reduced to $110 per pupil. Gov. Granholm reiterated yesterday the importance of making education spending a priority by saying “What we’re fighting for is Michigan not becoming Mississippi.”
Talk to your legislator today!
These developments show why it is more important than ever for you to stay involved. Contact your state senator and representative and urge him or her to support new revenue to invest in education – e-mail and text messages are best when legislators are in session or in caucus meetings, but a phone call to their office is another way to have your voice heard. Last week, they stood up against damaging cuts to public schools – now our leaders in Lansing must make the tough choices to fix our antiquated tax structure and stop the cycle of budget cuts we’ve endured for a decade.
Capitol Chaos -- Tuesday, Oct. 6
Breaking News – 3:22 p.m.
The state House and Senate have reached a continuation budget agreement for K-12 funding that would include a $110 per student cut, instead of a $218 cut. Both chambers must vote to approve the budget. The House is expected to take it up later today. The Senate is already adjourned and will probably take it up tomorrow.
This is not the good news we’ve been looking for. With this new development, it’s more important than ever to urge lawmakers to pass a permanent budget that makes education a priority.
Talk to your legislator today!
Staff and members are at the Capitol today urging lawmakers to support new revenues to fund education. Help their efforts by either texting your legislators or calling their offices.
Ask them:
· Will you support passing the K-12 budget at the 2008-09 level?
· Will you support additional revenues to fund education?
· What sources of revenue will you support?
News of the day
Dillon offers up $398.3 million in revenue
Today, House Speaker Dillon is looking at a variety of small tax increases, for a total of $398.3 million in new money. Supposedly, Dillon has shared the list with Senate Majority Leader Bishop.
Among the taxes being reviewed along with their savings are:
· 15 percent in MBT tax expenditure cuts = $116.1 million
· Tobacco products tax = $41 million
· Extension of hours of operation for bars = $13.7 million
· Freeze on personal exemption index = $55 million
· 12.5 percent increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit = $120 million
· 3 percent physician tax to leverage more federal Medicaid dollars = $52.5 million
The additional funding would be used to restore revenue sharing to local government units to 2009 levels; fully restore the Michigan Promise Grant; restore Medicaid cuts; and restore funding cuts to libraries.
Cuts to K-12 education would be reduced by $125.9 million.
On
learning of the revenue increases, Gov. Granholm said, “What we’re
fighting for is Michigan not becoming Mississippi.”
The Governor’s Budget Priorities
For Gov. Granholm, a new budget must preserve Michigan’s future. That means a budget that helps us establish an economy that will create jobs we need; protects public safety services; and provides a quality education for our children.
In this budget debate, her priorities are:
· Preserving the Michigan Promise Scholarship will increase the number of college graduates and thereby grow Michigan’s economy.
· Avoiding cuts to education so that we can prepare out students for the jobs Michigan needs in the future.
· Maintaining essential services like police and fire protection. Cutting revenue sharing funds that pay for these services will devastate local communities.
· Standing up for our children, the sick and the elderly—our most vulnerable citizens. They can’t afford the budget cuts to nursing homes and child protection services.
· Diversifying Michigan’s economy by funding the 21st Century Jobs Funds. Any budget cuts here will make Michigan less competitive and less attractive to businesses looking to create jobs here.
Public Hearing on HB 5345 cancelled this week
There will be no public hearing on HB 5345 this week. MEA representatives are now tentatively scheduled to testify on Oct. 29
Be a part of National Call-In Day for Health Care Reform, Wed Oct. 7
Join the AFL-CIO tomorrow—Wed. Oct. 7—in calling Congress to reform health care now. Insurance companies are protecting their business and trying to derail any reform. Congress needs to hear from real working families like you.
Call Congress at 1-877-323-5246 and tell them we need health care reform that will:
· Control costs without taxing our benefits.
· Provide guaranteed coverage for all Americans.
· Include a public health insurance option.
· Hold insurance companies accountable.
· Require all employers to pay their fair share.