MEA Votes

Lansing politicians from both sides of the aisle decided late last night to balance their state budget problems on the backs of middle-class teachers and support staff, instead of working on real reforms to move Michigan forward.

The Senate, led by Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, and the House (also led by Bishop, although state Rep. Andy Dillon is “technically” Speaker of the House) passed “compromise” bills that call for school employees to pay 3% of their salary for retirement benefits -- that may not be there when they retire!

Last night's legislation was stripped of any contractual guarantee for retirement health care for those making these new 3% payments. In fact, Bishop made certain to proudly state that on the record: “In this substitute, we have eliminated Section 17, the entire section, which created a contractual right to health care. We also inserted language in Section 3(6) to assure that there is no individual guaranteed health care benefit in this trust. Health care is not guaranteed now in any provision, and the establishment of this trust does not in any way guarantee health care benefits in the future.”

The ultimate irony is that as state politicians, Bishop and Dillon themselves have taxpayer-funded lifetime health benefits after just serving a few years in the Legislature. It’s difficult to find a more outrageous example of hypocrisy than that.

But wait – there’s more.

The legislation, House Bill 4073 and Senate Bill 1227, does NOT balance the school aid budget. Here’s what it does instead:

• Fails, because of the meager incentive offered, to encourage a sufficient number of school employees to retire early in order for districts to save money. In fact, these bills will cost school districts more, while doing nothing to stop more draconian cuts to public education this fall.
• Guarantees the continued erosion of the number of employees participating in the system because of outsourcing and privatization and the exclusion of charter school employees -- this will continue to drive up the contribution rate in future years.
• Places future employees in a vastly inferior retirement plan and forces them to pay almost 10 percent of their salary to that plan.
• Requires all school employees to pay a tax of 3 percent, which totals almost $2,600 a year for experienced teachers.

How did this grand “compromise” come about? It’s very simple: Bishop made an offer, and Dillon and his minions jumped on board. That led the Lansing State Journal’s Derek Melot to write: “Funny. I thought a deal involved each side getting some of what they want. I guess that’s not the case in House Speaker Andy Dillon’s world. …Wouldn’t Michigan save some money if we just made Mike Bishop speaker of the House, in addition to Senate majority leader?”

Bishop, Dillon, and their anti-education allies sold out public school employees in the cover of night. It’s time we held them accountable for their actions. It’s time to also hold accountable politicians who joined Dillon and Bishop in throwing teachers and support staff under the bus. Tell these legislators it’s time to stop treating school employees like punching bags:

Senators
• Jason Allen (R)
• Patty Birkholz (R)
• Mike Bishop (R)
• Cameron Brown (R)
• Nancy Cassis (R)
• Alan Cropsey (R)
• Valde Garcia (R)
• Tom George (R)
• Jud Gilbert (R)
• Ron Jelinek (R)
• Roger Kahn (R)
• Wayne Kuipers (R)
• Michelle McManus (R)
• Mike Nofs (R)
• John Pappageorge (R)
• Randy Richardville (R)
• Alan Sanborn (R)
• Tony Stamas (R)
• Mickey Switalski (D)
• Buzz Thomas (D)
• Gerald Van Woerkom (R)

Representatives
• David Agema (R)
• Justin Amash (R)
• Kathy Angerer (D)
• Dick Ball (R)
• Jase Bolger (R)
• Darwin Booher (R)
• Pam Byrnes (D)
• Brian Calley (R)
• Bill Caul (R)
• Ed Clemente (D)
• Bob Constan (D)
• Marc Corriveau (D)
• Hugh Crawford (R)
• Kevin Daley (R)
• Cindy Denby (R)
• Larry DeShazor (R)
• Andy Dillon (D)
• Kevil Elsenheimer (R)
• John Espinoza (D)
• Robert Genetski (R)
• Kevin Green (R)
• Marty Griffin (D)
• Gail Haines (R)
• Goeff Hansen (R)
• Joe Haveman (R)
• Dave Hildenbrand (R)
• Ken Horn (R)
• Bert Johnson (D)
• Rick Jones (R)
• Marty Knollenberg (R)
• Eileen Kowall (R)
• Ken Kurtz (R)
• Matt Lori (R)
• Pete Lund (R)
• Jim Marleau (R)
• Tom McMillin (R)
• Arlan Meekhof (R)
• Tim Melton (D)
• Kim Meltzer (R)
• Chuck Moss (R)
• David Nathan (D)
• Judy Nerat (D)
• Paul Opsommer (R)
• Phil Pavlov (R)
• John Proos (R)
• Bill Rogers (R)
• Wayne Schmidt (R)
• Tonya Schuitmaker (R)
• Paul Scott (R)
• Dan Scripps (D)
• Joel Sheltrown (D)
• Jim Slezak (D)
• Dudley Spade (D)
• Jim Stamas (R)
• Sharon Tyler (R)
• John Walsh (R)