LANSING – A legislative plan to spur thousands of school employees into retirement is headed to Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s desk nearly three and a half months after she unveiled the sweeping plan, but in putting the final deal together and getting the votes to pass it, the Legislature once again struggled through the night.
In the end, the conference committee report on SB 1227 was passed by just enough votes from both chambers. In the Senate it passed 21-14, while in the House it garnered a vote of 56-45.
Opponents were distraught about the legislation’s implications for school employees across Michigan while proponents just seemed relieved to get a reform of that size accomplished.
“It means we’re going to be able to get a K-12 budget done this year that won’t include an effective cut,” House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.) said. “It’s unfortunate it took so long.”
And long was the operative word of the day as details of the agreement had been known for most of Thursday. But it wasn’t until mid-afternoon when Senate Republicans emerged from caucus that the deal seemed to be solidified and the ball started rolling in terms of herding the number of votes needed for final passage.
In the Senate, Republicans strained to get the 26 votes needed for the bill to take immediate effect for an hour and a half, while in the House, Democrats wallowed an hour and 15 minutes on getting the 55 votes needed to adopt the conference report.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) said the IE vote was essentially the result of a turf war with Senate Democrats.
“I just can’t believe we sat here that long to negotiate on IE,” Bishop said. “That was negotiating with terrorists on something that will save the state $3.1 billion.”
He said House Democrats had not included their Senate counterparts in the negotiations as Senate Republicans had included House Republicans.
Both chambers began their work around 2 p.m., but it was clear early on that they would be in the Capitol into the night to clench a deal. The first conference committee meeting, scheduled for mid-afternoon, had been cancelled, so when the second conference meeting was noticed everyone knew it would be a six-hour wait.
That put the conference committee meeting start time at 9:15 p.m.
Once a deal was reported, the state’s largest teachers union, the Michigan Education Association, put out an urgent action alert to members asking them to call lawmakers and tell them to vote against the deal.
“Whether this passes the Senate or the House I think the jury is still out on that,” Rep. Mark Meadows (D-East Lansing) told reporters in the afternoon.
He noted labor didn’t like the deal because it asked school employees to pay more and get little benefit.
But Dillon was more confident the votes to pass were there.
Most lawmakers left the Capitol to go home, go back to their offices, grab a bite to eat, and in the case of a few lawmakers running for higher office, attend the Republican Lincoln Day dinner in Bay City.
When bodies started congregating in the Capitol around 9 p.m., it became clear the legislation was not ready. It would be 11:30 p.m. before the conference panel would sit down and take a vote, which came out divided with two Democrats opposed.
Funny enough, after the conference committee acted, Rep. Mark Meadows (D-East Lansing) thanked Sen. Jud Gilbert (R-Algonac) for his work. Mr. Meadows had just joined Sen. Deborah Cherry (D-Burton) in voting against the conference report.
The Senate followed up with a vote of 21-14 around 12:30 a.m. with Sen. Michael Switalski (D-Roseville) and Sen. Buzz Thomas (D-Detroit) joining Republicans in support and Sen. Bill Hardiman (R-Kentwood) joining Democrats in opposition.
But for over an hour, the board on immediate effect was held open. At one point, the Senate had 25 votes for immediate effect, just one short of the notes required. But votes started falling off the board. Just before 1:50 a.m., there were 26 votes on the board.
Sen. Deborah Cherry (D-Burton) was the deciding vote, with Sen. Jim Barcia (D-Bay City), Sen. Gilda Jacobs (D-Huntington Woods) and Switalski joining the solid Republican caucus on immediate effect.
Hardiman said the bill in its final version created winners and losers because some districts had already provided early retirement plans and would now have to also help cover the added benefits to those retiring under this plan. He expected it would cost Grand Rapids Public Schools $1 million for each percentage increase in contributions to the pension fund to cover the additional costs.
The Senate then took up the health care trust measure (HB 4073 ). But the Senate removed provisions that made health care a contractual right.
“Health care is not guaranteed now and the establishment of this trust does not guarantee health care in the future,” Gilbert said in describing the substitute as the chamber moved it to third reading. Bishop repeated the statement as the bill came up for final passage, noting he wanted the Legislature’s intentions on the record should the bill be challenged.
That bill passed 23-10 with Ms. Jacobs, Switalski and Thomas joining the Republicans and Sen. Jason Allen (R-Traverse City) joining Democrats.
After Democrats caucused with Granholm for about 20 minutes, the House took up the health care measure first, passing that on a 77-24 vote.
“The agreement on the public school employee retirement plan marks an important milestone in our effort to resolve the structural deficit in the School Aid fund by saving billions of dollars over the next 10 years,” Granholm said in a statement issued after the legislative action. “Just as importantly, by encouraging veteran teachers to retire this plan will create thousands of new jobs in our state. I thank lawmakers for their action and I am hopeful that with this important step behind us, we are in a stronger position to balance the 2011 budget by July 1st.”
In his floor speech, Rep. James Bolger (R-Marshall) also emphasized the trust does not guarantee health care to retirees.
“If this bill added one cent of retirement liabilities, my Republican colleagues would not vote for it,” he said.
The legislation specifies, “This act shall not be construed to define or otherwise assure, deny, diminish, increase, or grant any right or privilege to health care benefits or other postemployment benefits to any person or to assure, deny, diminish, increase, or grant health care benefits or other postemployment benefits, rights, and privileges previously or already granted to members or past members and their dependents by the applicable retirement act.”
The conference report on SB 1227 was then put up, after a few moments with the board open House Majority Floor Leader Kathy Angerer (D-Dundee) moved to clear the board.
That’s when Rep. Steven Lindberg (D-Marquette) stood up to speak.
“Let us be clear what this bill does not do. It does not put any money into the School Aid Fund. It will not prevent any schools from closing. I know some think it will give our school districts a lot of money but I think this bill is based on some false premises Speaker,” he said.
Lindberg said the proposal would not attract as many people to retirement at a time when the economy is tight, people are supporting kids in college, or having their kids live at home because they can’t find a job.
There is a shortage of math, science and special education teachers and the plan would just do more harm, he said.
“I think this is a sad day,” Lindberg said.
The vote board was then opened up again and it was clear Democrats would need all the House Republican votes they could get. They got 40 of the 43 with Rep. Tory Rocca (R-Sterling Heights) the sole Republican to vote against the bill. Rep. Tim Moore (R-Farwell) and R
