Jack Spencer of Michigan Capitol Confidential was a guest Thursday on “The Vic McCarty Show” on WMKT 1270AM in Traverse City, discussing his recent story about the continued dues skim that has allowed the SEIU to take nearly $30 million over the last six years from Michigan’s most vulnerable families.
According to an article posted on the Mlive.com news site, some Kalamazoo County public school officials are complaining that Lansing politicians want to “eliminate public schools.” Such alarmist rhetoric like this is not uncommon from education bureaucrats, although taxpayers might find the timing a bit odd given that both the state House and Senate have just increased education funding to nearly $13 billion next year.
The House of Representatives voted 56-54 to approve Senate Bill 619 Thursday, according to Michigan Capitol Confidential, which will increase the number of cyber charter schools in the state.
You can read more about the issue here and here.
Also, the ballot proposal to overturn Michigan’s emergency manager law appears headed for a court battle.
This week, Rep. Steve Lindberg, D-Marquette, offered the following amendment (defeated on an unrecorded “voice vote”) to the Department of Corrections budget for the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1:
That’s a nice sentiment if you happen to live in such a community, but does it really contribute to the general welfare of Michigan residents for prisons to be regarded as a government “jobs” or “economic development” program?
Michigan Capitol Confidential today looks at claims by MEA President Steven Cook regarding teacher pay. There’s also a case study of teacher benefits and be sure to watch the video of economist Thomas Sowell discussing welfare.
Gov. Rick Snyder signed Senate Bill 1018 into law more than two weeks ago, ending the illegal unionization of some 60,000 home health care aides. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports today, however, that “dues” are still being skimmed from their paychecks. CapCon’s skim-tracker shows that the SEIU has siphoned nearly $30 million from Michigan’s most vulnerable residents since the scheme was put in place six years ago.
Patrick J. Wright, director of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, was a guest on “The Frank Beckmann Show” on WJR AM760 Monday, discussing a lawsuit filed by an Indiana labor union against that state’s new right-to-work law. The suit alleges the law violates the union’s 13th and 14th amendment rights, saying that since right-to-work “requires dues-paying members to work alongside non-union personnel,” union members are thus subject to slavery.
A representative teacher in a typical Michigan school district can retire at age 56 and immediately begin collecting state benefits worth $48,161 annually, including $35,640 in pension and $12,521 in health insurance benefits. The insurance benefit cost assumes the person has a dependent spouse but no dependent children.
The claim by an Indiana union that the state’s new right-to-work law violates their 13th and 14th amendment rights “expands the definition of chutzpah,” according to Mackinac Center Legal Foundation Director Patrick Wright.
Wright was cited on the matter in a Michigan Capitol Confidential story that was highlighted by The Daily Caller.
The Detroit Free Press and the Bloomfield Hills Observer & Eccentric are both reporting that Senior Economist David L. Littmann will give a presentation at 7:30 p.m. April 26 at the Bloomfield Township Hall on the Bloomfield Hills School District’s proposed $58.6 million bond. Taxpayers will vote on the issue May 8. Littmann is a former member of the BHSD board of education.
The Missouri state House voted Thursday to "nullify" Obamacare, making it illegal for federal or state officials to even attempt to enforce the law.
This is by far the most rigorous expression of resistance by any state legislative body to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The vote moves the bill to the Missouri Senate, where its prospects are not known at this time.
Michigan Capitol Confidential today reports on a retired teacher who is highlighted in a union publication saying he wouldn’t have gone into teaching had he known his payments for retiree health care would increase about $116.
Huron Valley retiree Jim Pierson told the MEA he “sacrificed lower pay for greater security” when he went into teaching. Education Policy Director Michael Van Beek pointed out that a teacher in Huron Valley at the top of the pay scale with a master’s degree earns $70,260 after 30 years of service and would get a pension of $31,500 a year with 3 percent annual increases. Van Beek also estimated Pierson's retiree health care premiums would increase about $116 a month under proposed legislation.
In both the House and Senate, this week was dominated by appropriations committee deliberation on the state budget for the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1. There were only a few final-passage floor votes on noteworthy bills, or ones of general interest.
Michigan’s government unions are attempting to use the pension fund as another way to nerf public charter schools and school contractors.
The unions would like charters and contractors to pay for the underfunding of pensions earned by school employees (their members), saying that these capture the “stranded costs” of the system. But corralling additional members into the pension system will create more long-term pension problems without fixing any of the system’s short-term challenges.
A Michigan Capitol Confidential story about a teacher upset over the fact she might not be able to retire at age 47 with full benefits drew several mentions in national media outlets, including Instapundit, Townhall, The Washington Times, Reason, and Hot Air.
Education Policy Director Michael Van Beek's Op-Ed in the Port Huron Times-Herald addresses steps the Legislature can take to correct the $21 billion in long-term debt that Michigan's public school districts owe. The piece is taken from this Viewpoint commentary, which is taken from testimony Van Beek submitted to the state Senate Appropriations Committee about the School Bond Loan Program.
Michael LaFaive, director of the Center's Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, is cited in this Detroit News Op-Ed about the need to streamline the state's liquor laws. Chief among the reforms LaFaive would like to see is a dismantling of the wholesale monopolies distributors of beer and wine enjoy.
Paul Kersey, director of labor policy, is cited in today’s Investor’s Business Daily about the effects of right-to-work laws on states.
Read more about right-to-work protections for employees here.
In a recent newspaper article, the superintendent of the Fowlerville school district said: “There are no employees are [sic] getting raises. Every position in the district, from mine on down, has taken concessions.”
To those not familiar with the public school bureaucracy’s jargon, this may sound like no employees in that district will get an increase in their salary. That’s not the case. The tip-off comes in the next line: “We do have contractual obligations that have step increments that occur at various times.”
James Hohman, assistant director of fiscal policy, writes in a Detroit Free Press Op-Ed Sunday about how to fix the school employees' pension system. An editorial in Friday's Detroit News also cited a recent study by Hohman showing legislators how to fix the underfunded MPSERS while potentially saving taxpayers billions of dollars. The editorial also agreed with an earlier analysis by Hohman that charter public schools employees should not be targeted as a way to shore up the unfunded liabilities of the pension system.
(Editor's note: This article was previously published on Apr. 14, 2012 in the Washington Examiner "Opinion" section.)
As gasoline prices edge upward, consumers and politicians are looking for someone to blame. Some say it's Iran's fault, while others are blaming the Obama administration. The president, who has a habit of demonizing the oil companies, says there's no silver bullet to solve the problem.
The House and Senate are in the midst of a two-week break, so rather than votes, this report instead contains several newly introduced bills of interest.
Y = Yes, N = No, X = Not Voting
Senate Bill 943: Authorize extra punishment for threats to politicians and judges
Introduced by Sen. Darwin Booher (R), to authorize additional prison time for threats made to state elected officials and judges, over and above the penalties authorized for making a threat to non-politicians or judges. Specifically, the bill would authorize an enhanced sentence of up to an additional year in prison for threats made in relation to an elected official’s official duties. Referred to committee, no further action at this time.
With Detroit on the threshold of literally running out of cash to pay its bills, a consent agreement has been signed shifting the city’s governance to a small team led by Mayor Dave Bing. The city has traveled a good way further down the road to ruin since the Mackinac Center published an article in 2007 called “Flashy Projects Have Not Helped Detroit.”
As spring blooms, the president addresses the nation on energy. He tells us, “Without our planning for the future, it will get worse…The oil and natural gas that we rely on for 75 percent of our energy is simply running out.”
Unless profound changes are made in the next decade, the president warns, the world will demand more oil than it can produce. He calls for “strict conservation” and switching to “permanent renewable energy sources like solar power.” Because they promise future energy independence, his administration is spending billions of taxpayer dollars on wind, solar and biodiesel, plus offering massive “clean energy” subsidies.
If you think smaller class sizes are important to student learning, you should support expanding the number of charter public schools.
That’s the conclusion suggested by the most recent data available from the Michigan Department of Education, and it directly contradicts claims made by defenders of the conventional public school status quo, many of whom would rather limit or eliminate their charter school competition.
