With teacher pension changes signed into law, Legislature wants more benefit changes
LANSING — Now that Gov. Rick Snyder has signed major changes to retirement benefits for new teachers into law, another contentious battle is on the horizon for the fall when legislators hope to extend those changes to other public employees.
Those affected would include police officers and firefighters, as well as other municipal employees.
The Legislature faced a furious backlash from police officers and firefighters last year when it began to discuss cuts to retiree health care and other retirement benefits for municipal employees during the lame duck session. Lawmakers backed off the proposal, and will likely face a similar battle if the issue is resurrected.
“You’re going to see the quality of officers to continue to be greatly diminished and you’ll have greater difficulty in recruiting quality people for the job,” said Ed Jacques, director of member services for the Police Officers Association of Michigan. “They ought to be looking harder at funding that will attract the most quality people for the most important job that municipalities have, which is public safety.”
Read more: http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2017/07/13/teacher-pension-changes-michigan/477088001/
