The Michigan statehouse will debate adding state corrections officers to the state police pension plan in the final days of this year's legislative session. Last month, the state Senate passed legislation that would expand pension options for state prison staffers beyond the standard state employee 401K.
State corrections officers have been raising alarms over a staffing crisis for years. They currently face a staffing shortage of almost 1,000 staff. The Michigan Corrections Organization, the union for corrections officers, wants the state House of Representatives to pass a bill before the end of the session in December.
“Any bills that are on the floor at the end of the session, that don't actually get enacted and passed, they expire, and you have to start that whole process over in the next session,” said Byron Osborn, union president for the Michigan Corrections Organization.
Osborn said that being added to the state police hybrid plan would entice desperately needed new staffers. He said that the current 401K plan is available at less dangerous jobs.
“We can no longer get people to stay here and make a career out of the job. They're here for a short time and they're on to other things that are less dangerous,” Osborn said.
Staff in state prisons have been doing long overtime shifts to make up for the lack of staffing.
“16-hour shifts, multiple times a week,” Osborne said. “In some cases, on consecutive days, like at the Jackson complex, you're seeing people coming in, and for three or four days in a row, being subject to a double shift.”
Jean Zimmerman has worked for almost a decade as a corrections officer at the Charles Egeler Reception & Guidance Center in Jackson. She echoed the concerns made by Osborn.
“Anywhere you go now offers the 401K, and nobody has to put up with any of the things that we have to deal with on a regular daily basis,” she said. “The violence, the insults, everything.”
Zimmerman said she’s seen the state prison struggle to keep recruits, and that it currently sits at almost 40% vacancy. She says a hybrid pension plan would help provide “a sense of stability” for employees.
“We would have something set in stone that we can look forward to, actually being able to enjoy a retirement,” she added.
The bills adding correctional officers to the hybrid plan passed in the state Senate with bipartisan support.
State Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City) said in a statement the bill would let corrections officers “retire with the dignity and stability they deserve.” State Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Township) said he hoped the bills would “begin to address staffing retention issues.”
The bills likely face opposition. In the state Senate. Sen. Thomas Albert (R-Lowell) empathized with the staffing concerns, but said the bills would stress an already underfunded state trooper pension system.
“The most recent audited financial report shows the troopers’ retirement system being at about 66 percent funded with nearly $1.2 billion in unfunded liabilities,” Albert said on the floor during last month’s the debate over the bills.
Osborn said that the state’s taxpayers are paying tens of millions of dollars to fund overtime for staffers. He argues the state would spend less on hybrid pensions. Osborn also argued that pensions would avoid going insolvent if legislators were more active in managing the funds.
“The legislature has to take that responsibility just like they do with the MSP now,” he said. “We can't divert funds that normally would have been going towards that (pensions) and putting them towards other projects because you feel like you're going to pass that buck on to the next legislature.”
The Michigan Department of Corrections said in a statement to WCMU they are reviewing the legislation.
Colin Jackson of the Michigan Public Radio Network contributed reporting to this this story.
