Governor Rick Snyder is personally lobbying lawmakers to adopt an overhaul of how local government pensions are managed.
Snyder is a CPA/investor turned politician, and he’s had his eye for a while on making sure local pension and retirement plans are better funded. The plan proposed by Snyder and the Legislature’s GOP leaders would allow the state to intervene if a local government has a retirement plan that’s under-funded with no plan to fix it.
Snyder wants the Legislature to deal with the bills before its winter break.
“…because this is an issue that doesn’t get better with time.”
“The idea here, though, is, hopefully, local governments can solve the problem with their own employees without it coming to state intervention. That should be a last resort, and I think that’s the way it’s designed.”
Republican state Representative Mike McReady is a “no.” He says the legislation would give the state too much authority over local governments.
“I did hear from my local units of government in opposition to these bills. Those were the people I really worked with on it were my township supervisors and city managers.”
The Legislature is expected to meet into evening. But a lot of Republicans and Democrats remain opposed. Local governments and public employee unions say the plan too closely resembles emergency management, including the power to force budget cuts and the sale of assets.