Lawmakers ID Money to Pay For Pension Attack – ACT NOW!

May 08, 2017

Senate Republicans had a choice to make this week – fixing roads or gutting school employee pensions – and they decided their priority is to eliminate retirement security for the dedicated professionals who staff our public schools. 

Remember that the next time you blow out a tire on a two-foot-deep pothole, but meanwhile – Join the fight to stop this latest attack on public education – Contact your lawmakers NOW. 

The Senate on Thursday passed a $56.1 billion budget with $542 million left over – money that Sen. Curtis Hertel (D-East Lansing) proposed should be spent on fixing the state’s deteriorated roads. His amendment failed 18-19 – with seven Republicans joining Democrats voting in favor. 

Republican leaders in both the House and Senate have said their top priority for those hundreds of millions of dollars is to close the defined benefit retirement system (MPSERS) to all new school employees. 

“That has been my absolute top priority since the day I was elected speaker of the House,” Rep. Tom Leonard (R-DeWitt) told reporters last week. “So if that’s an avenue we can go, if that’s something we can get accomplished, I’m ready for it.”

Keep in mind – the $500 million in additional money required this year to close MPSERS to new hires is only the beginning. The extra costs of shifting new school employees to a defined contribution system, such as a 401(k), would continue for decades.