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AFL-CIO Leader
Raises Education Concerns About Legislative Lame Duck Session
from Gongwer News Service, October 31, 2002
For more articles on disabilities and special ed visit
www.bridges4kids.org.
With a large number of legislators following all of the
elected administration positions into new office or into the
private sector, Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney said
union officials will be watching the lame duck session of the
Legislature to be sure Republicans do not try to force through
measures that, until now, have been rejected by the majority
of members.
Of primary concern are measures to prohibit local living wage
laws and to allow for new charter schools. The union is also
concerned that legislators will revisit the issue of making
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan a for-profit entity.
"Generally in lame-duck sessions you have to be vigilant," Mr.
Gaffney said. "Not only does it give legislators and the
governor a last chance to get legislation they wanted, but the
usual relationships break apart."
Mr. Gaffney said it was not unusual in lame duck for
legislators on the way out to agree to support an idea with
the promise of future work or support.
"If you couldn't get a prohibition on living wage laws passed
by communities in the last two years, you shouldn't be able to
do it in the last two weeks," he said.
The same should be true, he said, of legislation allowing Blue
Cross to become a private insurer. He characterized the
legislation already passed banning the sale of the Blues as
largely symbolic and said there were still bills pending that
could undo that legislation.
The union is also watching closely what might happen with the
budget in the final weeks. "We're very concerned about what
gets cut," Mr. Gaffney said.
David Hecker, president of the Michigan Federation of Teachers
and School Related Personnel, said his group was concerned
that HB 4800 to allow for additional charter schools would be
passed, along with a package of legislation (HB 4428, now in
the Senate, and HB 4541 on the House floor) that would allow
community college coursework to be used as a basis for a
substitute teaching license and reduce to 60 from 90 the
number of hours of coursework required to qualify for a
substitute license.
"The irony of these bills is they're in the hopper at the same
time the federal government passed the No Child Left Behind
Act which requires increased standards," Mr. Hecker said.
The teacher group is also concerned that a proposal by the
Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System to change
to a graded premium subsidy for health benefits could become
legislation, and possibly law, during the final weeks of the
Legislature. Although the proposal would save money for the
retirement system and the state, Mr. Hecker said it could
leave some school retirees, especially aids and others who
worked part-time or those who took periods of leave, without
health benefits.
Under the recommendation, Mr. Hecker said an employee would
have to have worked 30 years of full-time employment for
schools to maintain the current health benefit of about 90
percent of the premium paid. The graded premium proposal would
require the retiree to pay an additional 3 percent of the
premium for each full-time year less than 30 the person worked
before retiring.
"For support staff it would basically leave them with no
pension at all," he said.
And he said the change would make it even more difficult to
recruit support staff and even teachers.
At a press conference Wednesday, House Speaker Rick Johnson
(R-LeRoy) would not rule anything out of a lame duck session,
and said he expected Governor John Engler to have some
proposals. He also said if Proposal 02-4 passes, then the
Legislature would have to react to that as well.
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