Another right-wing think tank spokesman attempts to curb educators' bennies in Michigan!

The following is from an Upper Peninsula newspaper in Michigan. John [Curry]
The Mining Journal - Published: Monday, July 9, 2007

‘Real’ reform elusive

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Both Republicans and Democrats say they want ‘‘real’’ changes and savings in state government before asking Michigan citizens to pay higher taxes.

But that’s much easier said than done— as shown by recent attempts in the Legislature to alter health benefits for school employees and retirees.

A proposal requiring new teachers to work 30 years to get 90 percent of their monthly medical insurance premium paid for during retirement got no backing from Senate Democrats. Some retirees now qualify for the same coverage with just five or 10 years of work.

Another core GOP bill, which would open up the claims data of an insurer affiliated with the state’s largest teachers’ union, didn’t even win support from all Senate Republicans.

Eventually, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, the Democratic-controlled House and Republican-led Senate may agree to the bills and other cost savings along with tax hikes to help balance a projected $1.6 billion shortfall in the state budget that starts Oct. 1. Some lawmakers won’t vote for changes unless they’re part of a comprehensive budget deal.

But that doesn’t comfort observers who are unimpressed by a lack of action on reforms to date.

Jack McHugh, legislative analyst at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, cites a bill passed by the Senate last month. Retired teachers and other school employees would get 3 percent of their monthly health costs paid by school districts for every year they have worked, as long as they have worked at least 10 years.

‘‘That is the most weak, tepid, quote ’reform,’’’ McHugh said. ‘‘That’s not even a reform. That’s just correcting something that’s corrupt.’’

McHugh says legislators also should get behind proposals such as ending monthly retirement pensions for newly hired teachers and switching to a 401(k)-type defined contribution system. New state employees went to a 401(k) system in 1997.

The free market-oriented think tank in Midland also supports ending retirement health benefits for new employees. Outside the auto industry, McHugh says, few private employers provide medical insurance to retirees any more.

‘‘We are paying school and state and local government employees compensation rates and benefits as if we were the richest state in the union,’’ he said.

Public-sector workers and their labor unions disagree.

‘‘Teachers and public school employees have come to expect high-quality benefits as a tradeoff for generally lower salaries than similarly trained professionals,’’ said Doug Pratt, spokesman for the Michigan Education Association, or MEA, which represents 157,000 teachers and other education workers.

Pratt disputes the GOP’s belief that letting school districts pool employees’ health costs will save money. Aside from fixing health care at the national level, he concedes, the only way to lower costs immediately is reducing existing benefits — ‘‘which I don’t think anybody wants to do.’’

Many legislative proposals would affect school employees hired next year and beyond but not veteran teachers, saving money years down the road. Some changes such as shifting to 401(k)-style benefits actually could require a $157 million upfront contribution from the state.

‘‘We can’t afford to spend more right now on something like this,’’ Pratt said, adding that Michigan can’t cut its way out of a deficit.

The quandary with educators’ labor costs isn’t unique. Consensus also is lacking over other restructuring proposals — new sentencing guidelines that would keep more criminals out of state prisons, privatizing prisons, becoming a part-time Legislature, cutting welfare and Medicaid, and getting concessions in current labor contracts from prison guards and other state employees.