An FU from me to the Michigan Senate for SB 691

Its no secret that Michigan has a serious budget issue. Raising taxes is never popular but it seems like the only reasonable answer.

That being said....I can't explain how frustrated I am with Senators SANBORN, JELINEK, GILBERT, CROPSEY and GARCIA. They are proposing that not only all State employees, but any government agency or agency that receives any funding through state grants must pay atleast 15% of employer paid health care costs.

The state is estimating that this will save 400 million dollars. The problem is that all of that money comes out of the pockets for the very people that have made it there JOB to work for the state. The State is giving a virtual FU to the people that still care and work for it.

And you betcha, this affects me too. I have always said that while my job doesn't provide a huge salary, that my benefits are great. It's amazing how quickly these benefits are beginning to fade. What kills me about this whole thing is that unlike the State, the agency I work for is not going through a budget crisis right now and all this does is take money out of our pockets, it saves the State nothing. It's an excuse for my agency to throw the extra 1,000 or so dollars a year this will be per employee to some bullshit budget item like office products. This won't affect our budget by one dollar its just less money in a Michiganders pocket and more money going to Office motha fucking Depot.

A message to the senate. You want economic development, well you can kiss 400 million dollars of investment if you pass this bill. It's a cop out easy way to put YOUR burden on the very people that work for you.

I've included the excerpt of the bill language below:

A bill to limit a public employer's portion of the cost of health insurance benefits; and to provide for exceptions.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
"public employer health insurance contribution act".

Sec. 3. As used in this act:

(a) "Health insurance" means employee medical, dental, or
optical benefits.

(b) "Public employer" means the state; a county, township, village, city, school district, or other political subdivision of the state; an authority; a public institution of higher education; or any other entity jointly created by 2 or more public employers.

Sec. 5. Except as provided in section 7, a public employer that offers health insurance to its employees shall pay no more than 85% of the premium or other cost of those benefits.

Sec. 7. If a collective bargaining agreement that is
inconsistent with section 5 is in effect for a group of employees of a public employer on the effective date of this act, the requirements of section 5 do not apply to that group of employees until the collective bargaining agreement expires. The requirements of section 5 apply to any extension or renewal of the agreement.

Sec. 9. The requirements of section 5 apply to all public
employees to the greatest extent consistent with constitutionally allocated powers.

Enacting section 1. This act takes effect January 1, 2009.