Retirement Task Force Bills Get Final Legislative Approval

Liz Gullett

Dec 15, 2017

This week, the House and Senate gave final approval to a package of bills making reforms to retiree benefits in local communities. Following months of debate, and the legislature working on the bill package for weeks, a final agreement was made to move the bills to final passage.

As introduced, stakeholders raised several concerns with the proposal. However, after negotiations with those stakeholders, including police and firefighters, and legislators, a final agreement was made last week. The agreed-upon reforms mirror the recommendations of the Governor’s Responsible Retirement Reform Task Force report. This week, the chambers each voted favorably on the other chamber’s bills and they will be sent to Governor Rick Snyder for final approval.

The legislation on its way to the Governor, includes:

A requirement for a level of pre-funding of municipal retirement plans
Creates an early detection system to help local and state officials identify potential funding problems
Sets up uniform criteria in a state treasurer’s fiscal impact evaluation
Communities flagged as underfunded will have an opportunity to first address the issue and if no remedy is implemented, a municipal stability board will be appointed to suggest corrective measures

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