Please Take ACTION!
By using the link above, it will take you to the ACTION NETWORK. Fill in your residential information. The site will then provide you a preformatted letter about pensions (you can change it if you want), but it will automatically SEND THE LETTER TO YOUR LEGISLATOR!!!
"While the House and Governor’s intentions on pension reform in lame duck are less clear, Senate leaders have now publicly stated they’re going to attempt to pass SB 102 before year’s end, which would move all new school hires into a defined contribution, 401(k)-style retirement plan.
Not only would this have a huge impact on new hires, but cutting off funding into the pension threatens to destabilize the system for current employees and retirees as well – everyone has a stake in this fight.
For his part, Gov. Snyder and his administration have been opposed to this change thus far, with a PowerPoint presentation making the rounds with lawmakers and superintendents saying that the total extra cost of this change will be $24 billion dollars over 30 years – MEA did a story about that last week via Capitol Comments, the website and Facebook.
That PowerPoint provides us our message with lawmakers that members and the public can share: State budget experts are saying this bill will cost taxpayers an extra $24 billion -- where will that money come from? Tax increases? Or cuts to my child’s education?
For 2017 alone, closing the pension system would cost an extra $1.2 billion – that equates to a cut of $820 per student!
The Senate Appropriations Committee has scheduled a meeting for 9 a.m. tomorrow about SB 102 (the bill that would put all new hires in a defined contribution system), as well as SBs 1177 and 1178 – bills that would spread out the state’s pension costs over 50 years, instead of the current 22 years. This is an attempt to make the increased costs of closing the pension system appear smaller by spreading them out until 2067 – long after every current employee has retired and passing the buck on to future legislators and taxpayers."
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By using the link above, it will take you to the ACTION NETWORK. Fill in your residential information. The site will then provide you a preformatted letter about pensions (you can change it if you want), but it will automatically SEND THE LETTER TO YOUR LEGISLATOR!!!
