MI Cost-Cutting Moves Include Public Worker Health Care Changes
February 1, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Michigan Governor Jennifer M.
Granholm's agenda to cut inefficiencies and costs in the state government
includes health care changes for public employees and legislators.
In her latest agenda, announced Friday, Granholm proposes
to increase state employee participation in "a new health-care plan that
maintains critical benefits for new state workers and their families while
reducing the cost to state government by 21 percent." Granholm says local
government, school, university, and other public employees will be given the
option to participate in the new health care plan.
In addition, Granholm has proposed eliminating lifetime
health care for legislators.
According to the announcement on Granholm's Web site, the
governor also plans to provide "positive and negative incentives to
encourage 7,000 eligible state employees and 39,000 eligible public school
employees to retire."
Other proposals in the Michigan Recovery &
Reinvestment Plan include, among other things:
- reduce costs by implementing pay-as-you-go budgeting;
- require financial disclosures of all state elected
officials and candidates;
- tighten ethics standards for elected officials, appointed
officials, and state contract managers;
- audit state contracts annually and review all tax
expenditures biennially to identify needed changes and savings; and
- shift to a two-year state budget cycle.
Links to audio of
Granholm's proposal can be found here.
Rebecca Moore
editors@plansponsor.com