Governor Snyder’s office issued a release yesterday announcing his appointments to a municipal retirement benefits reform task force he alluded to during his recent State of the State address. The 23-member task force includes representation from MML, MTA and MAC, along with representatives from a number of labor groups, legislators from each caucus in the House and Senate, health care and retirement system experts, among others.
The Task Force on Responsible Retirement Reform for Local Government has been directed by the Governor to provide their recommendations later this spring. The League views the Governor’s focus on this issue as a positive. We look forward to a fruitful and thoughtful partnership with all of the members of this task force. We are hopeful that as a group we will work toward sound fiscal policy that preserves benefits for our employees while at the same time allowing critical flexibility for communities.
Chris Hackbarth is the League’s director of state & federal affairs. He can be reached at 517-908-0304