Weekly News – Jan. 7, 2014

Mixed support for new right-to-work law in Michigan
It won’t be too much of a surprise to most of our readers to hear that a survey polling government officials in Michigan revealed that 60 percent of Republicans and just 21 percent of Democrats polled were supportive of the new right-to-work law that went into effect in 2013. The law’s exemptions for police and fire unions had very little support across the board, just 26 percent – a worrying statistic for public sector union leaders.

Montgomery County police still await full effects of limited bargaining rights
In 2012, Montgomery County voters upheld a law revoking the police union’s right to bargain the effects of management decisions (they still have the right to negotiate the usual things like hours, pay, and working conditions). The police union is suing the county, claiming that they illegally used taxpayer money to win the referendum. The chief says that the new law allows him to manage more effectively, but as of yet the full effect of the law has not been felt.

Albuquerque unions at odds with city administration
In Albuquerque, city officials and union leaders are butting heads while trying to hammer out new contracts. One union official, Deb Rainaldi, said “maybe the city doesn’t want to be reasonable.” City officials say the sticking point is that the unions are unwilling to give up “union time,” a practice where union leaders are paid by the city for the hours they are doing union work.

Legislators pushing 401(k) style plan in Kansas
The Republican-dominated Kansas legislature is pushing for a 401(k)-style retirement plan in place of the current Kansas PERS, which is (like virtually all public pension plans) experiencing shortfalls due to the 2008 market crash and ensuing recession. Ernie Claudel, who is the vice president of a retirees’ coalition, says it is “an ideological and political debate … not a financial one.” 401(k) plans have their upsides, but in general they transfer risk from the government to individual retirees, which is not appealing to most employees.

Kentucky lawmakers struggling to fund state pensions
In 2013, Kentucky legislators passed SB2, a pension reform bill. However, now that they are faced with crafting a budget that meets the demands of the new law, they are running into problems. William Thielen, executive director of the Kentucky Retirement System, noted that the economy had not improved as much as they had hoped, and the budget was still very tight. The lesson here is that passing a law saying you have to fund something isn’t the same as actually having the money to fund it. (How many times will we have to go over that lesson before our legislators finally get it?)

Editorial: Transparency versus closed-door negotiations
Geoffrey Lawrence has written an interesting editorial about the closed-door, backroom dealings that are common in some areas of Nevada law-making. Union leaders in the state are opposed to forcing negotiations into the public eye because it would, at best, make their jobs more difficult. In the 21st century, drawing the line between government transparency and practicality is an increasingly knotty issue.