LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – Bills are ready to be signed by Governor Whitmer that would add corrections officers to the Michigan State Police pension system, changes that U.P. lawmakers worked with the Michigan Corrections Organization (MCO) to introduce. Last week, Speaker of the House Matt Hall took action to keep the bills from receiving a signature.
Correctional facilities across the state are operating with staff shortages. Last summer, MCO released reports for 11 facilities to outline the overtime and staffing crisis.
State Senator Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Township) has been an advocate for the changes.
“It was a tremendous victory for our corrections officers and for the whole U.P. team from last term,” McBroom said. “There’s still more that has to be done to make it a safer work environment and a place where our staffing numbers are robust.”
The bills passed with bipartisan support just in time for the end of last year’s legislative term. They were waiting to be approved by the governor when the new House of Representatives took over, and Republican leadership put them on hold.
The new Speaker of the House, Representative Matt Hall, pulled nine different bills for legal review. Speaker Hall said some of the bills have errors in the legal language, including the corrections pension bills.
MCO president Byron Osborn said those bills are the only plan currently being worked on and will be essential for enabling facilities to incentivize the corrections officer job, retain current employees, and attract new ones.
“We’ve got people working consecutive days, 16-hour shifts, not seeing their families, they’re not healthy. The prisons aren’t being run with the number of staff that are supposed to be there, which is just an inherently unsafe position to be in.” Osborn said. “We think the language speaks for itself, and we’re hopeful that upon a cursory review, Mr. Hall concurs with everybody else and moves this on to the governor.”
MCO is working to urge Speaker Hall to let the legislation reach the governor’s desk, but no plan has been shared to address the legislation.
There is more information about MCO’s efforts here: https://www.mco-seiu.org/
House Democrats have released this statement on the 9 bills being held back:
“These nine bills will deliver policies to positively impact hard-working Michiganders, better support their families, and uplift their communities. house republicans have a constitutional obligation to present these bills to the governor for her review and signature. instead, they are choosing to exploit hard-working Michiganders who are trying to provide for their families because they care more about playing political games and delivering wins to their wealthy stakeholders. house democrats stand up for Michigan’s working families — we are fighting to make sure these bills are immediately presented to the governor for her signature as dictated by the constitution and legislative rules. House Democrats passed these bills to provide relief to public employees from rising health care costs, preserve and support Detroit’s history museums, and ensure working people and their families can get retirement benefits, financial security, and better pensions. this is legislation that builds michigan up — it is unacceptable that house republicans have chosen to hurt Michigan’s working families and communities by threatening to tear that work down. we will continue to stand up for workers, and we will never stop fighting for the right to affordable health care, safety, and financial security benefits that every Michigander deserves.”
