When I was a little kid, my mom would say “Don’t take things that don’t belong to you.”
And if I did anyway she would say “Give it back this instant, young man.”
If I didn’t, I knew justice – mom-style – would be swift and sure: A good solid two hours in my room was in my immediate future so I could “think” about what I’d done. (I never did, by the way.)
And if that didn’t get my attention, the dreaded follow-up threat – “Just wait ‘til your father gets home” (hey, it was a different era) – surely would.
There was nothing worse than that.
Those were the rules in my house. Maybe the rules were different in Gov. Snyder’s.
The Nerd King is bent on asking the state Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court ruling that the state should refund $550 million that was unconstitutionally and involuntarily taken from school employees between 2010 and 2013 to fund a retiree health care system.
School employees, who sued, are livid because they’ve been waiting five years already to get their money back thanks to the slow churn of our court system.
“Stop attacking teachers on the taxpayer dime!” read one sign held by a protester outside Snyder’s Lansing office this week. “Drop the appeal, it’s not your money,” said another.
Honestly, I’d be ticked, too. If my boss came to me and said “Do you voluntarily want me to take 3 percent of your salary and put it in a retirement account for you?” I’d probably say yes.
That’s more less what 401Ks are.
But if my boss, without my consent, said to me and my fellow employees, “Hey, guess what? I’m taking 3 percent of your salaries and putting it in a collective retiree health care pool that you may or may not end up benefiting from, isn’t that great?” I wouldn’t like it one bit.
That’s essentially what the state did. The Court of Appeals – twice now – has said the original law, which was eventually altered to make participation voluntary, was illegal and the state should give back the money plus interest.
But Snyder is going to appeal anyway, even though his own attorney general, Bill Schuette, apparently thinks so little of the state’s position that he is refusing to provide lawyers to fight the case.
Snyder’s reasoning: “If school employees do not contribute toward their retirement health care,” he said through a spokesperson, “the funding for the system will have to come from other district resources, either from the classroom or directly from taxpayers so that districts can balance their budget.”
I have no idea of that’s true or not. But it doesn’t matter – the courts have repeatedly said the state took something that didn’t belong to it. End of story.
So in the words of my mother, Gov. Snyder, “Give it back this instant, young man.”
And if you don’t, well, I suggest you go to your room and think about you’ve done for a few hours.
This scenario proves once again that Slick Rick thinks he’s above the law. He could care less about the working class…
The 3% was also taken out of State employees checks. This was ruled unconstitutional in 2012 and Snyder signed the bill to refund the money. Witch was done. Why are the teachers different from the state employees? Here is a link to the information http://michiganradio.org/term/state-employees#stream/0.
Sorry for the miss spelling should have said Which was done.
The state employees that had their money involuntarily taken got their money back a couple years ago, it’s just the school employees (me included) that have not. It’s not just teachers – it’s all school employees. They made us choose a plan in 2013 so at least then we had a choice to stay in or choose another plan – this 3% is just for healthcare, we also contribute for pension (anywhere from 3 to 7%).
There is a long history of the State of MI dipping into the teachers’ retirement fund which resulted in the fund being inadequate to meet future retirement needs. Instead of returning the money, the legislature severely diminished the entire retirement program and its benefits. Now teachers must almost entirely finance their reduced retirement program out of their own pockets. It had always been a covenant that if a teacher dedicated his/her life to teaching the state’s youth for a lower salary than could be earned in the private sector, the state would reciprocate by providing a decent retirement program. The State has reneged. Re the case at hand, don’t ever expect our State’s primarily Republican Supreme Court to ever side with labor against their GOP cronies – the governor and legislature. Elections have consequences.
Who gets retiree health care? Apparently teachers and government employees. Great, retiree health care, paid for by people who don’t get retiree health care. I get whatever I elect to put into my 401k. I get Medicare when I am 65. Before you say, but I was promised retiree benefits when I hired in, so was I. I lost lost those benefits 20 years ago, so my employer could survive. Oh and since I don’t get retiree health care and and employer paid retirement, I will have to work some where between 40 and 45 years. So don’t give me I worked for 30 years I am entitled to this.
School employee health care isn’t free. We still pay a monthly premium for this after retirement. The 3% was taken out without approval. School employees could voluntarily have the 3% taken out after 2012. They are just asking to receive the money’s taken before 2012 just as the state employees did. Snyder signed the bill to return it to the state employees but continues to fight returning it to school employees.
We also contribute to our retirement plan. And most elect to fund their own 403b plan that is similar to a 401k. YOU do not pay my pension. Had the state managed our pensions with integrity, there would be no issue at all! And I will be paying a premium when I retire to get health care!
Oh, and I get paid only for the days I work, sick days and any snow days (that may or may not occur). Contrary to popular belief, I do not get paid for summer or for holidays. The TAX SYSTEM (AKA our government) requires me to spread my pay over 24 months! So each time I get a paid a portion of those wages are kept in the DISTRICTS bank account to “pay me later”. I have a contract and I work those days! In addition, I work about 50 hours a week, about 12 of which are not paid at all! Yes, my week is 38 hours long, as required by my contract. With my early arrival, late stays, AND weekends, I easily reach a 50 ( many times more) hour week!
I don’t pretend to know your work situation, so please don’t assume to know mine. I love what I do. I do it well. All I want is fair treatment.
That is the whole point of this discussion – school employees (not just teachers) were required to pay towards their own retirement, current employees FUTURE retirement, their own FUTURE health care and current employees FUTURE health care. It was declared illegal to make them pay for FUTURE health care that could not be guaranteed, and the state was told to refund the money. Refunds were given to State employees, but not school employees, and the state has been appealing this decision ever since the ruling, while keeping the school employees contributions.
State education employees (not just teachers) DO NOT get free healthcare. We are paying for it by deductions out of our salaries or from our retirement pension which we also payed into. Please stop perpetuating this MYTH!
The extra 3% was taken out without our permission and was ruled unconstitutional for all state employees. The other state employees have already had their money returned. The governor is again using everyone’s tax money to fight this for education employees for the 3rd time.
Annie – are you REQUIRED to get advanced degrees at your own cost in order to get a raise? Are you evaluated ad nauseum by a standard that has little meaning because the legislature decided we are not educated nor professional enough to do our jobs well? Might it be because we are foolish enough to accept lower pay than the private sector to teach your children? We pay, we pay, and we pay. It is our money, illegally taken, and as three prior courts have stated, should be returned to us. It is our money.
It’s isn’t just teachers…..ALL school employees directly hired by the district (not third party contractors) are affected.
Thank you for shining a spotlight on the situation. It is not solely the 3%; it’s the way in which it was taken arbitrarily. Many teachers are wondering why state employees had their money returned, but teachers have not. The courts have spoken, but still Governor Snyder insists on using taxpayer money to appeal these decisions. Teachers are frustrated, but taxpayers should be too. Wouldn’t the average Michigan taxpayer want his or her hard-earned dollars spent on something other than Snyder’s attorneys?
The answer, I suspect, is unions. Killing unions is the Holy Grail for conservatives.
This appears to be a tempest in a teapot. Health care after retirement is a good thing. 3 percent is peanuts. These people who feel infringed should just take the health care. Sometimes, people want a spotlight, even in a silly little issue such as this. Woof.
Except the 3% is going to a system I’m not guaranteed nor likely to have. Current teachers are paying for retirees, plus toward our own retirement in a 403B or other retirement savings. If this was toward our own retirement, it probably wouldn’t have been ruled unconstitutional and would be a non-issue.
The governor is insisting on spending taxpayer money to fight something that has been declared unconstitutional TWICE.
Has anyone actually researched to see if that $550 escrow account still actually exists? It all seems like a stall tactic. You cannot pay back something you don’t actually have anymore???
What it really amounts to is we had all these huge pension/health care pyramid scams which were both public and private including social security/Medicare/Medicaid. Both government and corporate entities were allowed to “borrow” our money or “reinvest it” which worked only as long as the economy and number of jobs grew. “It’s not fair” the taxpayers get stuck for the bill, I agree but it’s not fair employees weren’t paid the money up front and allowed to invest it elsewhere.
This is just a stubborn little boy who refuses to lose (the 4th time). Your own State Attorney is saying give up. You know, the same one who bailed you out of Flint. “I’m taking my toys and going home” is the only thing I want to hear next.
I am a retired school employee. I paid that 3% when I work. Now retire I pay a premium every month out of my pension for my insurance. I am not a teacher!!! I want my money back. Thank you very much!!!
I have to put in to this–and I don’t RECEIVE health care–I’m a part time employee. I won’t even get it when I do retire–yet my money goes into this. I’d like my little bit back.