Storm clouds are gathering around the Michigan Civil Service Commission’s defiance of the state Legislature by ruling Wednesday that 14,000 non-union employees do not have to contribute to retiree healthcare under last year’s early retirement legislation.
Commissioners agreed the Legislature had no authority in September to order the employees to pay 3 percent of their salary into the account. Under the state constitution, the commission generally has purview over the salary of civil service employees.
House Speaker Jase Bolger, a Marshall Republican, was outraged.
"The Civil Service Commission needs to stop this irresponsible spending spree of the taxpayers' money," Bolger said. "Last month, commissioners increased health insurance costs exponentially and now they've increased them even more. Their inability to deal with reality is flat-out absurd."
He said he would try through "available channels" to have the decision overturned. It’s unclear whether that means he will try to get both the House and Senate to overturn the commission by a two-thirds vote, as allowed under the constitution.
The administration of Gov. Rick Snyder also was unhappy with the decision.
“We have serious concerns regarding both the fairness and fiscal crisis aspects and are exploring if that's even possible and under the Commission's purview,” said Sara Wurfel, spokeswoman for Snyder.
