What’s this? ANOTHER judicial smack-down of Governor Snyder and his Republican colleagues? Yes. Yes it is.
[Caricature by DonkeyHotey from photos by Anne C. Savage for Eclectablog]
Another day, another Republican bill signed into law by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder ruled unconstitutional. In this case, it’s not the entire law, just the part that requires state employees to pay 4% of their income into their pension plan.
The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling that the key element of a law requiring state employees to pay 4% of their income in order to remain in the state’s defined benefit pension plan is unconstitutional. […]Ingham County Circuit Judge Joyce Draganchuk struck down the law last October. The appeal judges sent the case back to her to sort out which parts of the law are valid and which are not.
But the panel unanimously agreed with Draganchuk on the key point that changes to state employee compensation, including pension benefits, are to be made by the state Civil Service Commission, not the Legislature.
These guys are so proud of how productive they are but it seems like every week we find out that their legislative steamroller is rolling over very shaky ground.
On November 4, 2014, it all comes to an end. After all, it’s hard to run on a record of so many attempts to subvert the state constitution, especially when it is at the expense of working Michiganders.
Adding… Here’s a statement from the Coaliton of State Employees unions on the ruling:
The Michigan Court of Appeals’ decision is a victory for state employees and hopefully a lesson for the Michigan Legislature. For the second time in three years, the Court of Appeals has ruled the legislature acted outside of its authority in adopting a law that reduced state worker salaries. The Michigan Civil Service Commission exists to protect civil service employees from the political whims of lawmakers. It’s time to stop the unconstitutional attacks against State employees and focus on rebuilding Michigan’s working families.
