Michigan House committee passes plethora of labor reform bills

Late this afternoon the House Local Government Committee reported a number of Senate labor reform bills.

The Municipal Partnership Act, SB 8, was reported by the committee. It creates a new act that provides for the creation of joint endeavors. This legislation was originally introduced to cover Kent County but has been amended to apply statewide. It provides an additional option for locals looking to cooperate or share services.

The committee also passed SBs 485-492, bills that prohibit minimum staffing requirements through charter, ordinance or resolution. The bills do, however, allow a community to pass a resolution approving staffing requirements determined through the collective bargaining process.

The Public Employee Relations Act, or PERA, was another hot topic of the committee as it passed out SB 493. This bill amends PERA to make the creation of an authority a prohibited subject of bargaining.

Legislative break starts on Friday, so we expect the House to deal with all of these bills on the House floor this week.

Samantha Harkins works for the Michigan Municipal League handling municipal services issues.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org