LANSING — Just last week, hundreds of police officers and firefighters rallied against proposals from Republican legislators and the Snyder-Schuette administration which would have gutted health care and pension benefits for municipal employees. Tonight, House Democrats voted to save the earned benefits of Michigan’s retired first responders and local public employees. In response, state Rep. Kristy Pagan (D-Canton) issued the following statement:
“Police officers, firefighters and first responders are on the front lines defending our communities and risking their lives to save ours. When these public servants enter into a collective bargaining agreements made with their local municipality, they enter into a contract on good faith which should be honored. Threatening to revoke local agreements made with police, firefighters and other public service employees is a blatant violation of the law. I am proud House Democrats stood to protect the benefits that these hardworking public service employees were promised. However, I am still concerned that we have not done enough to address the massive cuts to revenue sharing that leave our local communities shortchanged by millions of dollars. Unfortunately, these cuts are what put the earned benefits of municipal employees at risk in the first place.”