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• Introduced by Sen. Mark Jansen (R) on October 20, 2009, to give cities, villages townships and county governments the power to borrow without a vote of the people to pay for the health benefits that current and past officials have offered to government employees after they retire. A referendum on the debt would be required only if someone gathered signatures from 5 percent of local registered voters or 10,000, whichever is lower. The amount of debt imposed for these non-pension benefits for retired government employees could be as high as 5 percent of the jurisdiction's state equalized property value. Note: Under the current state constitution taxpayers are not required to pay these retiree health benefits, so the bill would essentially convert something optional into an enforceable obligation to repay bondholders.
  • Referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee on October 20, 2009.
    • Reported in the Senate on December 19, 2009, with the recommendation that the substitute (S-2) be adopted and that the bill then pass.