2011 House Bill 4156

Require pension board expense reporting

Introduced in the House

Jan. 26, 2011

Introduced by Rep. Tom McMillin (R-45)

To require municipal pension systems for communities with populations above 500,000 (including Detroit) to post on the internet each quarter all expenditures by their boards of trustees, including travel spending.

Referred to the Committee on Oversight, Reform, and Ethics

Feb. 15, 2011

Reported without amendment

With the recommendation that the substitute (H-2) be adopted and that the bill then pass.

March 9, 2011

Referred to the Committee on Oversight, Reform, and Ethics

May 5, 2011

Reported without amendment

With the recommendation that the substitute (H-7) be adopted and that the bill then pass.

May 12, 2011

Substitute offered

To replace the previous version of the bill with one that applies to all municipalities that have their own pension systems (rather than using one the state maintains for municipal employees).

The substitute passed by voice vote

May 18, 2011

Passed in the House 97 to 9 (details)

To require municipal pension systems to publish on a website their annual report, the system's annual budget, and a quarterly listing of all their expenditures, including but not limited to travel expenses incurred by pension board members. The bill was introduced following a 2009 Detroit Free Press expose' revealing that Detroit's city pension board members, lawyers and staff spent $380,000 in one year traveling to conferences in Singapore, Hong Kong, Scotland, San Diego, San Francisco, Scottsdale, San Antonio, Puerto Rico, Miami, New Orleans and Dubai. The board originally tried to charge the Free Press $41,000 to fill a Freedom of Information Act request for the spending information (information from House Fiscal Agency <a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2011-2012/billanalysis/House/htm/2011-HLA-4156-2.htm">analysis</a>).

Received in the Senate

May 19, 2011

Referred to the Committee on Reforms, Restructuring, and Reinventing