Law Enforcement Legislative Updates House Bill 5189 Revises Requirements for EVIP

Last week Governor Rick Snyder signed House Bill 5189, which eased the requirements necessary to qualify for Economic Vitality Incentive Program payments. This legislation is good news for public employees as it softens Public Act 63, which mandated that employers meet specific limitations in cost of retirement plans for new hires, defined benefit plan multipliers, calculation of Final Average Compensation, and health care costs. Under the new Bill, a municipality qualifies for EVIP payments by complying with Public Act 152, which mandates a hard-cap on health care premiums or an 80/20 split of premiums.

POAM Legislative Director Kenneth E. Grabowski was pleased that the legislature modified its position on employee benefits. “We are happy that many legislators agreed with our position on P.A. 63 and corrected that bad legislation,” said Grabowski. “We have still got a long way to go.”