Consolidating services to save money: the case of repeal PA 312.In her State of the State address The State of the State Address (alternatively Condition of the State Address) is a speech customarily given once each year by the governors of most states of the United States. in February 2007, Governor Granholm implored local units of government to do more to share and consolidation of services makes sense, and it saves money." Local units of government are generally eager to explore consolidation of services to achieve cost savings, but there is one large obstacle that stands in the way; Public Act (PA) 312 of 1969. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PA 312 of 1969 requires compulsory arbitration Compulsory arbitration. In labor disputes, some laws of some communities force the two sides labor and management, to undergo arbitration. These laws mostly apply when the possibility of a strike seriously affects the public interest. of labor disputes between public safety workers and municipalities. Police officers and firefighters are prohibited by law from striking in a labor dispute, so disputes are sent to binding arbitration. The Act was sponsored by former Detroit Mayore Coleman. A. Young when he was a state legislator LEGISLATOR. One who makes laws. 2. In order to make good laws, it is necessary to understand those which are in force; the legislator ought therefore, to be thoroughly imbued with a knowledge of the laws of his country, their advantages and defects; to . Later, as mayor of the city of Detroit, Young regretted sponsoring the legislation. While originally enacted to help protect public safety workers, the actual result of PA 312 has been devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. to municipalities, often resulting in such exorbitant awards that cities are forced to lay off police officers and firefighters. The largest component of local government labor costs is for police and fire protection, but PA 312 puts these costs out of the control of local elected officials. Economists who have studied the impact of PA 312 indicate that the law adds 5 to 10 percent to the cost of police and fire labor contracts. In 1987, while Young was mayor of Detroit, labor negotiations between the police union and the city came to a head, forcing PA 312 to come into play. The city lost the binding arbitration case, and as a result, it would have to pay an additional $80 million per year in extra salaries and benefits that it simply did not have. The extra salaries forced the city to lay off 1,400 police officers. When speaking about PA 312, Mayor Young stated, "We know that compulsory arbitration has been a failure. Arbitration awards An arbitration award (or arbitral award) is a determination on the merits by an arbitration tribunal in an arbitration, and is analogous to a judgment in a court of law. have caused more damage to public service in Detroit than the strikes they were designed to prevent." Other cities in Michigan, such as Canton, Taylor and Southgate, have also been affected by PA 312. In September, the Detroit Regional Chamber's Board of Directors unanimously approved a policy to reform PA 312 to help local governments save money and encourage consolidation of services. The Chamber is joined by Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick, the Michigan Municipal League, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and many mayors across the state who would like to see PA 312 repealed or reformed to ease the devastating impact the act has on Michigan's communities. The Chamber prefers a complete repeal The Annulment or abrogation of a previously existing statute by the enactment of a later law that revokes the former law. The revocation of the law can either be done through an express repeal of PA 312, but in lieu of Instead of; in place of; in substitution of. It does not mean in addition to. that outcome, it supports amending the law to intensify in·ten·si·fy v. in·ten·si·fied, in·ten·si·fy·ing, in·ten·si·fies v.tr. 1. To make intense or more intense: arbitrator arbitrator n. one who conducts an arbitration, and serves as a judge who conducts a "mini-trial," somewhat less formally than a court trial. In most cases the arbitraror is an attorney, either alone or as part of a panel. training and prohibit arbitrators from requiring communities to raise taxes and raid funds earmarked for other programs when considering its ability to pay, among other reforms. The Governor is right: consolidation does make sense, and it does save money. Consolidation is just not practical, however, without repealing or reforming PA 312. RELATED ARTICLE: The Chamber Continues to Fight for the Auto Industry Over the past months, negotiations continued on raising the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. In an effort to influence the debate and protect our local industry. The Detroit Regional Chamber created a national coalition to advocate for automotive jobs. Over the course of this year, 45 chambers of commerce from 16 states representing over 140,000 business members communicated with their legislators asking for asking for reasonable and attainable standards. The Chamber's Automotive Jobs Action coalition (AJAC AJAC Automobile Journalists Association of Canada AJAC Aboriginal Justice Advisory Council (Australia) AJAC Association des Jeunes Agriculteurs de Casamance (French) AJAC Automatic Jamming Avoidance Circuitry )'s mission to raise awareness among policy makers about the real costs associated with extreme increases CAFE continues. For more information, visit www.detroitchamber.com/AJAC. Samantha Jones Samantha Jones is the name of:
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