Too bad Nick's list of "real reforms" is largely smoke and mirrors. 1 Billion in savings? Hardly. Let's review together and see what's real and what's fantasy world.
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By no means a comprehensive list, right now we have the chance to move any and all of the following reforms and savings:
*Make Michigan a right-to-work state.
[Doesn't save a cent and is DOA politically but sure, waste your time trying to get that done. Savings $0]
*Eliminate prevailing wage (saving the state tens if not hundreds of millions).
[Really? The Mackinac Center's numbers on this are completely speculative. Most big projects are federally funded which are covered by Bacon-Davis. I'll give you $25 million but that's being generous.]
*Kill PA312 which demands binding arbitration between public employee unions and local governments (probably the number one item on any local elected's wish list).
[This would probably save money but since it's at the local government level, that doesn't translate into savings for the state. It only applies to police and firefighters not "public employee unions" as stated in your post.]
*Kill MESSA to save $400 million a year.
[Speculative and at best, a one-time fix. MESSA isn't the cause of increasing health care costs and competition has done little to slow the increase in those costs. It won't happen but I'll give you $200 million]
*Cancel the raise public employees are due to receive next year saving $110 million a year.
[The opportunity to do that has already been missed. No savings to the state.]
*Look at Rep. Lorence Wenke's idea to ask public employees to cover $.25 on the dollar of their health care premiums saving the state another $400 million.
Uh, that's not a real idea. "Rep. Wenke says his goal isn't to get legislation passed, but rather-- to gain the right attention." Savings $0]
*Take a look at sentencing guidelines at our correctional facilities but even if you don't release a single prisoner, allowing only 5% of them to be housed / supervised by privately managed facilities would save the state another $200 million according to a Rio Grande Foundation study.
[We tried this. The privately run facility in Lake County not only failed to generate costs savings, it led to a rash of accusations of physical, mental, and sexual abuse. Why should we try this again? Savings $0]
*Eliminate the office of the First Gentleman saving $250,000 a year.
[Wow! You found the big bucks here. Savings $250,000]
*Cancel plans to build a luxurious new MSP HQ opting instead to maintain the $1 a year lease at the current building saving the state $5 million.
[Long-term savings are minimal due to needs for future repairs to current HQ but we'll give you $5 million today. Savings $5 milllion]
*Cap welfare benefits for able-bodied adults at four years saving hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
[Cite some numbers. I'll give you $100 million]
So let's tally that up - Nick's so-called 1 billion in savings is, at best, a little over $300 million. You have a lot more work to do Nick to get to 1 billion in real savings.
