Saving $5.7 in Public Employee Benefit Savings - Is it Real?
Columnist challenges analyst's estimate
In a recent article, columnist Jack Lessenberry questioned the accuracy of the amount of money a Mackinac Center for Public Policy study found the state could save if state worker benefits were in line with the private sector.
James Hohman, fiscal policy analyst with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, wrote a report in 2009 wherein he calculated that bringing public benefits of fulltime state and local government employees in line with the private sector would save the state $5.7 billion.
Lessenberry, a lecturer at Wayne State University where he teaches History and Law of Journalism, wrote: “His dollar figure is considerably higher than other studies.” After Lessenberry’s column was published, Hohman questioned what studies refuted his dollar amount. Hohman said he knew of no other study that listed a dollar amount.
“He thinks the overcompensation of public employees is a myth,” Hohman said about Lessenberry. “In this case, his observations are simply inaccurate.”
In e-mails to the Mackinac Center, Lessenberry did not cite any studies. Instead, Lessenberry wrote that he should have written “I did not know any other economists who believe that anything like those savings are realistic.”
Hohman said that although some have criticized the findings, no one that he is aware of has produced an alternate study that shows his numbers are not valid. Hohman has since written an analysis that walks readers through how he came up with his figures: http://www.mackinac.org/14216
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See also:
What Can $5.7 Billion Get You in Michigan?
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State Pension Funds: Evidence of Public Class’s Overcompensation
School Pensions Sucking Up Per Pupil Cash
Michigan Public Employee Pay and Benefits Growing
Michigan Public Employees Compensation Growing Despite Concessions Claims
Reality Check: Did State Workers Already Give at the Office?
Government Unions: The Real Wealth in American Politics
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opinion May 25, 2012
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) "organized” Michigan's self-employed Home Help Program providers for the purpose of skimming dues from their ailing and disabled clients' Medicaid subsidy checks. The majority of these providers are relatives or friends taking care of loved ones. It’s been estimated that less than 25 percent of the providers are hired in an employment setting.
The first counter tallies SEIU dues skimmed since the union and state officials first launched this scheme in late 2006. The second shows the amount skimmed since June 9, 2011, when the Michigan House passed and sent to the Senate a bill to ban this and all similar “stealth unionization” efforts. The third counter shows the dues skimmed since the Governor signed the bill into law on April 10, 2012. The fourth counter shows the amount skimmed since May 25, 2012, when the Attorney General opinion was announced.
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