LANSING – House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Township) today announced the members of a new bipartisan House committee that will analyze his proposal to overhaul public employee health care in Michigan, a plan expected to save nearly $1 billion in taxpayer money, help solve the state's persistent structural deficits, and preserve jobs for Michigan workers. The House Committee on Public Employee Health Care Reform will meet as early as next week.
"Everyone in Michigan knows we need significant changes in order to turn our state around, and this bipartisan group of legislators will help determine whether the Speaker's proposal is the right kind of change for Michigan," Committee Chair Pam Byrnes (D-Lyndon Township). "We will carefully scrutinize the proposal to overhaul public employee health care, including the numbers and data presented, to determine how well it serves our taxpayers, our workers and our state as a whole."
State Representative Tim Melton (D-Pontiac) will serve as Vice Chair of the Committee. Other members are State Representatives Harold Haugh (D-Roseville), Bert Johnson (D-Detroit), Mike Lahti (D-Hancock), Dan Scripps (D-Leland), Kate Segal (D-Battle Creek) and Woodrow Stanley (D-Flint). State Representative Phil Pavlov (R-St. Clair Township) will serve as Minority Vice Chair, with Representatives James Bolger (R-Marshall), Bob Genetski (R-Saugatuck), Matt Lori (R-Constantine) and Bill Rogers (R-Brighton) completing the committee.
"We expect the Speaker and others to offer a significant amount of research and data regarding public employee health care and we need to take time to examine that," Byrnes said. "I look forward to doing so with a great group of legislators who share a commitment to cutting state spending, breaking the state's self-destructive cycle of budget deficits and, most of all, protecting our residents and workers."