Wow. That’s a lot of cash.
Five years ago, Gov. Walker and the Republican legislature started their odyssey that resulted in the signing of Act 10, a milestone law that has saved Wisconsin taxpayers $5.24 billion, according to a new analysis by the MacIver Institute.
The analysis found that Wisconsin saved $3.36 billion by requiring government employees contribute a reasonable amount to their own retirement. The analysis also estimates local units of governments saved an additional $404.8 million total by taking common sense steps like opening their employees’ health insurance to competitive bidding. Milwaukee Public Schools saved $1.3 billion in long-term pension liabilities, and Neenah saved $97 million in long-term pension liabilities in addition to other savings.
These taxpayer savings are only possible thanks to Act 10.
If Wisconsin school districts really wanted to save money, they would band together and negotiate for health care benefits the way Michigan does. Michigan negotiates their health care benefits every two years, and they extend a great economy of scale to all of their districts large and small. Wisconsin should do the same. We could compensate all of our teachers with a wonderful benefit package at a rock bottom price. This is where the greatest cost saving lays.
We really DID save money, over 5 billion dollars in the past 5 years. I fail to see how your suggestion saves more than that … “This is where the greatest cost saving lays.”
Oh, BTW… my current and previous employer negotiate health benefits every year, and since 2001 my health care premiums, deductibles, and annual max out of pocket costs have risen over $10,000 — PER YEAR. Two of those employers had more than 50,000 employees while I was with them. Spare me on how Act 10 had created a hardship on the silver spoons.
The difference between sharon and Jason is that sharon would like to see benefit savings that come from hard bargaining with the insurer and still provides a strong benefit to all employees. Jason doesn’t care about the benefit the employees are receiving as long as the employer costs are reduced. I would hardly describe the insurance increases his employer has imposed on him with the word “negotiate.”
More proof that a deunionized workforce drives down compensation for average workers.
You can argue this is bad thing. You can argue this is a good thing. But there is little doubt that driving a stake into both public- and private-sector labor unions has suffocated wage growth, depressed median incomes and increased income inequality.