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    Who are the NERD fund donors Mr Snyder?

    Raise the curtain.

    Schuette Squashes Illegal Scheme


    By JGillman, Section News
    Posted on Fri May 25, 2012 at 12:03:31 PM EST
    Tags: Crooked Scheme, Granholm, SEIU, Stealing, Michigan, AG, Bill Schuette, Mackinac Center (all tags)

    Attorney General Orders Home Health Dues Skim to End

    Illegal scheme continued despite law explicitly stating providers are not government employees

    MIDLAND -- Michigan's 60,000 home health care aides should no longer have so-called union dues skimmed from their subsidy checks as a result of an informal but binding opinion letter issued today by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. The opinion was issued in response to a request by Rep. Paul Opsommer, R-DeWitt, six weeks after Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation ending the stealth unionization. The Service Employees International Union has taken some $30 million from the state's most vulnerable residents over the last six years, including more than $680,000 since the scheme was outlawed.

    "This episode demonstrates how government-sector unions often act in ways that benefit themselves at the cost of taxpayers and their shanghaied members," said Mackinac Center Legal Foundation Director Patrick J. Wright. "The independent contractors and family members who provide aid to the developmentally disabled were never government employees and should not have been paying dues in the first place."

    The SEIU was able to skim the so-called "dues" under a scheme that was concocted during the administration of Gov. Jennifer Granholm. An interlocal agreement between the Department of Community Health and the Tri-County Aging Consortium allowed for the creation of the Michigan Quality Community Care Council, which served as the shell employer for people who are actually self-employed independent contractors or, overwhelmingly, family members caring for loved ones.

    Continued below ~

    Senate Bill 1018, now Public Act 76 of 2012, made it explicit that home health aides are not public employees. An early version of  legislation to end this practice was introduced by Rep. Opsommer.

    Despite the clear language of the new law, the dues skim had continued. Michigan Capitol Confidential recently reported that the MQC3, the so-called public employer, was receiving no government funds but did receive operating expenses from the SEIU. CapCon also reported that the MQC3 is being operated out of its director's basement. The director is currently limited to working three hours a week because she is receiving unemployment insurance.

    Wright cautioned that the SEIU is trying to pass a constitutional amendment to allow the union to once again designate home health care providers as government employees and revive its lucrative revenue stream through coerced dues.

    < Showdown In Motown | CD-11 Republican Candidate Kerry Bentivolio Goes Unchallenged? >


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    Display: Sort:
    Hmmm... (none / 0) (#1)
    by Corinthian Scales on Fri May 25, 2012 at 12:46:15 PM EST
    So, to recap... it only took Schuette another $684k into goonion coffers after Law to stop the cellar dweller skim.

    Unraveling the bureaucratic and legal tangle created by the original scheme is complicated and has contributed to its continuance despite the law being in effect.

    A major roadblock appears to be that the Snyder administration views the collective bargaining agreement between the union and the dummy employer, the MQC3, as valid. That means language in the contract, such as a timeline on a notice of termination, is being enforced.

    "This arrangement was illegal from the beginning," said Patrick Wright, director of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. "These providers were never public employees. Furthermore, a public employer is not a three-hour a week entity operating out of a unemployed woman's basement that takes funding money from its so-called adversary in the collective bargaining process. You can't have public-sector collective bargaining when there are no public employees and no public employer."

    Way to go, Lightning!

    Makes me wonder if what really got Bill of his ass was that he suspected grow lights in the basement.

    Good luck to the MI-GOP with getting the Nerd re-elected too.

    • The word I'm hearing . . . by Kevin Rex Heine, 05/26/2012 01:09:05 PM EST (none / 0)
      • hehe by JGillman, 05/26/2012 04:34:20 PM EST (none / 0)
        • *cough* by jgillmanjr, 05/28/2012 11:13:29 AM EST (none / 0)
    I'm much relieved to read that (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by Bruce on Fri May 25, 2012 at 01:19:07 PM EST
    considering that anyone who received a tax refund from the State of Michigan was about to be declared an employee of the Treasury Department and forced to pay union dues. ;-}

    I'd be careful about that. (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by KG One on Sat May 26, 2012 at 06:52:20 AM EST
    Living behind enemy lines, I can tell you for a fact that there are more than a few democrats who are more than excited at that prospect.

    I still have two very big questions regarding this:

    - Why hasn't Olga Dazzo been arrested for her part in this scheme?

    It took him long enough to issue an "opinion", something that, if he were paying any attention to this issue in the first-place, would have a copy already prepared.

    Besides, I'm certain that a county orange jumpsuit would make an amazing fashion statement for any other department who get similar ideas in the future.

    - How/when will full refunds be issued? If they cannot pay, I'm certain that the SEIU has assets that can be seized and auctioned off to pay back the people they stole money from.

    Well, AG Schuette?

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