LANSING, MI (AP)-- Legislation passed by a Republican-controlled House panel could put some state funding at risk for local governments that sign long labor contracts before Michigan's right-to-work law takes effect.
The bill was approved by the House General Government Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday. It would tie some incentive funding for counties, cities, villages and townships to requirements that union contracts renewed or extended before Thursday show savings of more than 10 percent.
Exact funding consequences for each municipality weren't immediately clear. Similar restrictions in a recent higher education budget proposal would cut 15 percent of aid for universities that enter into lengthy contracts without savings.
Republicans criticize the contracts as circumventing the right-to-work law. Democrats say the contract negotiations have been fair.
