VETERAN EXPERIENCE; RELEVANCE H.B. 4858 (H-1):
SUMMARY OF HOUSE-PASSED BILL
IN COMMITTEE
House Bill 4858 (Substitute H-1 as passed by the House)
Sponsor: Representative Thomas Albert
House Committee: Military and Veterans Affairs
Senate Committee: Veterans, Military Affairs and Homeland Security
CONTENT
The bill would amend Public Act 205 of 1897, which gives veterans a preference for public appointment or employment, to require the State or a political subdivision of the State to treat a veteran's military experience as relevant professional experience for the purpose of determining his or her wage or salary.
Under the Act, in every public department and upon the public works of the State and every county and municipal corporation, a veteran must be preferred for appointment and employment.
The bill specifies that, if the State or its political subdivisions hired a veteran, it would have to treat his or her military experience as relevant professional experience for the purpose of determining the veteran's wage or salary.
"Veteran" would mean a veteran as defined in Section 1 of Public Act 190 of 1965 who was honorably discharged. (Under Public Act 190 "veteran" means an individual who served in the United States Armed Forces, including the reserve components, and was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable).
The bill would take effect 90 days after its enactment.
Proposed MCL 35.401a Legislative Analyst: Tyler VanHuyse
FISCAL IMPACT
To the extent that a veteran's military experience is not already used in determining his or her wage or salary when he or she is hired by the State or a political subdivision of the State, the bill could impose an additional cost to the State or a local unit of government if it resulted in a higher wage or salary for the veteran. The potential cost for the State or local units of government is indeterminate and would depend on the number of veterans that would be affected by the proposed change in statute. Currently there are approximately 600,000 military veterans in Michigan. The number of veterans that would be affected by the bill is indeterminate.
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.