LAW ENF. TRAINING ACADEMY; COST RENUMERATION              H.B. 5130 (S-1):

                                                                                         SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                         REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

House Bill 5130 (Substitute S-1 as reported)

Sponsor:  Representative Mike Mueller

House Committee:  Government Operations

Senate Committee:  Judiciary and Public Safety

CONTENT

The bill would amend Public Act 390 of 1978, which regulates the payment of wages and fringe benefits, to allow a law enforcement agency that entered into an agreement to collect certain costs of a law enforcement training academy if an employee voluntarily left employment with the agency within five years after the employee left the training academy. 

An agreement would have to contain the following terms:

-- That the employer would pay the cost of a law enforcement training academy required for that employee to obtain a license under the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards Act.

-- The conditions under which the payment would be provided and under which repayment to the employer by the employee or another person, including a subsequent employer that was a law enforcement agency, could be required.

-- That the employer was not entitled to any percentage of the cost of the law enforcement training academy if the employer terminated the employee's employment at any time and on nondisciplinary grounds or if the employee were laid off from employment with the employer because of budget cuts within five years after the date the employee's law enforcement training academy ended.

-- That the time requirements described in the bill could be waived by the employer if the employee voluntarily left employment with the employer, the employee suffered a critical incident in the course of his or her employment with the employer, and the employee provided documentation from a mental health professional that the employee was undergoing treatment from the mental health professional for that critical incident.

MCL 408.478                                         Legislative Analyst:  Stephen P. Jackson

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill could have a fiscal impact on a local law enforcement agency if an employee whose training was funded by that agency left voluntarily, and not under certain mitigating circumstances, before five years of service and to provide for reimbursement to that agency for a percentage of its cost for the employee's academy tuition. The costs of full tuition for a law enforcement training academy in Michigan range between $6,000 and $10,000.

Date Completed:  6-1-22                                     Fiscal Analyst:  Bruce R. Baker

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.