LANSING – Negotiations on setting a fixed amount local government employees must pay toward their health insurance appear on track, with a conference committee vote likely the week the Legislature comes back into session.

Sen. Mark Jansen (R-Gaines Township), chair of the SB 7 conference panel, said Friday he has been working with Rep. Tom McMillin (R-Rochester Hills) on the dollar cap and 80/20 measure over the past several weeks.

Senators had approved an 80/20 split for employees to share in the cost of their health insurance, while House members approved a hybrid plan, making the dollar cap of $15,000 for family coverage, $12,500 for individuals with children, $11,000 for couples and $5,000 for individuals the default cost-sharing plan while also keeping the 80/20 option.

It appears negotiations over the summer have shifted the vote for a local government to opt into an 80/20 plan from a two-thirds requirement, as passed by the House, to a simple majority vote. But the dollar cap remains the default, Jansen said.

“The House is committed to that very strongly,” he said. “It still gives my locals flexibility to do (the 80/20).”

There are still some technical issues to work out to allow a local government and its employees to form a Voluntary Employee Benefit Association, or VEBA, Jansen said, but the bill will also include that under the dollar cap option.

“It feels like we’re getting very close,” he said.

Jansen said negotiations have not included talks on whether the House will muster the 74 votes needed to pass SJR C , which would extend the dollar cap and 80/20 mandates to state civil service employees and workers at public universities. Before the summer break, the House cleared the board after failing to achieve enough votes.

“The thing is pretty much a challenge,” since Republicans need 11 Democrats to pass the constitutional amendment, he said.

No decisions have been made on how to proceed on SJR C, said Ari Adler, spokesperson for House Speaker Jase Bolger (R-Marshall).

There has been no outreach to Democrats over the summer to secure enough votes for passage, but Mr. Adler said if it’s a question of fairness and the bringing together of all state employees under one system, it shouldn’t require much outreach by Republicans.

“We think it’s the right thing to do,” he said.

Overall, Adler said the House is happy with where negotiations stand on SB 7.

“We’re very pleased with the way the conversations are going and where this bill is headed,” Adler said. “We believe something can be ready for action on the 24th.”

Jansen said he hopes to have a draft of the conference committee report sometime next week so it can be flyspecked before a meeting is scheduled for either August 22 or 23.

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