LAW ENF. TRAINING; COST REMUNERATION                                              S.B. 32 (S-2):

                                                                                                    SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                                     REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

Senate Bill 32 (Substitute S-2 as reported)

Sponsor:  Senator Sylvia Santana

Committee:  Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety

CONTENT

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

MCL 408.478

BRIEF RATIONALE

According to testimony before the Senate Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety, some law enforcement agencies in the State provide funds for employees' law enforcement academy training while others do not. Reportedly, this results in a significant number of officers leaving one law enforcement agency for another soon after they complete their training. Some people believe that agencies should be able to collect training costs from employees that voluntarily leave within a certain number of years after paying for training.

PREVIOUS LEGISLATION

(Please note: The information in this summary provides a cursory overview of previous legislation and its progress. It does not provide a comprehensive account of all previous legislative efforts on the relevant subject matter.)

The bill is a reintroduction of Senate Bill 375 from the 2021-2022 Legislative Session. The bill was reported from the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety but received no further action. 

                                                                         Legislative Analyst:  Tyler P. VanHuyse

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 before three years of service and had to reimburse that agency for its cost for the employee's academy tuition. The costs of tuition for a law enforcement training academy in Michigan range between $6,000 and $10,000.

Date Completed:  3-7-23                                                   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.