The Michigan Senate unanimously passed a bill that would make the board members who oversee investments of the city of Detroit health care funds more transparent and subject to dismissal for incompetence, the Detroit Free Press reported today. The bill is a leftover from the package of bills the Legislature passed in 2014 to bail out the city of Detroit as it went through bankruptcy. It would allow the authority that oversees the board to remove a trustee without cause with 30 days notice or immediately if the trustee is found to be incompetent. The board of trustees would have to meet at least quarterly in meetings open to the public and the board would be subject to the Freedom of Information act. In addition, the board would have to do annual reports detailing any travel or other expenditures made by board members and their pay would be approved if they actually attended meetings and would be limited to a maximum of 45 hours per month. The action on H.B. 5421 comes after Detroit pension boards were plagued by members who took elaborate trips to conferences.
