LANSING, Mich. — Michigan House Republicans are looking to ban state employees from working remotely, an issue that could have a big impact on downtown Lansing.
“State government is synonymous with Lansing," said Caleb Buhs a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget. "We have a huge presence in downtown Lansing. And as state employees begin to make their way back into the office, that is likely going to repopulate downtown Lansing during business hours.”
Under a proposal by Republican lawmakers, state workers who weren’t already working remotely before Feb. 28, 2020, would have to work exclusively in person by Oct. 1.
But state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., a East Lansing Democrat, said it’s not as simple as just telling staffers to return to the office.
“Constitutionally speaking, there is no power for the state legislature to determine individual employees' work hours where they work or any of those things," Hertel said. "It is obviously unconstitutional language. And I think that anyone who has spent more than a week doing budgets knows that.”
Even if lawmakers could get around the constitutionality issue, Hertel said, this move would make it more difficult to hire new staffers because many businesses in the private sector offer flexible and hybrid roles.
“And I think things like this push them out of the state workforce and force them to look for other jobs because at the end of the day, other jobs are offering flexibility,” he said.
Plus, the state has downsized its leases as it works to place staffers in state owned buildings. Work that has been going on since even before the pandemic, and would further complicate the Republican order to return to the office.
“We have canceled 18 leases in total, which total around 286,000 square feet, and that's across the state," Buhs said. "In downtown Lansing in particular, we've canceled seven leases totaling about 151,000 square feet. And what that means is that those employees working in those facilities are likely moving into some state owned properties, and that just is more efficient for us to utilize the properties.”
Fox 47 reached out to state Rep. Thomas Albert, who proposed the move, but received no response.
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