Gov. Rick Snyder

Detroit’s city pension systems — the General Retirement System of the City of Detroit and the Police and Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit — filed suit against Gov. Rick Snyder and state Treasurer Andy Dillon in federal court this week in an effort to block provisions of the Emergency Manager law that change the city charter and collective bargaining agreements and allow pension fund trustees to be removed. The retirement systems, which represent about 32,000 current and retired city workers, argue that the new law gives the governor and state treasurer, through the emergency manager, “virtually unchecked power to seize administration and control of the Detroit Retirement Systems and potentially attempt to transfer their assets to any other retirement system.” Allowing Emergency Managers to take over pension funds will illegally change collective bargaining agreements and violate the property rights of city workers, they say, and they argue that the move also disenfranchises city voters by amending the city charter, which gives Detroit the authority to create and maintain retirement systems for its employees.

The radical new law in Michigan that allows Gov. Rick Snyder to appoint emergency managers to take over cities, school districts, virtually any local government entity, also allows those managers to take over pension funds. Because of that, two state pension boards are challenging the new law.

The state hasn't filed a response to the suit yet.