LANSING — The Attorney General has come out in favor of legislation that is supported by Southwestern Michigan College.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette recently released the following statement in support of Senate Bill 888 and House Bill 5679, which together would clarify in statute that individuals working part-time at a community college who are primarily students would be exempt from the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System contribution requirements, something that is already the case for full-time student employees.

These bills would treat all students equally and provide clarity for community colleges and the Office of Retirement Service.

“Students at Michigan’s community colleges are working hard towards entering the workforce or transferring to four-year institutions and every dollar counts. Our community colleges have been operating in good conscience since the beginning, and I applaud Senator Proos and Representative Miller for making sure that students working part-time or full-time for their community college get to keep every dollar they earn,” he said.

According to the Senate Fiscal Agency, currently more that 50 percent of the state’s community colleges do not contribute to MSPERS for part-time student employees and none of the 28 community colleges across the state contribute for full-time students.