March 10th, 2010

With Friday’s deadline rapidly approaching, an enormous amount of bills are rapidly going through the hearing process.  A bill must be heard in the house of origin by the first deadline to be considered without going through the rules committee for consideration.  The agreed upon deadlines are:

- Friday, March 12, 2010, at 11:59 p.m. 
First deadline for committees to act favorably on bills in the house of origin.

- Friday, March 19, 2010, at 11:59 p.m. 

Second deadline for committees to act favorably on bills, or companions of bills,  that met the first deadline in the other house.

- Monday, March 29, 2010, at 5:00 p.m. Third deadline for divisions of the House and Senate Committees on Finance to act favorably on omnibus appropriation bills.

MAPE Day on the Hill
The 2010 MAPE Day on the Hill has been changed to April 7th due to a conflict with the legislature’s Easter/Spring break.  The time and place remain the same in the Great Hall of the State Capitol with registration beginning at 8:30am.   

Update: Speakers may include Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller and State Auditor Rebecca Otto.

The Minnesota AFL-CIO is having their “Working Families Day on the Hill” on that same day.  There will be a noon rally in the rotunda that I would encourage attendees to participate in.

Early Retirement Incentive:
The legislation, (Senate File 1679 and House File 1893) provides public employees, including retirement systems employees, a retirement incentive of up to 36 months of employer paid health insurance if you retire before July 15th, 2011.   Last session, the bills were left needing a full vote of the House of Representatives at the time of adjournment.  Under this legislation, the state would continue to pay the employer’s share of the health and dental premiums for the employee and the employee’s dependents up to a determined amount of time.  Current language in the bill allows for this incentive at the employer’s discretion. 

In order to pass, this bill will be required to go back to conference committee before being voted on by both legislative bodies and sent to the Governor.
 
Update: MAPE and AFSCME are continuing to work with the Administration to ensure support from the Governor’s office and passage of this legislation.

S.F.2876 – Private Prison Legislation
Following the closure of Appleton’s private prison this past February, a bill was introduced that transfered control of a portion of the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Moose Lake from the commissioner of corrections to the commissioner of human services.  It requires the commissioner of human services to use the transferred portion of the facility to house civilly committed sex offenders while requiring the commissioner of corrections to incarcerate
50% of the Moose Lake offenders in private prisons.  This bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Update: This bill is not currently scheduled for a hearing before deadline.  Thanks to everyone who contacted committee members, their legislators or took the time to make a phone call.

MSRS Changes
Last Friday, the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement held their final hearing on H.F.2952/S.F.2573 which takes steps to fully fund MSRS’s General Plan currently funded at 86%.  Changes included lowering future post-retirement adjustments from 2.5% to 2%, reducing the benefit increases for members terminating service and deferring payments, increases vesting on future hires from 3 to 5 years and lowers interest on refunds paid out from 6% to 4%. 

Update: The MSRS provisions were included in the Pension Omnibus Bill.  These provisions will need to be monitored very closely as they are accompanied by other controversial pieces of legislation and could be put in jeopardy as a result.  Each year the legislation does not pass, MSRS will be back with provisions accruing an additional $70 million dollars in take backs. 

MAPE Contract Ratification Legislation
H.F. 2758 authored by Rep. Lillie and S.F. 2386 authored Sen. Metzen will ratify the negotiated state labor agreements including the current MAPE collective bargaining agreement.  H.F. 2758 and S.F. 2386 both passed out of policy.

Update: Today the S.F. 2386 will receive a hearing in the Senate’s State Government Budget Division at  12:30.

Government Efficiency Bills
A bill has been introduced in the House (H.F. 2690 – authored by Rep. Tony Sertich) and Senate (S.F. 2169 – authored by Sen. Dick Cohen) to make MAPE suggested cuts to state government.  The legislation requires agencies to reduce contracts on outside vendors by at least the same percentage amount as the agency’s unallotments, prevents agencies from increasing designated managerial positions during a time of deficit and prevents out of state travel not associated with the agencies statutory mission or state emergency preparedness or response. 

Updates:  Legislative leadership has currently used MAPE budget savings proposals in some budget bills.  They have booked savings from cuts to out of state travel and professional and technical contract cuts.  Those bills will be posted in this report or on the MAPE web site when the side by side comparisons between the Governor’s, House and Senate budget proposals are all available.

Today at 12:30, S.F. 2874 (authored by Senator Larry Pogemiller) will receive a hearing in the Senate’s Committee on Business, Industry and Jobs.  This bill streamlines DEED and DLI, creates efficiencies and economic growth while providing job protection and additional resources for employee development. 

Today at 3:00, S.F. 2620 (authored by Sen. Bonoff) will receive a hearing in the Committee on State and local Government Operations and Oversight.  This bill tasks a group with creating a strategic plan to; (1) enhance the public involvement and input as the public uses state and local government services and public schools; how technology can be leveraged to reduce costs and enhance quality; (3) how service innovation will conserve substantial financial resources; and (4) the design for a platform that will facilitate high-quality innovation and change in the future.

GAMC Negotiated Deal
Last Friday afternoon, DFL Leadership announced a negotiated settlement saving General Assistance medical Care maintaining health care coverage for approximately 70,000 adults and veterans.  The proposal ends the auto-enrollment process or counties placing participants in MinnesotaCare.  The current GAMC program will continue until June 1st when the program will continue under block grant payments to hospitals for services rendered to GAMC patients.  Payments received by hospitals will be significantly less than previously received.  Drug coverage will also continue for GAMC patients and recipients.  This legislation will likely be debated on the House and Senate floor Thursday with many legislators unlikely to support it.

State Primary Election
S.F. 2251/H.F.2552 changes the state’s primary election to August 10. 
Update: Legislation has passed both bodies and was signed into law by the Governor on March 3rd, 2010.

In Solidarity,

Richard Kolodziejski
MAPE Legislative Affairs Director