Team MAPE Legislative Session Update 1/26

Team MAPE Legislative Session Update

MAPE Legislative Session Update
January 26th, 2009

The third week of the 2009 legislative session still has everyone discussing the state’s budget deficit.  The state’s deficit is dictating the progress of the Minnesota legislature.  Minnesota’s unemployment rates were released this week at 6.9% with the elimination of 11,800 jobs in December of 2008 while national figures were 7.2% with the elimination of 524,000 jobs.  Many committee meetings are being cancelled or going through state agency overviews in waiting for the release of the Governor’s budget proposal scheduled to be released this Tuesday at 11:30 am.  Next week’s committee schedule is filled with briefings surrounding the impacts of the Governor’s budget proposal on the various committees’ oversight.

The Minnesota Health Plan (S.F.118), a comprehensive single-payer health plan for all Minnesotan’s, will receive its first hearing in the Health, Housing, and Family Security Committee on Monday the 26th at 12:30 in room G15 in the State Capital.  For a list of committee members, please visit http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/committees/committee_bio.php?cmte_id=1022&ls=#members. 

While waiting in anticipation of the Governor’s budget proposal, many committees are being briefed on audits conducted by the Office of the Legislative Auditor.  Over 15 agencies have received financial audits available at http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/fad/fadrpts.htm.   Those audits produced violations, internal auditing problems, and questionable practices that are becoming more of a standard than an exception in state government.  The discussion around the elimination of agencies internal auditing practices and the role of Minnesota Management and Budget’s responsibility is clearly one that will continue in the weeks to come.

With the short holiday week, it was a good opportunity to follow up on more of the Budget Task Force ideas submitted by members of MAPE.  In fact, agencies have been questioned about some of the issues and even confronted in committee on ideas MAPE members put forth.  However, the legislature is still soliciting ideas and input on resolving the state’s budget deficit.  The Senate has started a brand new web forum for citizens to comment on any piece of the state budget.  You can comment or put fourth budget reduction solutions, as many MAPE members already have, in this forum at http://budgetforum.senate.mn/.  This site is full of budget information and even breaks down the state budgets by divisions in state government.

Resources:Committee assignments for the House of Representatives are available at http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/comm/commemlist.asp Senate committee assignment are available at http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/committees/index.php?ls=#header.

The House of Representatives is continuing to accept budget cutting and revenue increasing ideas at http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/budgetsuggestions.asp.

Team MAPE Day on the Hill is March 4th : We are approaching 90 MAPE employees who have signed up more than a month in advance of our scheduled Day on the Hill.  We would like to thank everyone for the additional consideration and advance notice.  This year has been extremely difficult to set all the appointments with a standing caucus meeting scheduled in the Senate and several major committees conflicting with appointments.  Most appointments have been scheduled.   This allows us to notify attendees in advance of their appointments and provide talking points ahead of time.  If you know of other coworkers who may be interested, please encourage them to sign up as soon as possible.

In Solidarity,

Richard Kolodziejski            
MAPE Legislative Affairs Director

Team MAPE Newsletter #2 1/20/09

Team MAPE Newsletter #2

January 20, 2009

Contact your legislators, right now! The first step in our 2009 Team MAPE legislative communications plan is to introduce ourselves to legislators. Simply put, we need to show that we are here, and that we are proud MAPE members. The work we do for the state is vitally important. Particularly in times like this. CLICK HERE TO CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS, RIGHT NOW!

Grand Forks Herald: Pawlenty should recall the "first rule of holes" -- stop digging. Last week, Governor Pawlenty gave his annual State of the State address. In it, he said the our stat's condition is "challenged." If anything, that is an understatement. This Grand Forks Herald editorial gets it right when it called the speech "completely inadequate." Governor Pawlenty should spend more time thinking up creating solutions and less time making jokes. In his response to the Governor, MAPE Executive Director Jim Monroe stated that Pawlenty should work with with us as MAPE members if he really wants to provide better service at a lower cost.

The Governor has stated his intention to attempt to freeze state employee salaries. Ultimately, that issue will be decided at the negotiations table. The MAPE Negotiations Team is hard at work preparing for contract negotiations with the state. Their most recent report, accessible by full MAPE members, is available HERE.

This Miracle Brought to You by Unions. The recent pictures and story of the miraculous landing of a US airways jet on the Hudson river certainly were amazing. Like state employees during a natural disaster, the well-trained unionized crew members that reacted coolly under pressure are the true heroes of the incident. Who do you want piloting the plane on your next trip? Answer: A unionized, trained crew with years of experience.

Register now for the 2009 Team MAPE Day on the Hill! 57 MAPE members have already registered. With a $5.2 billion budget deficit and the Governor threatening to freeze our salaries, it is more important than ever to make our collective voices heard. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Do you like writing? Do you like following the news? Do you want to work in a fast-paced environment? MAPE is looking for a MAPE member to join our staff as a full-time lost-time communications forum administrator. The person chosen for this position will coordinate communications strategies with the political, legislative and communications staff and administer our new, ground-breaking web forum. This position will remain in effect through the Legislative session and until a contract agreement is negotiated with the state. Do you have documented experience with web-based communications tools? Do you think your writing, planning and organizing skills maybe the right fit for this position? For more information, contact MAPE Executive Director Jim Monroe at jmonroe@mape.org.

Please encourage your coworkers to sign up for the MAPE home email list. More so than ever before, we will be communicating through home e-mails about all these important developments. Please encourage members and coworkers to provide home e-mails at local meetings as well. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE MAPE HOME EMAIL LIST.

To contact your legislators, please visit TeamMAPE.org.

Legislative Session Update 1/20/2009

 Team MAPE Legislative Session Update

MAPE Legislative Session Update

January 20^th, 2009

The second week of the 2009 legislative session has continued to be dominated by discussions of the $4.8 billion general fund budget deficit.  The Budget Trends Study Commission released its report to the legislature which includes information about fiscal trends such as:

·         In recent months, the Minnesota economy has been underperforming in relation to the rest of the country

·         Minnesota is having a long-term structural budget problem

·         Minnesota’s health care growth will soon become the largest factor in controlling rising state expenditures

·         The state’s general fund tax base continues to be volatile

·         The state’s revenue volatility is making the management of our state’s budget difficult if not impossible.

The week was filled with anticipation of the Governor’s state of the state address where he proposed an estimated one half to $1 billion in business tax breaks and expansion of a failed JOB Z program.  With a deficit this large, these tax breaks are more state spending that would drastically increase the deficit that we have without any guarantee of job creation.  In his same speech, the Governor proposed a 2-year wage freeze on all state employees before MAPE even begins to bargain with the Governor’s Team.

The week did have some positive notes.  MnDOT Commissioner Thomas Sorel was confirmed by the Senate. 

Over 250 bills have been introduced, some of importance to state employees:

 House and Senate File 1 (chief authored by Sen. Tomassoni and Rep. Sertich with many coauthors) are bills that create a state partnership with the federal government to restore the American and state’s economy.  The bills were created in and for the preparation of receipt of a federal stimulus bailout estimated between $600 million and $1 billion to assist with the current state’s deficit. 

House File 6 and Senate File 2 (authored by Senators Cohen and Clark and Representatives Solberg with many coauthors) include provisions of whistleblower protection for state employees.  These bills deal with state agency budget information and include a provision that allows an employee in the classified service to disclose information that an employee, in good faith, believes to be truthful and accurate and relates to state service or their finances to a legislator or legislative branch employee without retaliation or discipline.

H.F. 135 and S.F. 118 ( chief authored by Rep. Bly and Senator Marty)  are health care bills co-sponsored by many legislators guaranteeing necessary and affordable health care for all Minnesotans through the establishment of the Minnesota Health Plan.

S.F. 9 creates the MN Health Security Account, the MN Health Security Program, and ensures access to health care for all adults.

Resources: Committee assignments for the House of Representatives are available at http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/comm/commemlist.asp Senate committee assignment are available at http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/committees/index.php?ls=#header.

The House of Representatives is continuing to accept budget cutting and revenue increasing ideas at http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/budgetsuggestions.asp. 

 

In solidarity, 

 

Richard Kolodziejski             

MAPE Legislative Affairs Director     

Team MAPE Newsletter

Team MAPE Newsletter

January 13, 2009

• Welcome to the Team MAPE email newsletter! This email newsletter will provide you with the most up-to-date-information about MAPE issues. We will include news about the legislature, MAPE contract negotiations, health insurance and other issues of importance to you as a MAPE member. Please check MAPE.org and TeamMAPE.org for online versions of this news update. If or your coworkers are having trouble recieving emails from MAPE, make sure they have signed up signed up with their personal email address. Also members should make MAPE an approved center to avoid trouble with spam filters.
  
  Have things you would like to include in the newsletter? Email Kendal Killian at MAPE. Thanks!




• The MAPE Negotiations Team is hard at work preparing for contract negotiations with the state. Their most recent report, accessible by full MAPE members, is available HERE.




• Did you see the news? Evidently Governor Pawlenty thinks that bulk purchases of road salt and sharing helicopters for deer counts will add up to $5.2 billion dollars. In reality though, this ruse is just smoke and mirrors. Gov. Pawlenty is interested in PR gimmicks, not solutions. Stunts like this trivialize the seriousness of the situation we face.
  
  Do you have real solutions for our state's budget mess? The Minnesota House wants to know about them. CLICK HERE TO PROVIDE YOUR SUGGESTIONS




• The health care debit cards for MAPE members are expected to arrive the week of Jan. 18. Click here for more information.




• Register now for the 2009 Team MAPE Day on the Hill! Team MAPE Day on the Hill is an exciting opportunity to talk to your legislators about MAPE issues. With a $5.2 billion budget deficit, it is more important than ever to make our collective voices heard. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER




• Please sign up for the MAPE home email list. In 2009 MAPE will face a pivotal legislative session, a very challenging round of negotiations with the state, and (possibly) another government shutdown or job action. More so than ever before, we will be communicating through home e-mails about all these important developments. Please encourage members and coworkers to provide home e-mails at local meetings as well. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE MAPE HOME EMAIL LIST.

For more information about Team MAPE Day on the Hill and the legislative session, please visit TeamMAPE.org.

January Team MAPE Political Affairs Report

MAPE Legislative and Political Affairs Report

January 2009

The 2009 Legislative Session Kicks Off

On January 6^th, the 2009 legislative session officially started. Legislators will continue, just as they have since the record $4.8 billion general fund deficit was projected, to balance the state's budget for 2010-2010. They must pass the budget by the end of the fiscal year: June 30th, 2009. The legislative session is scheduled for adjournment on May 18th, but lawmakers will be forced into a special session until they reach agreement with the governor’s office. If no agreement is reached by June 30th, the state will again be forced to shut down. Considering the size of the deficit, we should be prepared for these scenarios.  

 

This session will most certainly be one worth following. While the possibility of a stimulus package from the federal government is promising, it will require Minnesota legislators to have a plan in place for spending. This package is anticipated to bring in additional employment. Yet, the Governor has ordered all state agencies to submit plans for a ten percent budget reduction which will most certainly reduce state services and state jobs. The impact of his budget should be available when his budget when it is released later this month. Finally, we are following the State Budget Trends Study Group, which will make its recommendations on how to deal with the state budget on January 13th.

 

One thing is for certain, the legislature will be open to hearing just about any suggestion a person can make that would help them deal with the budget deficit.  Leadership from both the House of Representatives and the Senate were presented with the final product produced by MAPE Budget Task Force.  Committee chairs will also be briefed on the results.  So, now we will begin the process of initiating legislative contacts through TeamMAPE.org to preserve jobs, prevent any raids on state employee pensions, preventing outsourcing work, and protecting our health care reserve funds.

 

2009 Team MAPE Day on the Hill

Day on the Hill is scheduled for March 4th. This year, our focus will be to tell elected officials how cuts and layoffs will personally affect us as state employees. Legislators need to hear how the budget can impact you, your workplace, and your family.  Facing a record state deficit, this may be the most important Day on the Hill you could ever attend.  Please encourage a coworker to attend along with you.  You can register on line at www.TeamMAPE.org.  It is vitally important that you register early.  We plan on mailing agendas and talking points to registrants early so people can be prepared to speak with their legislator. Remember, no one has to go by themselves. We always try to schedule groups of constituents to meet with their legislators together.  If that is not the case for you, we can arrange for staff to accompany you to your appointment. Please visit TeamMAPE.org for more information.  

 

 

 

Home E-mails

MAPE continues to request member’s home e-mails.  More so than ever before, we will be communicating through home e-mails about all the important happenings at the Capitol.  Please take the time to notify your Business Agent, someone at MAPE central office, or any local officer.  Please encourage members and coworkers to provide home e-mails at local meetings as well. 

 

Team MAPE Newsletter

For the first time, Team MAPE will produce a weekly email newsletter that will encompass all sorts of news inside and outside of politics.  Information will be briefly noted in the newsletter and accompanied by links to allow the viewer to decide what information they would like to receive. You can expect to see information on member recruitment, MAPE news, union news, legislative session updates, contract information and even links to the secure pages of negotiation updates.  The information will continually be fresh and sent to home e-mails that we have on file at MAPE.

 

Weekly Legislative Updates

For members interested in following more of the intricate details of the legislative session, there will be weekly legislative session updates available on the Team MAPE website.  It will include news from the capitol as it pertains to MAPE and information about bill hearings when there is adequate advance notice provided.  There will also be other information included that may be of assistance in allowing members to follow legislation.

 

Coalitions and Affiliate Groups

In order for Team MAPE to maximize our effectiveness in the political and legislative arenas, we often work in organized cooperation with other organizations. These coalitions of progressive groups, working on multiple issues, allow us to expand our reach and capacity. In the last month, representatives from MAPE have attended meetings and events for many of these groups.

 

For example, a full table from MAPE attended the annual Take Action dinner. Staff has attended a campaign debrief prepared by Grassroots Solutions and hosted by America Votes. Staff also assisted in a meeting of the MVP table, recapping our successes on State House races and how we can improve our processes in the future. MAPE is also working in support of the Sick Days coalition effort to pass legislation mandating that all workers in Minnesota be granted time off to deal with health issues. Most recently, members and staff from MAPE attended the Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition rally in the capitol rotunda.

 

 

In solidarity,

 

 

Richard Kolodziejski                                          Kendal Killian

MAPE Legislative Affairs Director                      Political Affairs Coordinator

Team MAPE Legislative Session Update

MAPE Legislative Session Update

January 12^th, 2009

On January 6^th, the 2009 legislative session officially started and legislators were given their committee assignments.  Committee assignments for the House of Representatives are available at http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/comm/commemlist.asp Senate committee assignment are available at http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/committees/index.php?ls=#header.  Leadership from both the House of Representatives and the Senate were presented with the final MAPE Budget Task Force report.  Targeted committee chairs are being briefed on the results. 

 

Only a few committees met in the first week.  Most meetings were an introduction to the committee, the members, and what the committee’s jurisdiction will be.  The E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division already began discussing ways to share services within school districts to save money for education.  As committees anticipate their targeted budgets or lack thereof, we should anticipate bill introductions that will affect many MAPE members in one way or another.  It will take many creative ideas to get through the state’s record deficit.  These weekly reports will keep members updated on bills being introduced and hearings on those bills as they are scheduled.

 

Legislators will continue, just as they have since the record $4.8 billion general fund deficit was projected, to balance the state's budget for 2010-2011. Legislators are tasked with passing a budget by the end of the fiscal year: June 30th, 2009. The legislative session is scheduled for adjournment on May 18th, but lawmakers will be forced into a special session until they reach agreement with the governor’s office. If no agreement is reached by June 30th, the state will again be forced to shut down. Considering the size of the deficit, we should be prepared for these scenarios. 

 

This session will most certainly be one worth following. While the possibility of a stimulus package from the federal government is promising, it will require Minnesota legislators to have a plan in place for spending. This package is anticipated to bring in additional employment. Yet, the Governor has ordered all state agencies to submit plans for a ten percent budget reduction which will most certainly reduce state services and state jobs. The full impact of his budget should be available when his budget is released later this month. Finally, we are following the State Budget Trends Study Group, which will make its recommendations on how to deal with the state budget on January 13th.

 

One thing is for certain, the legislature will be open to hearing just about any suggestion a person can make that would help them deal with the budget deficit.  The House of Representatives has established a web site at http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/budgetsuggestions.asp to continue to offer the citizens of this state an opportunity to provide input in dealing with the state’s projected deficit.  Let’s not forget that the $426 million dollars in unallotments the Governor has already made.  These deficits continue to be estimates.  Some legislators are predicting another $120 million dollar deficit as the biennium nears its conclusion on June 30^th, 2009. 

 

This session will require more and more legislative contacts than ever before.  Perhaps, the most important contact will be a face to face meeting with your legislator at MAPE’s Day on the Hill event.  Day on the Hill is scheduled for March 4th. Our focus will be to tell elected officials how cuts and layoffs will personally affect us as state employees. Legislators need to hear how the budget can impact you, your workplace, and your family.  Facing a record state deficit, this may be the most important Day on the Hill you could ever attend.  You can register on line at www.TeamMAPE.org.  It is vitally important that you register early.  We plan on mailing agendas and talking points to registrants early so people can be prepared to speak with their legislator.

    

 

In solidarity,

 

 

Richard Kolodziejski                  

MAPE Legislative Affairs Director