Team MAPE 2008 House Voting Records

Team MAPE has released our 2008 House voting records. Legislators with higher vote scores will be much more likely to earn the Team MAPE endorsement during the 2008 campaign. Click here to download the vote record in PDF form: Download 2008_voting_records2.pdf.

The scores are based on the following votes:

1.    Transportation Override
The first major action taken by the legislature was the Transportation Bill override providing the necessary means to improve and maintain the state’s infrastructure.  This bill improves the safety of our states roads and bridges and puts well over $6 billion into construction projects.

2.    2007-2009 State Labor Agreements
For the first time in MAPE history, our contract was passed on pure votes before the last day of the session.

3.    Bonding Bill
The initial bill provided $70 million dollars in funding for the central corridor and which was negotiated into the final settlement.   The projects in this bill (including those negotiated at the end) provide Minnesota jobs and a $10 million dollar – 100 bed facility at the Mpls. Vets Home.

4.    Workforce Planning and Retention
Representative Chris Delaforest offered an amendment to remove the MAPE provision from the major Finance bill.  The provision requires the state to honor and pay employees in all job classes according to the state’s own compensation studies.

5.    State Health Care Assessments
Rep. Chris DeLaforest offered an amendment disallowing a health insurance company from surveying public employees for the purpose of assessing the health of an individual or collective group.  Completing the current health assessment allows employees to receive a $5 co-pay discount.  MAPE opposed the legislative restriction of these assessments because it was an attempt by the legislature to mandate against something that was agreed to in the collective bargaining process and voted on by our members.

6.    Omnibus Pension Bill
This bill incorporated modifications to the Post Retirement Investment Fund which is critical to ensuring the financial viability of our retirement plans.  The bill establishes methods of dissolving the Post Fund if the funding ratio declines and creates a lengthier funding mechanism to offset the fluctuating market.  Now, retirees will get inflationary increases if the Post Fund’s funding ratio returns to 100%.

7.    Employee Free Choice Act
The Employee Free Choice Act is a resolution supporting the right for all employees to join a union.

8.    DHS Enterprise Closure
This legislation would have required DHS to notify appropriate members of the Legislature’s Finance committees of their intent to close a facility.  It would have given patient’s families and staff the opportunity to be heard before the closure of the facility.  The Finance committee, which appropriates state money, would have the opportunity to adjust funding if they felt the closure should be prevented.

9.    Health Care Reform Bill
This bill simply places 12,000 more uninsured Minnesotan’s in a position to qualify for Minnesota Care.  It was the biggest step by the 2008 legislature towards universal health care.  The bill calls for a study of affordability and begins to pay doctors for health outcomes.

10.    Blood Donation Leave
A provision is now in state law that states an employee may be granted paid leave to donate blood at a location away from work.  The leave may not exceed three hours in a 12 month period.  Employees must provide at least a 14 day notice to the employer.   MnSCU employees were exempted from this legislation.

11.    Deficit Bill
The deficit bill closed corporate tax loopholes saving the state nearly $109 million in future tax breaks and lost jobs.   The Legislature also held strong using only $50 million dollars from the Health care Access Fund to balance the budget as opposed to the Governor’s $250 million proposal.

12.    Personal Sick Leave Benefits
This provision would have required employers to honor sick leave for adult children, spouse, siblings, parents, grandparents, or stepparents.  This did not prevent an employer from providing greater benefits nor did it alter current collective bargaining agreements that already recognized the use of sick leave for children, spouse, sibling, parent, grandparent, and stepparent.

13.    Minimum Wage
This bill would have increased the minimum wage indexing, eliminated the training wage and required employer notice of how to report minimum wage violations and what the applicable minimum wage is.  Under the language, minimum wage would have increased to $6.75 per hour on 7/24/08 and $7.75 per hour on 7/24/09.  Employees under the age of 18 would have increased to $5.35 and $5.75.  The bill was vetoed by the Governor

2008 MAPE Legislative Session Review

Summary

The 2008 legislative session has come to a close.  With over 8,000 bills introduced during the biennium, legislators still managed to adjourn on time following agreements on many bills that were passed throughout the day and evening of Sunday, May 18th.  Despite the revenue raised by overriding the Governor’s gas tax veto, the state was forced to cut state government budgets by four percent to meet the nearly one billion dollar deficit caused by the state's lack of revenue.  The Legislature used half a billion dollars from their rainy day fund and over $100 million in new revenue from closing corporate tax loopholes on foreign operating corporations to minimize the cuts to state agencies and the potential loss of state jobs.  Under the Governor’s proposal, cuts to state agencies would have come at double the cost.

For MAPE, there was some legislation passed that will impact our members.  However, most legislation that could have benefitted the most was either vetoed by the governor or removed from omnibus bills at the last minute pending a veto threat by the governor.  Below are some explanations of legislation impacting MAPE employees.

Team MAPE members continued the momentum built up last session, by contacting their legislators in significant numbers. Over 120 members attended Day on the Hill and members made over 1,000 legislator contacts. These efforts were particularly important in successfully getting our contract passed and signed by the Governor well before the end of session.

Collective Bargaining Agreements:
On April 17, 2008, Governor Pawlenty signed the state’s labor agreements into law.  This was unique.  Nearly all MAPE contracts have been passed on the last day of the legislative session as amended into another bill.  By going through committees, being voted on by both legislative bodies,  MAPE was able to maintain a specific vote count on our contracts that shows who opposed this legislation.  Rep. Karla Bigham and Sen. Jim Metzen carried the bills, spoke very highly of the work done in the negotiating process, and worked diligently to get the bill passed on its own.

Workforce Planning and Retention:
On April 18th, 2008, Gov. Pawlenty reneged on his promise to MAPE by issuing a document titled “Supplemental Budget Concerns” and listing “Compensation Increase Provisions” as one of his concerns.  The Governor referred to our workforce planning and retention legislation as a “compensation increase”.   Near the end of the session, the Governor issued another document expressing concerns that the language would increase compensation budgets.

The legislation passed both bodies and was amended into the major budget bill that was sent to a conference committee to have the differences worked out.  The provision remained in the bill until it was removed on Saturday morning, May 17th,  just  two days prior to the adjournment of the session, after several meetings with the Governor’s office and a threat to veto the entire budget deficit bill.  The Governor does not believe the state should fairly compensate their employees based on their own hay studies.

Health Care:

• Minnesota made small strides toward universal health care coverage despite the large deficit the state was faced with. The Governor’s attempt to raid the Heath Care Access Fund of $250 million was negotiated down to $50 million.  12,000 additional Minnesotans will be eligible for Minnesota Care despite the Governor’s attempt to shuffle funds and disqualify a large number of people currently subsidized by MnCare.
• In another provision, the Health Care Reform conference committee placed a provision in the bill at the request of the Governor to provide high deductible insurance plans (HSA accounts) to members of the Managerial Plan and the Commissioner’s Plan.  MAPE views this as a slippery slope to negotiating benefits away from state employees who have sacrificed wages and went on strike to maintain the health insurance benefits they currently have.  The plans will be an option that will allow people who experience medical problems to option back into SEGIP at open enrollment and pass the costs on to the people currently in SEGIP.  The provision never received a hearing and one of the chairs of the committee was quoted as saying that it was put it in the bill, “to give the Governor a chip”. 
• The legislature also attempted to make it illegal to do health care assessments.  That provision was later removed from the Data Practice omnibus bill.  Provisions such as these are adamantly opposed by MAPE when they are established as part of the collective bargaining process.
• MAPE worked to prevent a legislative study by the Department of Finance that would, in part, seek to determine costs of including teachers into the state employee health care plan.  Such a study is a huge concern on the brink of another $2 billion dollar deficit with inflation.  It is highly unlikely that the state will have the revenues to include reserve money for such a large insurance group without raiding the current reserves that state employees created through bargaining.  There are also many more variables that need to be studied when considering the inclusion of such a group in the state’s insurance plan.  MAPE believes studies done involving negotiated benefits shall include all parties including state unions, legislators, and the Department of Finance.

Governor’s Veto’s

• The Governor vetoed legislation that defined dependents for purposes of group benefits for local government employees to include unmarried children under the age of 25.
• The Governor vetoed legislation that would have expanded sick leave benefits to an employee’s spouse, sibling, parent, step-parent, or domestic partner.
• The Governor vetoed a resolution for the Employee Free Choice Act giving all workers in the United States the right to join unions.
• The Governor, as expected, vetoed legislation that would have required DHS to notify defined legislators at least six months in advance of closing one of their facilities. 
• The Governor vetoed whistleblower legislation that was part of another bill.  This legislation would have protected state employees from disciplinary action for communicating with a legislator.
  

Pensions and Retirement

• Legislation now mandates retirement annuities be payable as a 50 percent joint and survivor benefit covering the employee’s spouse unless the participant’s spouse waives the joint and survivor benefit.
• Legislation passed that eliminates the statewide public retirement plan post-retirement adjustment mechanism if or when the funding ratio falls below 80 percent or falls below 85 percent and remains at that level for two consecutive years.  Upon elimination, there will be a 2.5 percent post-retirement adjustment.  All assets would be funded back to the retirement funds.
• The Pension Commission has committed to studying retirement benefits compared to national averages, the adequacy of the benefit, and what can/should be done to improve the benefits.

Other State Government Provisions

• A provision is now in state law that states an employee may be granted paid leave to donate blood at a location away from work.  The leave may not exceed three hours in a 12 month period.  Employees must provide at least a 14 day notice to the employer.
• Legislation passed preventing a collective bargaining agreement from prohibiting provisions related to work-place communication.
• Legislation passed requiring labor candidate screening for 2-4 MnSCU Board members to be sent to the Governor.  They may be assigned by the Governor in 2010 and every six years after.
• Legislation mandating a $43,000 cut to the Department of Labor and Industry’s prevailing wage division must not result in the department not filling vacancies.
• New unpaid leave and discrimination language was passed that prevents employers from taking action against an employee because of the membership of the employee's spouse, parent, or child in the armed forces.  Employees must be allowed to attend their child’s events relating to the military service of a spouse, parent or child. An employer must allow unpaid leave of no more than two consecutive days or six days per calendar year for military departure or return ceremonies, family training or readiness, or military reintegration programs.  During such leaves, the employer cannot compel an employee to use vacation time or impact an employee’s accruals.

Update on Workforce Recruitment and Retention Legislation

May 7th, 2008

Governor’s Changed Position

On April 18th, 2008, Gov. Pawlenty reneged on his promise to MAPE by issuing a document titled “Supplemental Budget Concerns” and listing “Compensation Increase Provisions” as one of his concerns.  The Governor referred to our workforce planning and retention legislation as a “compensation increase” and stated, “These provisions will require that compensation rates be set without consideration of market conditions and will increase compensation budgets, making it more difficult for agencies to absorb operating cuts.”  It’s hard to believe that the Governor does not know that the state’s own Hay ratings actually consider market conditions.  It’s even harder to believe that this provision is beyond what an agency can absorb.  We are already seeing agencies post jobs, conduct interviews, and repost the job even longer due to the inability to hire a qualified applicant.  The average vacancy already takes the state 8-10 weeks to fill.  Its MAPE employees who will be burdened with the increased workload due in part to agencies inability to fill positions based on the looming staff turnover.  Ask yourself where the salary savings money is going.

The Governor failed to mention a few things in his supplemental budget concerns.  First, Gov. Pawlenty fails to mention the major workforce transition that Minnesota will soon be experiencing with the large percentage of retirement eligible state employees.  Many of his appointed Commissioners and the state’s Demographer have expressed concerns in various committees over the inability to retain and recruit state employees. These issues will lead to more state vacancies than ever before.  Secondly, Gov. Pawlenty failed to mention that this bill would actually help him resolve the issues that caused him to issue an Executive Order.  The Gov. and his staff are well aware that this provision will eliminate a longstanding inequitable provision in statute as well as salary compression that will help state agencies recruit and retain qualified employees in the very near future.

Current Status of the bill:

On Wednesday, April 30, 2008, the workforce planning and retention legislation was amended into S.F. 3190 authored by Sen. Ann Rest.  S.F. 3190 was amended to include some policy provisions that the Senate has taken a position on.  The original bill, S.F. 3190, is the blood donation bill allowing state employees up to three hours of annual paid blood donation leave.

On Thursday, May 1st, S.F. 3190 was heard and passed on the Senate floor where Sen. Jungbauer made a failed attempt to remove it from the bill.   Within hours, Rep. Gene Pelowski had it removed from that same bill behind closed doors.

Our legislation was removed from the deficit bill ,H.F. 1812, at the time it was put into the policy bill of S.F. 3190.  When the state government portion of the deficit bill was conferenced last Friday our legislation was not include.  Effective Friday, May 2nd, our legislation no longer existed in any bill.

On Sunday night at 11:55, Rep. Lyn Carlson relinquished his Chair position and made a motion to amend the legislation back into H.F. 1812.  That motion passed and the legislation currently exists there at this moment. 

Where could it go from here?

With only eleven  more calendar days to pass a bill, Leadership from both the House of Representatives and the Senate will be  negotiating bills including H.F. 1812, the tax bill, several remaining policy bills, and a few controversial bonding requests with the Governor’s staff.  Our provision is just one of a fairly long list of legislation the Governor does not want passed.  I would encourage all MAPE employees to use the TeamMAPE web site to send the prepared letter to the Governor urging him to support the workforce planning and retention legislation.  If the Governor supports this legislation, we will have a great chance of getting the language into law.

If you have questions feel free to contact myself of Political Affairs Coordinator Kendal Killian at any time.

Richard Kolodziejski
MAPE Legislative Affairs Director   

Governor Pawlenty now opposes Workforce Planning?

With 30% of all state employees on the verge or retirement, Minnesota is about to experience a major workforce transition. Despite issuing an Executive Order outlining the urgency of this issue, Governor Pawlenty has indicated that he may not support a workforce planning solution provision this session.

Click here: Contact Governor Pawlenty and ask him to support workforce planning!

MAPE supports a provision in HF 1812 that would help the state prepare for this shift by saving money on employee turnover, retaining knowledgeable state employees beyond the date they are eligible to retire, and encourage long term employees to extend their service, aiding the training of new employees.

Despite issuing an executive order drawing attention to the seriousness of this issue, Governor Pawlenty recently included the workforce planning provision in a statement related to "concerns" he has with the current budget bill.

Click here:  Contact Governor Pawlenty and ask him to support workforce planning! 

MAPE Member wins national delegate spot

MAPE member Ann Hill, Local 1101, has been elected to attend the Democratic National Convention this August in Denver. Hill has pledged to support Senator Barack Obama for President at the convention. 

Hill, an Ombudsperson for families, lives in South Minneapolis. She was elected at the 5th Congressional District DFL Convention. 

Becoming a delegate the Democratic National Convention is very difficult. Out of more than 200,000 caucus attendees state-wide, only 72 elected delegates will be chosen to the attend the DNC.

Hill is a union steward for MAPE and a member of the DFL State Central Committee. In 2006 she spent considerable time volunteering for State Senator Patricia Torres Ray and Congressman Keith Ellison. She is a founding member of the Major Taylor Bike Club of Minnesota and a member of the Women of African Descent Giving Circle.

“The most exciting part of this was to work with all the great people from varied backgrounds that helped me accomplish my goal,” she said.

Hill campaigned vigorously in the weeks leading up the convention. After being elected a delegate to the State and Congressional District Convention at the Senate District level, she attended numerous other conventions to meet her fellow delegates. She mailed a letter to all 210 delegates to the convention. She also called them personally to earn their support.

“My hard work paid off,” she said.

She says she supports Senator Obama because he has the leadership skills needed to address issues like the economy, the environment, and health care.

“I like his grass roots approach to leading our country. He is listening to the people and not to big money Federal PACs and K Street lobbyists. He is pulling together a diverse coalition of people. He is motivating parts of the citizenry that have become apathetic.”

The Democratic National Convention will take place August 25th-28th in Denver. The Republican convention will be in St Paul September 1st-4th.  National labor unions are split in their support of Senator Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton. MAPE does not endorse in Presidential elections.

Governor signs MAPE's contract

Governor signs MAPE's contract

House File 3138, including the MAPE contract, was signed by Governor Tim Pawlenty on Thursday. This marks the final hurdle for the 2007-2009 MAPE contract – it’s now officially approved.

This process began more than a year ago with the MAPE Negotiations Team surveying members about what they would like included in the contact. During the 2007 legislative session, Team MAPE, supported by more than 5,000 member-to-legislator contacts, was successful in earning a salary supplement, providing additional money for state employee salaries. 

The contract was agreed upon last summer in the final hours of “push week.” It was then passed by the MAPE Board of Directors, supported by 89 percent of voting members and signed by members of the Pawlenty administration.

In August, MAPE’s contract was implemented following unanimous approval by the Legislative Coordinating Commission Subcommittee on Employee Relations. Last fall, MAPE members received backpay going back to July 1st, as compensation for the time when the contract was not yet in place.
 

The 2007-2009 MAPE contract includes two 3.25 percent across-the-board pay hikes, one for each year of the biennium. It also includes an innovative prescription drug plan that will save money for both employees and the state. 
 

Passage of the MAPE contract was MAPE’s No. 1 legislative priority for 2008. Contract passage will give MAPE members peace of mind knowing that our collectively bargained benefits, like health care, will not be in jeopardy.

The bill containing the MAPE contract was authored by state Rep. Karla Bigham. The state Senate companion bill was authored by Senate President Jim Metzen.

Thank you to members of Team MAPE who attended Day on the Hill and contacted your legislators regarding this important issue. 

Omnibus State Budget Bill Conferees Named

House file 1812 is an Omnibus State Budget Bill. Versions of the bill have passed both the House and Senate. Now it will be sent to a conference committee to work out the differences. Tuesday April 8th the legislators that will sit on that converence committee were named. They are Representatives Carlson, Rukavina, M.Murphy, Ozment, and Wagenius and Senators

Cohen, Tomassoni, Fredrickson, Higgins, and Betzold.

Please contact these legislators and ask them to keep our Workforce Planning provision in the bill. Use this link to contact your legislators: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/workforceplanning.

More info:

The bill is 376 pages in length and includes appropriations for multiple state agencies as well as provisions relating to health care and higher education. The specific measure in the bill MAPE is most interested in relates to Workforce Planning and Retention.

Why is this so important?

With 30% of all state employees on the verge or retirement, Minnesota is about to experience a major workforce transition. This provision will help the state prepare for this shift by saving money on employee turnover, retaining knowledgeable state employees beyond the date they are eligible to retire, and encourage long term employees to extend their service, aiding the training of new employees.

March Political Report

Day on the Hill 2008 - A “highly successful” and “well organized” event

More than 120 Team MAPE members participated in the annual MAPE Day on the Hill event Wednesday March 12^th at the Capitol. Members heard from influential speakers including Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, House Majority Leader Tony Sertich. MAPE members utilized Day on the Hill to lobby their legislators to support early passage of the MAPE contract (SF 2620 - HF 3138) and workforce planning and retention legislation (SF 2736 – HF 3095) which aims to ease the impending workforce transition.

In an email following the event, MAPE First Vice President Andy Bindman remarked that it was a “highly successful” and “well organized” event. Please join us next year for MAPE Day on the Hill!

Team MAPE Action Training - May 30th/31st

MAPE will once again be working Erik Peterson from Wellstone to implement an Team training May 30^th and 31^st to be held at MAPE HQ in Shoreview. This training is based on the Camp Wellstone model and is an excellent entry point into legislative and political involvement. Registration will begin later this month.   

 

New Team MAPE PAC Board Members

Three new MAPE members have been added to the MAPE PAC board. They are: Sheila Scott, Molly Macgregor and Mark Proctor. Thank you to all that applied!

• Sheila Scott is comes from Local 602. She works as a staff attorney in the Department of Human Rights. Sheila lives in District 58A in North Minneapolis where she has served as precinct chair for more years then she cares to remember.
• Molly Macgregor is a member of Local 1502 and lives in District 4B in Walker. She currently serves as treasurer of her local party unit and as a volunteer campaign manager on a campaign for State House. Molly also worked on Dave Durenberger’s first campaign for US Senate in 1978.
• Mark Proctor is a member of Local 201 and lives in Bloomington (District 40B). In 2006, Mark volunteered 10 to 15 hours a week in support of MAPE PAC endorsed candidate, and now Senator, John Doll.

 
2008 MAPE Early Endorsements

The MAPE PAC board met earlier this year to determine 2008 “early endorsements.” Over 60 labor-friendly legislators met Team MAPE’s auto-endorse criteria for the 2008 election cycle. These elected officials deserve thanks for helping us achieve our recent legislative successes, including the passage of the salary supplement last year, and for their on-going support of professional public employees. Team MAPE will work to ensure these incumbents are reelected this fall. A few may even face primary challenges. To see the list, visit TeamMAPE.org.

2008 "Early Endorsements"

The MAPE PAC board met recently to determine “early endorsements.” Over 60 labor-friendly legislators met Team MAPE’s auto-endorse criteria for the 2008 election cycle. These elected officials deserve thanks from MAPE for their on-going support of professional public employees.

The 2007 session was one of the most successful in MAPE’s twenty-five year history. With your help, we attained at 3% biennial salary supplement that lead to a 3.25% across-the-board pay increase earned at the negotiations table. In addition, we passed anti-outsourcing legislation that will prevent the privatization of crucial state services. These legislators helped make those successes possible.

This year, MAPE will be working to get our contract passed as quickly as possibly. We will also be pushing workforce planning and retention legislation to assist the state in preparing for looming workforces changes.

What does it mean to earn “early endorsement?” Legislators who achieve this status have:

• Been endorsed by Team MAPE in the past
• Voted in support of MAPE issues
• Maintained a high labor vote ranking
• Demonstrated support of public employees

The Team MAPE endorsement includes mailings to members in specific districts, as well as volunteer and contribution assistance when available. Please support these MAPE friendly legislators at your caucuses and party conventions, and throughout 2008!

Office	First	Last	District
Representative	Tom	Anzelc	3	A
Representative	Joe	Atkins	39	B
Representative	Karla	Bigham	57	A
Representative	David	Bly	25	B
Representative	Kathy	Brynaert	23	B
Representative	Lyn	Carlson	45	B
Representative	Karen	Clark	61	A
Representative	Jim	Davnie	62	A
Representative	David	Dill	6	A
Representative	Augustine Willie	Dominguez	58	B
Representative	Al	Doty	12	B
Representative	Kent	Eken	2	A
Representative	Patti	Fritz	26	B
Representative	Rick	Hansen	39	A
Representative	Alice	Hausman	67	B
Representative	Debra	Hilstrom	46	B
Representative	Bill	Hilty	8	A
Representative	Frank	Hornstein	60	B
Representative	Melissa	Hortman	47	B
Representative	Tom	Huntley	7	A
Representative	Mike	Jaros	7	B
Representative	Sheldon	Johnson	67	B
Representative	Al	Juhnke	13	B
Representative	Phyllis	Kahn	59	B
Representative	Jeremy	Kalin	17	B
Representative	Margaret Anderson	Kelliher	60	A
Representative	Katherine	Knuth	50	B
Representative	Lyle	Koenen	20	B
Representative	Carolyn	Laine	50	A
Representative	Ann	Lenczewski	40	B
Representative	John	Lesch	66	A
Representative	Tina	Liebling	30	A
Representative	Bernie	Lieder	1	B
Representative	Leon	Lillie	55	A
Representative	Diane	Loeffler	59	A
Representative	Shelley	Madore	37	A
Representative	Tim	Mahoney	67	A
Representative	Carlos	Mariani	66	B
Representative	Paul	Marquart	9	B
Representative	Sandy	Masin	38	A
Representative	Frank	Moe	4	A
Representative	Terry	Morrow	23	A
Representative	Joe	Mullery	58	A
Representative	Erin	Murphy	64	A
Representative	Mary	Murphy	6	B
Representative	Mike	Nelson	46	A
Representative	Michael	Paymar	65	B
Representative	Aaron	Peterson	20	A
Representative	Sandy	Peterson	45	A
Representative	Tom	Rukavina	5	A
Representative	Brita	Sailer	2	B
Representative	Tony	Sertich	5	B
Representative	Steve	Simon	44	A
Representative	Nora	Slawik	55	B
Representative	Linda	Slocum	64	B
Representative	Loren	Solberg	3	B
Representative	Cy	Thao	65	A
Representative	Paul	Thissen	63	A
Representative	Tom	Tillberry	51	B
Representative	Ken	Tschumper	31	B
Representative	Jean	Wagenius	63	B
Representative	John	Ward	12	A
Representative	Ryan	Winkler	44	B

Team MAPE will continue it's endorsment process in June. Only candidates for State Representative were endorsed at this time. The Minnesota Senate is not up for election until 2010. For more information please contact Kendal Killian at kkillian@mape.org.

Legislative Report - January

Legislative and Political Affairs Communication
MAPE staff have put together a plan to coordinate communication between the membership and legislature regarding the passage of our 2007 – 2009 collective bargaining agreement and workforce planning and retention legislation.  As the legislative session approaches and after it begins, I would encourage all Locals to invite Team MAPE staff to speak at their Local meetings regarding the importance member participation has during this upcoming legislative session.  We will do our best to accommodate as many Locals as possible.

Passing the 2007 – 2009 Collective Bargaining Agreement
Beginning on January 14th, the Team MAPE website will direct its focus on communication to legislators to pass the MAPE contract.  As far back as most of us can remember, this process is completed on the last day of the legislative session after ironing out all the issues that get picked up along the way.  Remember, we negotiated with the Governor’s team.  The Governor and his team, our membership, and the Legislative Coordinating Commission have overwhelmingly agreed upon the terms we’ve negotiated.  There is no reason not to immediately pass our contract so the MAPE staff and membership can focus their attention and efforts on other beneficial legislation for the membership.  We need every MAPE employee’s help in contacting their legislator and encouraging them to push for early passage of the MAPE contract.

• Click here to contact your legislator ask ask them to support "early passage" of the MAPE contract: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/contract

Legislative Update – Workforce Planning and Retention Legislation
As we reported in November, our state’s workforce is on the verge of a major transformation. Approximately 30 percent of all state employees are eligible for retirement in the next three years and nearly 50 percent of the remaining workforce is eligible to retire in the following five years. At the same time, as Governor Pawlenty has acknowledged, the number of available skilled workers in Minnesota will concurrently decrease.

MAPE is working on legislation that will address these challenges. Currently, the state of Minnesota analyzes positions to determine proper compensation levels using a system known as the Hay study.  By requiring the state, through legislation, to base compensation on this system, the state will save money on employee turnover, retain knowledgeable state employees beyond the date they are eligible to retire, and assist in having long term employees present to help train new employees.

This will be a major initiative in the upcoming session. MAPE has already met and will continue to meet with leadership and legislators from both the House and Senate regarding proposed Hay legislation.  In the upcoming session, it will be a major undertaking to educate and convince both the Governor and legislature that state employees need to be compensated appropriately across the board, not compensated at the arbitrary discretion of their agency.  More information will be e-mailed out and posted on the Team MAPE website as the Feb. 12 start date for the 2008 legislative session approaches.

Workforce Planning Facts:

• 30% of all state employees are eligible for retirement in the next 3 years.
• Nearly 50% of the remaining workforce is eligible to retire in the following 5 years.
• Over 7,000 MAPE employees are compensated one to five steps below their Hay determined compensation level.
• Over 70% of all newly hired MAPE employees in the past two years have been hired at step three of the pay grids or above, proving that current compensation determinants are inadequate. 

Day on the Hill
MAPE Day on the Hill will be Wednesday March 12th.  Reminders and instructions to sign up will be going out in mid January.  Remember if this is a member’s first time, we will schedule legislative meetings with other constituents or staff.

Click here to register for MAPE Day on the Hill: http://www.teammape.org/reghill.html

In solidarity,

Richard Kolodziejski
MAPE Legislative Affairs Director