nhsba

 
Legislative Bulletin 

 

January 28, 2011


A Brief Summary of Education Issues at the State House


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NHSBA Priority Bills

SB 1 - "Evergreen" Repeal Hearing in House Labor Committee

SB 1, repealing the statutory provision requiring automatic continuation of "any pay plan" in public employee collective bargaining agreements that are at impasse, has been assigned to the House Labor Industrial and Rehabilitative Services Committee.  A public hearing has been scheduled for next Tuesday, February 1, at 3:00 pm in room 307 LOB.  In addition, a House bill (HB 326) with the exact same language repealing the 'evergreen' statute has been scheduled for the same time.  House Speaker Representative O'Brien is a co-sponsor of HB 326.

 

ACTION ITEM

Please contact members of the House Labor Industrial and Rehabilitative Services Committee as well as your local representative and express your support for passing this bill.  Repeal of the 'evergreen statute' will prevent the implementation of pay raises without local voter approval.  The evergreen provision has fostered a more adversarial bargaining process leading to more impasses, with no incentive for labor to bargain a new contract when automatic pay increases are guaranteed.  There are many reasons for impasse at the local level, including those contracts rejected by vote of the legislative body at a district meeting; the evergreen statute requires that employee raises be provided in such instances.  During these tough economic times, unions will have little incentive to negotiate when they are assured that salary increases are forthcoming.  Urge your Representative to support SB 1 and repeal the evergreen law.

 

Public Pension System Reform

The Senate formally announced its plans for an "omnibus" bill aimed at reforming NH's public pension system.  Senate President Peter Bragdon and Senator Jeb Bradley held a press conference announcing their plans.  NHSBA has been working with the Senate and other public employers, and joined the senators at the press conference, with Executive Director Ted Comstock offering remarks on the importance of this bill to NHSBA and our resolution recently adopted at this month's Delegate Assembly.  The actual Senate bill has yet to be printed and released, but it will cover several key areas that have been priorities for NHSBA.  Provisions of the bill include: redefining earnable compensation to not include retirement incentive pay, severance pay, and pay for unused sick or vacation time; increasing the number of years for calculating average final compensation from 3 to 5; increasing employee contribution rates; increasing the retirement age for group II members; eliminating any gain-sharing allocation of funds to the Special Account; and changing the membership of the NHRS Board of Trustees.

 

ACTION ITEM

Please contact your senator and express your strong support for this bill.  It reflects the position taken by NHSBA membership in the resolution adopted at our January Delegate Assembly.  It will help stabilize the pension system, which has seen its unfunded liability increase to nearly $4.75 BILLION (pension + medical subsidy).  It is important to take these necessary steps now to ensure the long-term stability of the system so it may continue as a solvent and sustainable system providing retirement benefits to our public employees both now and in the future.

 

Recent reform efforts addressed structural problems, such as the funding methodology.  This resulted in more accurate contribution rates, but especially in the current economy with poor returns on investments, the 'balance of need' is born solely by employers.  Note the increases in our contribution rates on behalf of teachers, with a 40% increase in 2006 - 2007, a 55% increase in 2008 - 2009, a 20% increase in our current 2010 - 2011 rates, and a scheduled 30% increase for 2012-2013.  Such increases are not sustainable and we must now address the increasing liabilities/benefits that are associated with the public pensions to help ensure the long-term viability of the system so it remains in place to address both current and future needs.

 

House Special Committee on Public Employee Pension Reform

The House Special Committee on Public Employee Pension Reform has organized and announced it will meet, and hold public hearings on bills, on Friday mornings.  The committee has scheduled two hearings for next week, on HB 299, modifying the method of financing the judicial retirement plan; and HB 231, modifying the payment of state retiree medical benefits for spouses and dependents.  In addition, the committee has been assigned several separate House bills that individually address many of the provisions that are covered in the Senate omnibus bill.

 

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Education Funding

The House Special Committee on Education Funding Reform has scheduled its first meeting, to both organize and begin hearings on bills.  The committee will meet this Friday, February 4, starting at 9:00 am and hold hearings on the following bills:

9:00 a.m.         Committee overview.

9:15 a.m.        HB 216, relative to the instructional authority of school boards.  The bill amends RSA 189:1-a to include the following: Elected school board members shall be responsible for establishing the structure, accountability, advocacy, and conduct of instruction. To accomplish this end, and to support flexibility in implementing diverse educational approaches, school board members shall establish instructional goals based upon available information about the knowledge and skills pupils will need in the future.

9:45 a.m.        HB 233, restricting judicial review of state education trust fund (adequacy) distributions.

10:30 a.m.       HB 238-FN-A, providing an exemption of $100,000 before assessing the state education tax.

11:45 a.m.       HB 208-FN-L, providing an additional $1,000 per pupil in a public school with 150 or fewer pupils.

 

                        Executive session may follow.

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Committee Hearings Next Week

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

HOUSE EDUCATION, Room 207, LOB

10:30 a.m.        HB 318-FN, reducing district liability for special education costs to 2 times the state average cost.

At 2:00 p.m. the Committee will hold Executive Session to deliberate on several bills that already had public hearings, including HB 34, extending the "hold harmless (collar)" provisions on adequate education grants for FY 2012 & 2013: HB 112, relative to the required number of instructional days/hours in a school district's calendar: HB 67, expanding the duties of the SAU oversight committee to include cooperative district issues: HB 130, permitting a school to demonstrate that it is providing the opportunity for an adequate education by receiving full accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).

 

HOUSE LABOR, INDUSTRIAL AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, Room 307, LOB

10:00 a.m.        HB 185-FN, requiring a public employee bargaining unit to have at least 10 members.

3:00 p.m.          SB 1-FN, eliminating the evergreen requirement for public employee collective bargaining agreements.

                         HB 326-FN, eliminating the evergreen requirement for public employee collective bargaining agreements.

 

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE, Room 103, LOB

1:00 p.m.          SB 37, providing further detail on the procedure for resolving residency disputes.

 

Thursday, February 3, 2011 in Representatives Hall, State House, before the House Labor Committee

10:30 a.m.        HB 474-FN, relative to freedom of choice on whether to join a labor union; it prohibits collective bargaining agreements that require employees to join a labor union 

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For the complete text of any bill, go to the general court web site and enter the bill number, e.g. SB1, HB34 or CACR3 (no spaces!), and make sure the Session Year is 2011.

For more information on specific legislation, please call Dean Michener, NHSBA Director of Governmental Affairs at 603-228-2061, or email: [email protected].



Dean Michener
NHSBA Director of Governmental Affairs