On Thursday, April 21st, State Workers’ contract approval came before the House Government Operations and Elections Policy Committee. Much of the discussion in the hearing centered on a new provision similar to the issues in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association case, taking away the right of public unions to charge fair share expenses to employees who choose not to join. An amendment that would have stricken that provision was voted down, on a party line vote -- DFLers in favor of removing the provision, Republicans favoring keeping the provision. Subsequently, the bill passed out of committee, along the same party lines. This means the bill will be sent to the House floor for final approval.
Once the bill passes the House, it will travel to conference committee, where it will be negotiated with the Senate version. The Senate version does not include language barring political expenditures, and therefore that provision will likely be a central issue in the conference committee discussions. The conference committee will be negotiated among the House, Senate and Governor.
Speaking more broadly, the third and final legislative deadline, April 21st, has now passed. While both bodies continue to amend and refine their omnibus bills, the contours of the debate going forward have largely been set. Some committees will continue to meet to hold informational hearings, but they will cease passing bills out of committee for potential passage, this year. Focus now turns to negotiations between the legislative and executive branches, as the House, Senate and Governor wrangle their way to a deal.
