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NH House of Representatives Votes from Tuesday, March 18th
Retirement
House Bill 1645 (Retirement Omnibus Bill) passed the full house as amended. A roll call vote was requested and the tally was 259 voting for passage and 60 voting against. It was our position that we did not wish to have a roll call vote as the outcome was predetermined. We thank and congratulate our member State Representatives Dan Sullivan (L-856 and House ED&A) and John DeJoie (L-1045 and House Finance) for their efforts on shaping the committee discussions on this bill and doing their best to avoid the roll call vote.
What it does
*changes age and service requirements for new hires July 1, 2009 20 years age 45 to 25 years and age 50
*eliminates COLA’s as we know them, payment will no longer be compounded annually
*eliminates the 8% escalator on the Medical Subsidy which was intended to help offset the exorbitant medical inflation
*eliminates the employee group representation on the NHRS board of trustees by half
*transfers $250 million of our special account fund to the corpus of the pension fund to reduce employer contributions
In case you want to see who voted with and against us– just click on ‘yeas’ or ‘nays’ and it will give you the full list.
In case you want to read what our opposition had to say about this bill open the attached pdf file of the Local Government Center’s Legislative Bulletin. Page 2 gives their position on HB 1645.
The bill passed and now we move to the Senate. Get ready to send emails and make phone calls -when we alert you. You made a difference with your legislator outreach over the last two weeks.
Thank you again.
Labor
The labor bills had a better fate. Three made it out of the Labor Committee, one was sent to interim study and two passed the full house. We wish to thank and congratulate our member State Representative Jeff Goley for his efforts on our behalf with all three labor bills.
The Local Government Center was again vocal on the labor bills. To read what their view on these bills open the attached pdf file of the Local Government Center’s Legislative Bulletin. (Beginning on page 2 and continuing on all of page 3)
HB 1127 passed with amendment
What it does
*Allows for Firefighters to be recognized with less than ten members but not less than three
*Requires Governing Body Approval i.e. Selectmen or Council
*Is enabling legislation does not mandating anything on the community
*Allows communities through bargaining to determine employee costs and makes budgeting more predictable
*Recognizes RSA 273A the Public Employee Labor Relations Law for units of less than ten which is not the case now and requires contracts of less then to seek remedial action through the court system
*Ratifies existing practice in those communities that have elected to 'bargain' with employee groups that have less than 10 in number
In case you want to see who voted with and against us– just click on ‘yeas’ or ‘nays’ and it will give you the full list.
HB 1436 passed with amendment
What it does
*Levels the playing field at the negotiations table by not allowing management to freeze out employees through delaying tactics
*Continues Pay Plans and reduces long term costs due to protracted negotiations
*Allows for communities to negotiate out pay plans or change them prior to effective date.
*Removes financial punishment of lower paid workers at the start of their career caught up in long protracted impasses.
*Makes employer costs more predictable allowing for recognition and planning for movement with in the pay plan
*Will have major impact on employee morale and will make strides in reducing impasses that could save tax payer money with
In case you want to see who voted with and against us– just click on ‘yeas’ or ‘nays’ and it will give you the full list.
HB 1469 interim study
Again we experienced 2 wins and 1 loss for the day. The three bills listed, which passed the full House will move to the Senate tomorrow.
We are extremely passionate about your retirement and are doing everything we can to take care of you and your family!
Download:
3 13 08.pdf
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