District 18 - Republican
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Session: State Capitol, Room 501 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 Phone: (907) 465-4843 Fax: (907) 465-3871 Send E-Mail Interim: 716 W 4th Avenue, Suite 410 Anchorage, AK 99501-2133 Phone: (907) 269-0181 Fax: (907) 269-0184 |
May 6, 2000
State Employee Contracts
Dear District 18 Resident:
The House and Senate have adjourned special session after having funded the first year of the negotiated contracts for state employee unions. State employees who are not members of a union will receive the same terms as union employees. Legislators are specifically excluded from raises.
The legislation passed the House last evening and the Senate about noon today. It appropriates just over $19 million to pay for employee raises and increases in the state's contribution toward employee health benefits for the first year of the three-year contract. As no Legislature can bind a future Legislature to any action, the following two years of the contracts will be taken up in Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003.
Near the end of the regular session, the Legislature challenged the Governor to find the money to pay for the contracts he had negotiated. We also felt that a special session would be the right time to work on the appropriations for the contracts because all of the other priority state services would have been funded.
The contracts will be funded through a compromise between the Governor and the Legislature -- each has put up some money. The Governor was able to identify $14.3 million from the current Fiscal Year 2000 budget that had been appropriated but not spent. Examples of such funds are money left over after capital projects were finished and funds appropriated to various divisions that will not have been spent at the end of Fiscal Year 2000. The Legislature's part includes a portion of what we saved in General Funds for FY 2001. Since the Legislature had saved, during the regular session, about $38.7 million (well in excess of the $30 million goal), we provided about $4.7 million of that savings to the contracts. The total savings in General Fund dollars in Fiscal Year 2001 will be about $34 million.
This compromise represents a win-win situation for all Alaskans. First, we kept our commitment to reduce state spending, which provides Alaska with a better financial footing than we would have had if no cuts had been made. Second, a likely strike by state employees has been averted; a strike that would have cost Alaskans in lost services provided and in lost wages spent by state employees.
I will be flying back to Anchorage this evening. During the interim, you will be able to reach me and my staff either by calling Patti Swenson at the Anchorage Legislative office at 269-0181, or Karen McCarthy at my Juneau office at 1-800-892-4843. You can also e-mail me at representative_con_bunde@legis.state.ak.us. Please let me know if you have any questions or if you need my assistance at any time. While there will be fewer Legislative Updates during the interim, my summer newsletter will be mailed out in late June or early July.
Sincerely,
Con
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