2023-10-31 00:00:00 - Joint Committee on Public Service
2023-10-31 00:00:00 - Joint Committee on Public Service
SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER1 - Good morning, everybody. Here we go. Well, There we go. We're gonna start what turns out to be our last scheduled hearing
SPEAKER2 - Mhmm.
SPEAKER1 - Of the joint committee on public service. I am chair and represent house chair representative Ken Gordon, and I'm joined by cochair senator Michael Brady. Welcome.
SPEAKER3 - Thank you, mister co Good morning.
SPEAKER1 - Good morning. Is there anything anything you'd like to say?
Alright. Happy Halloween, everybody. And we, we have, we don't have too too long a list of witnesses, But we do ask that you keep testimony to 3 minutes. We will accept written testimony on all the bills that are before us. Thank you. Today, we'll keep the bills open for 1 week so that if you haven't submitted written testimony yet, You can still do that. If you are speaking and the timer goes off, after the 3 minutes and you have more to say, you could submit that in writing. And anything that you submit, in writing is, just, it149 will will be given the same way as if you had said submitted them,
Verbally.
Let's see. We are joined by representative Donahue in person and virtually vice chair Higgins, representative Dacost, Representative Kuzmierich, representative Garcia, and representative Eiderhoven. Welcome. With that, Let's start our 1st witness. Nancy182 McGovern, are you here?
Actually, you're not because you're signed up in person, and I can see you're not here. Let's see. And you and you'll tell me virtually, That's best. Okay. We okay. Then let's go with, in person, Joseph Nolan.
SPEAKER4 - Good morning. Good morning.
SPEAKER3 - This is
SPEAKER4 - my first time testifying, so bear with me.
SPEAKER1 - Welcome. Thank you. We appreciate it. K.
JOSEPH NOLAN - UTILITY CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION OF NEW ENGLAND - SB 1705 - Chair Gordon, Chair Brady, and members of the committee, my name is Joseph Nolan, I am the executive director for the Utility Contractors Association of New England, otherwise known as UCANE. I succeeded Jeff Mahoney in that role a couple of months ago. I want to thank you for the opportunity to testify in strong support for Senate Bill 1705, an act relative to the timely payment of law enforcement, the same Bill that was released favorably out of committee last session. So let me tell you a little bit about UCANE and remind you; UCANE's comprised of about 250 members, I'd say about 150 of those members are major contractors, the other 100 are members that supply support service to those contractors. Our contractors perform underground utility work, mainly water, also gas, cable and electric projects throughout the Commonwealth.
You'll also be interested to know that approximately 90% of the major water infrastructure projects that are completed throughout the Commonwealth are completed by UK members, and that's for MWRA, Boston Water Sewer, and other, like, municipalities and entities. Let me talk briefly on Senate Bill 1705, it does two things; it amends the law requiring authorities undertaking public bidding projects under Chapter 30, 39M to make direct payments to those entities providing paid police details. Secondly, it provides that the cost of police details shall not be included as part of a bid item, and that's very important, we'll talk a little bit more about313 that later. Under the law,315 there's currently no bright line law.
Some states, agencies, and municipalities still make the contractors estimate and bid on these items separately. A lot of majors, others like MWRA, Mass DOT, MBTA, some sections of Boston, Somerville, Cambridge, major energy, they put an allowance item. They say this is the number that you need to have for police details, so every contractor is341 dealing with a level playing field but then there's other that's not the case, and I'll tell you about one of those coming up. The benefits of Senate Bill 1705 is this legislation has three distinct benefits; greater control for the warning authorities. The warning authorities will control what the number is for police details and therefore, can look forward to cost savings in that area. Second, it reduces the cost of bids submitted by contractors, and I'll give you a quick example of that. Contractor's all about risk, and a contractor has to estimate various things, what the material cost is for a, b, and377 c, details can get a little sketchy.
Now without a Bill like this, and, recently in384 a major385 municipality, they're putting out a $30,000,000 road project, and that road project, police391 estimates can be about or detail estimates can be about 10%. So, you're talking $2,000,000, $3,000,000 item where the contractor's being asked to estimate without knowing the specific length of the bid, the locations, all that407 information, what that cost is going to be, and that becomes a black box item. It's been a national problem that law enforcement agencies have gone without being paid by contractors. This Bill also makes sure that contractors will get paid. So, thank you, Chairman Gordon, Chairman Brady, members of the committee. I respectfully respect that you release Senate Bill 1705 with a favorable report once again, and if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Thank you. Alluding to this was a bill that435 we saw through her last session.
437 SPEAKER4437 -437 Yes.437 We're out favorably.
SPEAKER1 - You know, we were helpful to submit a testimony in addition to
SPEAKER4 - That's good. And we look forward to educating the police and the agencies involved as to how it benefits them as well as and not just the contractors. So, thank you. Questions? Any Okay.
SPEAKER1 - That's why.
SPEAKER5 - Oh, I didn't do this.
SPEAKER1 - Did I? My again, I didn't do this. So, I asked chair Brady if you have any questions. You can put that and say no again.
SPEAKER3 - I'm all set, sir.
SPEAKER1 - Okay. And members of489 the committee and virtually members of the committee? Okay. And I would say virtually, Okay. If you do the raise hand function, if you're on the committee, I'll see that you've got a a question. Okay? Thank you for your testimony. And I see that, Jeff Mahoney is also testifying about507 this bill.
SPEAKER4 - Jeff is. He's now509 with CIB Construction Industries in Massachusetts.
SPEAKER1 - Okay. And, you're on virtually. Jeff, are you there?
SPEAKER5 - Yes. Okay.
JEFF MAHONEY - CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRIES OF MASSACHUSETTS - SB 1705 - I am here, Mr. Chairman, thank you, and I will be very brief as we are520 submitting written testimony.521 Joe hit all the big spots, but I want to thank you and, Chair Brady for the opportunity. Just to add, the Bill is rather straightforward as you mentioned in as far as, making consistent how police details appear539 in public bidding contracts. But one ancillary element that I just want to touch upon is that this Bill does not contemplate at all, getting to lease details, which I'm sure you are well aware can be difficult these days as well, having the safety of our contractors in our police is of the utmost importance.
One residual outcome of taking out the middleman and, not causing any delays in payments, would be hopefully that we would see an increase in the willingness of our law enforcement to fill these police details that we have trouble filling now. Sometimes it can take 60 to 90 days for a detail officer to get paid, the way it's set up with the paperwork right now. So, if an officer knew that they were going to get paid in a timely fashion, they might be more likely to fill some of these details that we're having trouble billing. So I just wanted to add that context of it, and really looking forward to working with the committee and hoping that you'd give this a favorable as we move along. But Joe touched on all the big elements, and I'm happy to answer any questions that the committee might have at this time. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Thank you for your testimony, and thank you for working with us on this bill. It it is, takes a little bit of time to fully, comprehend the issue and the solution to the issue, but you've been working on628 it to get us to that point. And, again, that is part of why it has been, sent off from this committee favorably in the past, and we'll continue to work on these issues this session. Chair Brady?
SEN BRADY - Thank you, Mr. Co-chair. Whether Joe or Jeff can answer this, I am seeing more non police officers on details, has it gotten more and more difficult to fill these spots? I know you did mention about them getting paid in a timely manner would help, but I'm seeing more and more non uniform police officers out on these construction sites.
MAHONEY - It really is, Mr. Chair, there's not much consistency, it depends on which district you might be in or what area of this Commonwealth you might be in. There is a protocol with either municipal or state police, you got to go through them first, and then it possibly could get through to a deputy sheriff. We have other legislation that I'd love to talk to you about it at another time that covers the ability to fill these details, this legislation doesn't really contemplate that because it is a separate and complex and important issue. But as I mentioned, one of the axillary effects might be an increase but we are having a tremendous difficulty filling detail. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
That's what I figured. Thank you. Thank you, mister Coache.
SPEAKER1 - Any questions from any of the committee members? Okay. Thank you for your testimony. Next up, we have representative Stanley, virtually.
Are you here? Representative Tom Stanley?
SPEAKER3 - Yeah. He's not here.
SPEAKER1 - Okay. Maybe you took a little break. So let's go virtually, and we'll come right back to you. Chief Kevin O'Connell.
SPEAKER7 - Good morning.
SPEAKER1 - Morning.
SPEAKER3 - Morning, chief.
SPEAKER7 - Yes. Yeah.
KEVIN O'CONNELL - CITY OF WALTHAM - HB 4141 - I'm here today through Rep Stanley to get a passage or listen to our request to have special officers in Waltham that retired Waltham police officers to work from 65 to 70. We have an enormous amount of projects going on in the city right now. Like, the gentleman before me just spoke is getting difficult to fill these jobs. So, this would help ease the burden and have some post certified CPR trained process to work details until they're 70 years old. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER1 - Okay. Thank you for your testimony. Co-chair?
SPEAKER3 - Thank you. I'm Hamas head co-chair.
SPEAKER1 - You're good? Okay. We'll continue to take a look at that. Thank you.
SPEAKER2 - Thank you.
SPEAKER1 - Is Rob Stanley, are you back?
Okay. We'll come back. Right? No? You're not back? Yeah. Okay. Annie Murphy.
SPEAKER8 - Hi. How are you?
SPEAKER1 - Good. How are you?
SPEAKER8 - Good. Thanks for having me. I'm in my I'm a teacher, and I'm in my off block. So
SPEAKER1 - Okay.
SPEAKER8 - So I we haven't mentioned the bill that I'm speaking to. Is that this is about, h 2, 2502.
SPEAKER1 - Right.
SPEAKER8 - This is about, retirement plans for teachers. Is this is this the time for me to speak?
SPEAKER1 - Yes.
SPEAKER8 - Okay. Great.
ANNE MURPHY - CONCERNED CITIZEN - HB 2502 - So I just want to thank you guys for having me, I have never done anything like this before, and we actually have somebody else who is going to speak. But I would just say that, we are hoping to put forth an act that would require administrators of certain retirement plans to disclose conflicts of interests. As a teacher, we do not have 401K plans, we have 403B plans, and, unfortunately, the people that are selling these plans aren't always acting in the best interest of teachers. They don't have a fiduciary responsibility, and we're not covered under ERISA, which is what requires people to have a fiduciary responsibility.
So, many of us sign up for a particular plan that's actually an annuity, an insurance product, and it's all that's really904 offered to us by some specific companies. So, this has been found to be a, like a systemic problem in the world of education, and teachers are falling prey to this, and not realizing that it is not necessarily in their best922 interest, and there are a lot of hidden fees, and the product926 just aren't the best in our best interest. So, the fee structures are very931 complicated, and there's a multi-vendor environment where937 you don't know what company is, it's impossible to tell which companies are in your best interest. So, I just ask that you vote in favor this Bill, because it will add necessary protections for our educators of the Commonwealth. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Thank you for your testimony. And, again, this is 1 we've seen before, and we've reported it out favorably, and we'll continue to work on the topic. Chair Brain.
SPEAKER3 - Thank you, mister chair. Miss Mahoney, thank you for your testimony as well. Did a good job.
SPEAKER8 - Thank you. Mhmm. Thank you. Stanley's back.
SPEAKER1 - Okay. Questions from the committee? Anybody virtually from the committee? Okay. Thank you for your testimony. And representative Stanley, I think you are there.
SPEAKER4 - Hey. There you are.
REP STANLEY - HB 4141 - Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I also want990 to thank, both Chairpersons and the honorable993 committee for allowing me to995 speak today on House Bill 4141, an act authorizing the appointment of special police officers in the city of Waltham to allow set special police officers to serve1008 until the age of 70. The city of Waltham has many large infrastructure construction projects underway with more1021 projected to come online. In fact, there's one, in front of my residence that's been going on for about a year, and has another year ago. However, the supply of trained and dedicated police officers to work on these details is not meeting the growing demand. Applicants to join the Waltham Police Department are at historic lows, and while there are many healthy and dedicated retired officers ready to continue serving, they remain unable to do so because of the mandatory retirement age of 65.
Recognizing this need, the1061 mayor and the city council passed this home rule petition that would allow for the chief to appoint retired police officers and special police officers to work on police details until they reach the age of 70. All of these offices are experienced post certified, well trained, and would help cover the numerous road construction projects, that I'm lucky and are painful to deal with in the city of Waltham. Under the laws, all offices would need to pass a physical exam, remain post certified and attend mandatory in service requirements, and I apologize if I'm repeating a lot of things the police chief said, but putting more certified offices to work would really help the city's ability to manage construction projects safely and effectively.
Quite frankly, I would be hesitant to see what would happen if we ended up with not having police officers do this. I can imagine the road rage that would be going on because these projects change daily, in the direction and the barriers that pedestrians and communities have to deal with. So, with that said, I am speaking for myself, and I also want to mention that senator Barrett and Chair Lawn have also, signed up into the home rule petition, and I appreciate your time and would like a possible positive, favorable recommendation as soon as you can. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Thank you. I appreciate it. Representative, questions from
SPEAKER3 - No. Thank you, mister chair. Thank you, representative, for your testimony.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you. Questions of the committee? Thank you. Okay.1184 Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Next, we have Tara Carlo virtually or Tara car Carlo. Not here?
SPEAKER10 - Tara.
SPEAKER1 - There we go. Tara. Thank you.
SPEAKER11 - Thank you.
SPEAKER10 - Can you hear me okay?
SPEAKER4 - We are.
TARA CARLOW - CONCERNED CITIZEN - SB 2464 - Good morning, and thank you for letting me testify on Bill, S 244, an Act authorizing the continued employment of Jerry Shampang as an environmental police officer in the executive office of energy and environmental affairs. I know him professionally and personally to be capable, highly competent, and continue doing the work. Being an environmental officer, it's a calling lifestyle. Sergeant, fully in his dated roles, investigation, for casework and office pairs. I'll add that this bill is not open to any time frame, it's five more years of public. It could be a testament fashion for go through all the troubles, keep working for1268 no additional monetary1270 incentive. If you ask yourself how many employees per do this type of request? I urge everyone on the committee just or give a favorable vote. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Okay.
Thank you very much for letting me speak on this.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you for your testimony. Some of what you said was cut off. I think our connection may not be the greatest, But what I'd ask you to do, if you could, is submit some written testimony. If you were reading from some notes, to submit a copy of the notes would be great. You could just do it by email. Is that okay? Just email it to the committee. Yeah. That would be helpful. And if we have any questions, we'll reach back out to you, about Thank you. Thank you very much. Questions from the cochair?
SPEAKER3 - No further questions, mister cochair.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you.
Questions from the committee? Okay. Thank you for your testimony. We, also are joined in the committee by representative Ayers. K. So representative Dougherty, you're here.
SPEAKER11 - Yes.
REP DOHERTY - HB 2502 - Good morning. Thank you very much. I am obviously testifying virtually on a Bill I filed, H 2502, an act requiring administrators of certain retirement plans to disclose conflicts of interest. I appreciate the testimony that was given just before me by, Ms. Murphy. Sometimes1368 Bills that affect educators are most keenly heard and expressed by the educators themselves, but nonetheless, this Bill addresses a critical issue concerning the transparency of fees associated with 403B retirement plans which are commonly utilized by educators. This Bill proposes to make fees more transparent by requiring that vendors disclose fees up front since many of the 40B3 retirement plans that educators have access to are very expensive products with high fees.
Employers produce1403 the list of vendors and products, which is often seen by the employee as an endorsement, which makes them not ask so many questions since they are assuming that they are good products. Employers allow vendors to come into the workplace, which further adds to the idea that these products are sanctioned, vetted, and approved. The products with very high fees can cost employees hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of their career.
For example, after monthly $250 contribution over, let's say, 35 years, and assuming a 6% average annual return, an employee can lose almost $160,000 to high fees over the life of that plan. The agents of many of these vendors receive commissions, thus the conflict of interest for placing employees in products with very high fees. The agents who seem to have the employees' best interest in mind really have no fiduciary responsibility to these potential customers. To rectify these issues, the Bill requires companies administering such retirement investment plans to disclose upfront the fee ratio, return, and net of fees for each investment, and the amount of compensation that the sales agent receive for that sale.
These critical changes will ensure that educators are well informed about the financial implications of their retirement investment choices. I'm very pleased to speak on behalf of educators across the Commonwealth, and I thank you very much for allowing me to speak virtually. I was very pleased, I think it was you, Rep Gordon, that said that a similar Bill was passed out with a favorable recommendation in previous sessions, so I certainly hope that it has a favorable recommendation this time. Thank you so much. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Thank you very much, representative. Thank you for your testimony. I don't have any questions. Do you have any questions?
SPEAKER3 - No. Thank you, representative, for your testimony.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you.
SPEAKER11 - Thank you, senator.
SPEAKER1 - Questions from the committee. And welcome, representative Eiderhoven. Committee virtually. Okay. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER2 - Thank
SPEAKER1 - you. Next up, we have Anthony Landry.
SPEAKER8 - I see him.
SPEAKER9 - Do you
SPEAKER1 - see him? I can. Okay. Anthony Landry, I think you're here.
ANTHONY LANDRY - SEIU 888 - HB 2667 - Chair Gordon, Chair Brady, thank you for your time this morning. I'm here to advocate for the 911 Bill to1564 have1564 them1564 recognized as public safety-first responders, which is bill H 2667. I was formally a dispatcher of close to 20 years with the Boston Police Department, and I currently head up the Crisis Intervention team for 911 first responders in the Commonwealth. I'm asking for your support in this Bill for a few reasons. Namely; for the psychological safety of these workers as the job description has dramatically changed over the past 20 years. 20 years ago, it used to be a handheld phone and one computer system to send the call out to officers, now we're looking at about seven to eight computer screens.
These people are now analyzing gunshots coming in through shock spotter systems, and this past year, they implemented something called text to video, which now, instead of just hearing it and being present when you hear someone's voice, you can actually see the incident going on if you text the link from the dispatcher to a person in need of services. Let's say we have an elderly person who may have dementia or an autistic child who may not know where they are, the people in the chair cannot see where these people are and try to identify landmarks and street names to expedite the fashion in which they are served.
Also, the scope of things has changed quite a bit with the job when it comes to the psychological safety of these workers. They have often been at the kids table at Thanksgiving, I'd like to say, when it came to resources for mental health, we've had crisis intervention for police officers, fire and EMS, and DOC for a number of decades, and it has proved that it has helped the long term, lifespan of these officials. And rightfully so, they are our first responders, and so are our dispatchers. I know on Christmas morning, I was running a crisis intervention team a few years ago, and there was a horrific incident in Boston, where we had a mother take her1683 life along with her two children. I1685 tried to contact my peer team; they were already on the way to work to handle this call. It affected everyone there on the floor, and it still does to this day, which is why we continue to do follow ups every single Christmas to see if anything has triggered with them.
Also, we had officer John Moynihan who was shot in the face in 2015, an incredible person. The dispatcher who helped save his life and expedite his route to the hospital, unfortunately, took her own life this year. Then also another coworker, a former coworker of mine attempted it as well this year. Having us change the first responders would be opening up the treasure trove of grant resources, and I wish that you could join 22 other states in recognizing them as first responders as well. I'd like to thank Mayor Wu who signed by executive order earlier this year that the city of Boston identifies for the dispatchers of Boston as first responders, and we're hoping that the state also starts looking at them as that as well. I thank you for your time today. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Thank you for your testimony. This is another 1 of the bills that we have looked at favorably in the past and will continue to give a good look too. So, thank you for your advocacy for it. To your Brady, no questions?
SPEAKER12 - No. Thank you, mister Chair,
SPEAKER3 - I just wanna convey that what my coach has said. Thank you for all your work and your testimony today.
SPEAKER2 - Thank you all in the commission as well.
SPEAKER1 - Questions from the committee? Virtually or in person. K. Thank you for coming in to testify. We have
SPEAKER2 - Thank you.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you. We have John Clifford, virtually.
SPEAKER10 - I see him.
SPEAKER1 - Okay. John Clifford.
JOHN CLIFFORD - CITY OF ROCKLAND - SB 2453 - Good morning, members of the committee.1789 I am here to speak on Senate 2453. It's a Bill filed on behalf of the town of Rockland to move the fire department from civil service. I am town Council for Rockland, but my firm represents many cities and towns throughout the Commonwealth. I wanted to pass along the apology of the town administrator, another town official who asked me to attend this hearing as they are currently tied up with issues related to the recent arrival of several migrant families. The Bill before the committee was submitted after approval by the voters of Rockland after a town meeting. It was also approved after lengthy collective bargaining with the members of the Rockland Firefighters Union, who unanimously approved it. So, the town has approved that the employees who were directly affected have approved it and we really do think that this deserves the support of the committee. Rockland, like many other communities has attempted to withdraw from civil service because they found the system does not suit their needs relative to hiring. We've also had difficulty navigating the disciplinary appeal process for the civil service. I think the town waited to see if there were legislative changes that were going to be made to improve civil service, but those changes haven't occurred yet. At the same time, the voters of town meeting approved withdrawal of the article that resulted in this special legislation. They did approve an article that resulted in the withdrawal of the Rockland Police Department, civil service, and because they went in under a1906 vote of town meeting, they are now out1908 of civil service. So, they have effectively withdrawn, but, again, it was after a lot of careful consideration that the town, the union, and the voters approved this measure. So, we respectfully request that the committee support it as well. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Thank you very much for your testimony. And I know this is an issue that we've looked1931 at, We've, been very careful in looking at, so thank you for bringing this to our attention. Chair Brady?
SPEAKER3 - No questions, mister Cochin. Thank you. Okay.
SPEAKER1 - Members of the committee? Members of the committee virtually. Okay. Thank you for your testimony. Now, we have some Thank1949
SPEAKER13 - you very much.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you. So mister Valerio and mister Bonarigo, we have Nancy McGovern signed up to testify, and it says that You're here. Do you wanna testify? You can. Because I don't see Nancy McGovern. Do you wanna testify about the bills
SPEAKER3 - that mister chairman.
SPEAKER1 - Okay. Okay. Come on up.
SPEAKER14 - Thank you, mister chairman. I'll be brief.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you, mister Larry. I'm pinch hitting for Nancy. Nancy and Shawn are attending a Health insurance roundtable.
SPEAKER1 - It's like the person who pinched it pinched it for Babe Ruth. You'll be always remembered.
FRANK VALERI - MASSACHUSETTS RETIREES ASSOCIATION - SB 1662 - HB 2494 - SB 1752 - Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, and staff. For the record, my name is Frank Valeri, President of the Mass Retirees Association. Again, thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of two association Bills before you today. First one is Senate 1662 filed by Senator Paul Feeney and a companion Bill, House 2494, filed by Representative Mike Day. These Bills seek to provide local retirees with health insurance protection, these companion Bills would establish a policy that limits increase in local health insurance premium splits only to those retirees who retire after the increase. It's very similar to the policy that's been in effect in Commonwealth for the last 30 years, whereby premium splits in effect2031 at the time that retirement2033 applies2033 throughout retirement for us, and this policy has, been in effect for, like I said, 30 years before, and it seems like it would provide the protection from significant premium increases during retirement, that often happens when premium splits are enacted and increased. The other Bill is a veterans Bill, association Bill filed by Senator John Velis, Senate 1752, it's a Bill to expand the definition of veterans only for2062 those public retirees who retired before August 24th, 2004. The Bill seeks to include these older retirees within the definition of the veteran solely for the purpose of prospectively providing the veteran's bonus. Since the definition change in 2004, essentially, all military who served our country are eligible for this bonus. However, those who retired before that time, where they didn't have some wartime service that was required in the old definition of veteran are the only veterans excluded because of the prospective application of the definition change that occurred in 2004. So, respectfully, I ask that if you see fit to report these matters favorably from the committee as you did in the last legislative session. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, be glad to answer2115 any questions you might have or committee members might SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
have.
Thank you, mister Valera, for your testimony. As you said, we have been looking at these issues and will continue to, and have looked at upon them favorably in the past. So Miss, Coacheer?
SPEAKER3 - Thank you, mister Coacheer. Good to see you, mister2130 Valerio, mister Vonarigo. And and I'm glad you have a2134 keen on behalf of the veterans because they also serve in the veterans Community, I know we're coming up close to Veterans Day, and I I wanna thank all the veterans for their service. And we are looking at some more legislation to help our veterans out.
SPEAKER14 - Thank Thank you, mister chairman. Appreciate it.
SPEAKER1 - Mister Villarue, wait a minute. Repti Coast, do you have your hand raised? Virtually.
I was
SPEAKER15 - on mute myself.
REP DECOSTE - SB 1752 - Thank you, Mr. Chairs, I just want to chime in, in support of 1752 as well. The Bill2162 specifically and we've been looking at2164 this since I've been elected. The Bill specifically will really just address what amounts to a real disservice to those individuals who served prior to 74, and it surprises me we haven't moved it because every year, those numbers get fewer and fewer. But for those who are still remaining, I think it is a good public policy to move that on favorably.
REP GORDON - Thank you, Rep. You know, we've got a couple of these types of Bills dealing with retroactivity for veterans, for their pensions after pension reform.
VALERI - Mr. Chairman, this would be a very limited application, it only applies to those retirees before 2004. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Right. Right. Thank you very much
SPEAKER3 - Yeah.
SPEAKER1 - For your advocacy on it. Anybody else from the committee? Okay.
SPEAKER14 - Thank you, mister chairman. Thank you. Thank you for your time.
SPEAKER1 - Now the other only other witness signed up is in person is Jim Redmond, now I don't see. So is there anyone else here to testify who hasn't been
SPEAKER5 - chairman, I'm on, I'm online.
SPEAKER1 - Oh, 0, okay. That's why. Mister Redman.
JAMES REDMOND - NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES - SB 1664 - HB 2476 - Good morning, Chair Brady, Chair Gordon. Thank you so much for the time to appear before you today. I'm here as usual on behalf of the National Association of Government Employees. Two companion Bills before you today that I'd like to be recorded in support2252 of; Senate Bill 1664 filed by Senator Feeney and House Bill 2476 filed by Representative Chan. Very simply, these Bills are identical, drafted identically, they would allow a change in Chapter 150E in the definition of employer and employee to allow employees of our constitutional officers to2279 organize. It's important to note that it does not create a union, it would not transfer these workers into a bargaining unit, simply puts them on a level playing field with other workers around the state by giving them the opportunity to self-determine whether or not they would like to form a collective bargaining unit and engage in a bargaining relationship with their employers. It's also important to note that there is some precedent already with regard to organizing within the offices the constitutional officers. For example, the lottery commission, which falls under the treasurer, is organized wall to wall. The Fair and Labor Standards Division within the attorney general's office is also organized, and, you know, there are other examples through state government where we've taken groups mostly through transfers, where they've transferred bargaining unit work from one agency, either through an article 87, into a new, division or agency within one of the constitutional offices. So, this is a very, sort of, small change to state law that just provides clarity, we believe that there is no larger objection within state statute or under the constitution that would prohibit this. We very much look forward to working with the committee and hoping that you'll give these Bills a favorable report when it comes time. I thank you for your time and, attention this morning, happy to answer any questions. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
Thank you, mister Redmond. I appreciate it. I don't have any at this time. Chair Brady?
SPEAKER3 - I do not have any. Just thank you, mister Redmond, for your testimony.
SPEAKER5 - And any Thank you, mister chairman.
SPEAKER1 - Committee virtually? Okay. Thank you for your testimony.
SPEAKER5 - Thank you. Happy Halloween, everybody.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you. That concludes the names on the list. Is there anyone else who's here, in person or virtually, who's come to testify?
Anyone else? Okay. I don't hear anyone. So, I will entertain a motion that we close the hearing subject to 1 week to provide written testimony on all of the bills that are included on the public hearing notice for the hearing dated for today, October 31.
SPEAKER3 - So moved.
SPEAKER1 - So moved. Any Any
SPEAKER14 - second? 2nd.
SPEAKER1 - K. All those in favor aye, say aye. Aye. Anyone? All those opposed, say nay. Okay. And now I'll accept the motion to adjourn.
SPEAKER3 - So moved. No moved.
SPEAKER1 - All those, second?
SPEAKER15 - So that's second.
SPEAKER1 - And all those in favor, Say yeah. Alright. Post, nay? Motion passes, and we are adjourned. Thank you, everybody. Happy Halloween.
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