M C E A

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Legislature agrees not to eliminate COLA. The Maryland General Assembly, called into a special session on Oct. 29 to deal with a growing $1.7 billion , ended with legislators agreeing on about $550 million in proposed spending cuts. The legislature ejected a proposal to deny state employees a 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment, amended a proposal where about 750 positions will be eliminated. Public Safety and Correctional Services, JuveniZle Services and child welfare caseworkers are excluded from the cuts. About $77 million in surplus monies from State Employees and Retirees Health and Welfare Benefits Fund but state employees will be granted one additional "health insurance fee" pay period. A plan to close the Walter P. Carter Center also was rejected. Because Maryland works from an executive budget process, the Governor can present a FY2009 budget that does not hold him to actions taken by the General Assembly. State and university employees should continue to urge the Governor and legislators to support state and university employees and retirees through the budget process!

Updated "Doomsday" Budget. In a news release, the Governor outlined a list of budget cuts that he says would have to have been made if the legislature did not reach a consensus on his plan of slots, tax increases and spending cuts. The "cost of delay" budget reductions included $866 million in cuts to local jurisdictions and $800 million in cuts to state agencies and programs. State employees would have been denied a COLA, deferred compensation match and pay increments, and Rx coverage for state retirees eligible for Medicare could be eliminated under the doomsday plan.

SERVICE FEES = MANDATORY PAY CUT. On Oct. 29, MCEA launched its campaign against service fees for collective bargaining. MCEA considers service fees a union tax on state and higher education employees, which will amount to a pay cut. However, the monies collected from employees' paychecks would not go to the state treasury; they would go to the unions, who stand to gain millions each year. MCEA's campaign to inform employees about the consequences of any legislation supporting service fees will include distribution of direct mail pieces and radio advertising, to run Dec. 4-9 on WWIN (95.9FM), WOLB (1010AM) and WPOC (93.1FM). Check out our post card for October and December. We will keep you informed. For more information about service fees, read on.

The Task Force to Study Retiree Health Care Options held its second meeting on Sept. 27 in the House Office Building in Annapolis. No testimony was taken at this meeting, but the committee addressed the legal status of retirees' benefits and Medicare Part D. Various committee work groups will hold meetings in December. The panel is co-chaired by Sen. Edward Kasemeyer and Del. Melony Griffith.

Marilyn Miller Elected New President. Delegates to the 2007 MCEA Convention, held Oct. 1-2-3 in Ocean City, elected Marilyn J. Miller, a Parole and Probation employee, to a two-year term as President of MCEA. Ms. Miller, an 18-year member, most recently served as the Association's 1st Vice President and as a member of the Insurance and Benefits Trust, and chaired the 2007 Legislative Committee and Membership Committees.

The other Officers elected to the Board of Directors are:

Byron "B.J." Johnson as 1st Vice President. Mr. Johnson is a 15-year member who works for Carroll County government. He is an MCEA Past President, president and 2007 Building Committee Chair. Mr. Johnson is president of Chapter 550.
Stephen Schaefer as 2nd Vice President. The 21-year member most recently chaired The Employees Action Movement (TEAM) and is president of Chapter 202, Public Defenders Office. He is an Investigator with the PDO.
Agnes Valenzia, a Motor Vehicle Administration employee and 22-year MCEA member, as Secretary. Ms. Valenzia is president of MVA Chapter 22 and most recently served as an at-large Board of Directors member. She is a former MCEA Treasurer.
Lark Pugh, president of Una Voce Chapter 46, is the new Treasurer. Ms. Pugh had served one term on the Board of Directors. A long-time state employee, she works with the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

Members elected to non-officer positions on the Board are: Anna Cluster, a Motor Vehicle Administration employee and 4-year MCEA member; Marion Barnard Jones, a Department of Juvenile Services employee and 5-year member; David Stewart, a Prince George's County Department of Social Services employee and 21-year MCEA member; and Juanita Witherspoon, a Baltimore City DSS employee who has been an MCEA member for 20 years. Their terms expire in 2009. The Board of Directors will fill two vacancies on the board with terms that expire in 2008. Robert Kirkland, a Rosewood Hospital Center employee and 35-year MCEA member, agreed to serve as Area II Governor.