Local money, jobs at risk

As editor of a major daily newspaper in Minnesota, I am often asked to meet with interest groups on matters at the Legislature these groups feel will impact my local readers.

Last Thursday I met with the leaders of the two largest state employee unions, AFSCME and Minnesota Assocation of Professional Employees. On Friday, I met with representatives from Flaherty and Hood, the lobbying firm that represents outstate Minnesota cities in the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities. Those folks were accompanied by Mankato Mayor Eric Anderson and Mankato city manager Pat Hentges.

There is some urgency with these groups in that they are under fire from Republican lawmakers in the Minnesota Legislature on two points. Proposals to freeze state employee wages made it as far as the House Senate Conference committee bill on the plan to cut $900 million from state spending.

Gov. Dayton vetoed that bill the day I spoke to the unions. There remains a plan to cut 15 percent of the state workforce. It's a bill authored by Edina Rep. Keith Downey, HF 4, (Here's a House Research summary), that is now in the State Government Finance Committee.

Some quick points about the case they made.

Eliot Seide, executive director of AFSCME, noted Blue Earth County had the highest number of state government workers per capita than any other county except Ramsey.

There are about 550 AFSCME members at MSU and South Central College and about 600 total in Blue Earth County. MAPE has 578 members locally.

The unions have taken zero wage increases in four out of the last eight years.

When the state employee retirement pension funds got into trouble a few years, ago, the unions supported higher contributions from their members.

AFSCME retirement benefits are not "gold plated" with the average being $13,000 a year.