Good morning members: I am writing to let you know that Dana Wheeler’s long tenure as Executive Director of MGEC has come to an end effective as of yesterday. The Board has named Tony Kelly as Interim Executive Director. Any questions or communications regarding MGEC should be directed to Tony, Donna Blackwell, or me as your President. We can be reached at mgec@mgec.org While Dana’s departure from MGEC may seem sudden to you, Dana had been contemplating retirement for more than a year and had worked with the Board in recent weeks to determine a separation date. We wish Dana well and thank ... Read More >>
Activity/Organization updates
Telework Responses
Thanks to everyone who has provided responses to us about the telework policy update. MGEC and MMB met on April 14 and MGEC shared feedback with MMB to represent the feedback we received from members. We have shared the voice of our membership with MMB. So far, we've received 61 responses. Of those who responded: 41 (69%) want to see continued telework flexibility with no change to the current policy allowing telework flexibility; 6 (10%) had questions about the change but did not express a viewpoint for or against the change; and 13 (21%) felt the new policy is either fair or, ... Read More >>
President’s Response to Telework Policy Changes
The announcement by Governor Walz yesterday about the state’s telework policy changing June 1 to require most state agency employees to work in-person for at least 50% of their scheduled workdays each month was as much of a surprise to MGEC as we’re sure it was to you. We only learned about the policy change after hearing about it from your fellow MGEC members. There was no attempt to communicate with MGEC by anyone at MMB, the Governor’s Office, nor any agency about this sudden and significant change. We’re completely blindsided. MGEC and the other union partners met with MMB earlier ... Read More >>
Scholarships
Do you have someone in your family studying in a STEM field? MGEC has several scholarships available: the Connie Mentor Memorial Scholarship and the Family Members Scholarship. Applications opened March 1st, and applications will be accepted through June 30th. ... Read More >>
Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement (LPCR) Update
The LPCR held its first meeting of the legislative session on March 11th. It called itself to order and the State’s pension managers made reports. The State Board of Investment had a return of 12.3% through the end of the last fiscal year ending in June. This brings value of the assets of the general employee fund to slightly over $18 billion which, balanced against future liabilities, means that the MSRS fund is 99.8% funded. In the last legislative session, the future assumed rate of return was reduced to 7% to account for potential future volatility in the market and to err on to a ... Read More >>
Potential Effects of Federal Actions
Senior leadership at the State of Minnesota, from Minnesota Management and Budget down through the agencies that MGEC members work for, are all reacting and planning for changes that may occur at the federal level. While there haven’t been any significant actions that have a direct effect on the MGEC as of the time of this writing similar to what federal employees have experienced, State agencies have been directed by MMB to begin conversations with State Unions about potential ramifications through the “meet and confer” model. This is similar to what happened when COVID disrupted state ... Read More >>