The results of the MGEC membership survey are in! We are now in the process of collating and analyzing the results to determine what our membership needs. To those FULL MGEC members who completed the survey, THANK YOU. Your voice is critical as we move forward. MGEC has notified both the State of Minnesota and the Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS) of our intent to begin negotiations. This is the first step in the bargaining process and lets the BMS know that bargaining is on the horizon, which can be helpful if we decide that we need to bring in a mediator to reach a settlement. It ... Read More >>
Newsletters
Health Insurance Bargaining
Unlike regular contract negotiations where each of the state’s unions negotiates their individual contracts with the State, the healthcare plans offered to employees are negotiated jointly in a coalition. Because having different healthcare plans for each collective bargaining group would lose economies of scale and be difficult to manage, this approach has been beneficial to state employees by using the leverage of a massive pool of insured people to achieve plan offerings that meet people’s needs and are fiscally prudent. Healthcare negotiations run in tandem with normal contract ... 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 >>
Health Plan Changes for Employees Who Have Divorced With Former Spouses and Children on Their Insurance
The Minnesota office of Management and Budget has changed its policy on insurance coverage that will directly affect employees who have divorced and still have their ex-spouses on their health insurance plans. MMB interpreted Minnesota law as requiring health insurance coverage for former spouses and children, but in light of federal IRS rules on “imputed income”, has changed its interpretation of the Minnesota law. The approximately 750 State employees in this situation need to take immediate action. Employees with ex-spouses and children currently on their family coverage will have ... Read More >>