FROM
Diana (Donnie) McGee
MCCC Vice President & SAC Chair
Email:

Thursday June 2, 2011

MCCC Legislative Update:

The MCCC/SAC Legislative agenda can be viewed on the MCCC  website: http://www.mccc-union.org/LegislativePriorities/LegislativeAgenda.htm
All MCCC-endorsed bills  are asterisked.
Note the status below of MCCC-endorsed State House  bills:

• H. 1244 -  Faculty and College Excellence Act  (Reversing the Course of Faculty Hiring Trends):
  • Sent to the Joint Committee on Higher Education
  • Hearing on June 22nd in room A2 at 10 am
• Peace Corps Creditable Service Act (H. 2486):
  • Sent to the Joint Committee on Public Service
  • Hearing  on July 26th in room A1 at 1  pm
• H. 2553/S.1416 - Investing in Our Communities/Revenue  Bill:
  • Hearing held in Gardner Auditorium on May 5th at the  State House before the Joint Committee on Revenue
  • President Joe LeBlanc and Donnie McGee testified  before a packed auditorium along with MTA and other statewide union  leaders, a handful of State House legislators, and community  coalition activists.
  • Bill awaits action by the committee
• H. 2981 - Amendment to the Collective Bargaining  Contract Funding Process (Chapter 150E)
  • Sent to the Joint Committee on Public Service
  • Hearing  on Oct. 4 in room A1 at 1  pm
• S. 1307 - Adjunct Faculty Pension Bill
  • Sent to the Joint Committee on Public Service
  • Hearing  on July 26th in room A1 at 1  pm
• S. 1340: Adjunct Faculty Health Insurance Bill
  • Sent to the Joint Committee on Public Service
  • Hearing held on May 3, 2011
  • Betsy Smith submitted written testimony; President Joe  LeBlanc testified.
  • Bill awaits action by the Committee  
  • ACTION ALERT: MCCC adjuncts and  chapter leaders, please contact state legislators to let them know  how important it is for them to support this bill so  that adjuncts can be insured in a fair, affordable, and  comprehensive way. Ask your legislators if they would support this  bill and contact the Public Service Chairs to push the bill forward  with a positive recommendation.
• S. 1912: MCCC's Optional Retirement Plan  (ORP)/Transfer Opportunity Bill   
  • Sent to the Joint Committee on Public Service  
  • Hearing planned for Oct. 4 (other details not yet  available

State House Budget:

• The Senate and House have both submitted their respective  chamber budgets. Public Higher Education, community services, and aid to  cities and towns will be challenged by what many consider is inadequate  state funding. Municipal Health Insurance Amendments in both budgets  challenge the collective bargaining rights of municipal employees though the  Senate's approach is less harsh.
• A Budget Conference Committee with leaders appointed from  each chamber will work to resolve the differences in the next three  weeks.
• Stay tuned for related political action requests on these  issues.

MCCC Strategic Action Committee (SAC) Update:

• The Committee met on April 27, with 11 of the 13 SAC  representatives present.
  • The SAC legislative agenda was distributed and discussed  with an emphasis on the Revenue Bill and its relationship to the  funding of our colleges, our effectiveness in serving students, and the  ability of any of our legislative priorities to move forward.
  • Newly appointed MTA Legislative & Political Action  Team (LPAT) Coordinators Rose Freeland and Tiffany Magnolia discussed  their LPAT positions, the related statewide LPAT system, and the  relationship of this new MTA initiative to MCCC's current  political/strategic action structure.
• SAC stipend requests for this past year should have  been submitted to Treasurer Phil Mahler and copied to me.
• Brooks Smith and Donnie McGee attended the State House  Higher Education Caucus (April 5). The VP shared MCCC and SAC leadership  concerns that the funds supporting the Vision Project in House 1 wouldn't help  close the achievement gap or support our most vulnerable students. She  noted that the chronic underfunding of our  campuses diminishes the effectiveness of faculty teaching and  the related support services for our students.

ORP Ad Hoc Committee (ORP) Update:

• Meeting on May 17, 2011, fifteen ORP  faculty attended from 12 different colleges.
• The new MCCC  ORP bill, now officially numbered S 1912, was distributed and discussed.  To see the text of the bill, go to: http://www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/Senate/S01912
• An update on  Connecticut's similar Alternate Retirement Plan (ARP) campaign was  provided.
• A  fall ORP Lobby Day is set for October 4., 2011, to coincide with the  hearing of the ORP bill before the Public Service Committee. An ORP Lobby  Day  Subcommittee, co-chaired by Gail Guarino and Donnie McGee, was  established to assist in planning  this event. Another subcommittee will  develop talking points for member education and legislative  lobbying.
• Professor  Greg Sethares, an ORP-enrolled faculty from Bristol Community College,  presented a sample ORP/SERS buyback cost sheet and will complete other  sample cost sheets to create a broader understanding of  the estimated costs for the transfer buyback opportunity supported by S  1912..
• Stay tuned  for related updates and lobbying requests on this ORP  campaign.

• The Board of Higher Education (BHE) does  not support the bill in its initial form - or in the  unofficial  redrafted form, both of which are under review by the Senate  Ways & Means Committee. The ORP bill would not move out of this Committee  (or beyond) during this session without some support from the  BHE. 
• Additionally, the current re-draft of S1173 is not worded  effectively to provide for a legitimate or smooth transfer to protect ORP  faculty should they choose to move from their current pension plan  to the SERS. 
• The bill is in need of a substantive redraft that  requires more input from MTA's tax attorney and some attention to issues  raised by Peter Tsaffaris, Deputy Commission of Employee Relations  (concerns/issues that Higher Ed. Commissioner Richard Freeland wants  addressed as well).

• Last month, MTA's Higher Education Director, Donna  Sirutis, Joe LeBlanc, CJ O'Donnell and Donnie McGee met with  Higher Ed. Commissioner, Richard Freeland, and Peter  Tsaffaris, Deputy Commission of Higher Ed. and Administrator of the ORP  program at the BHE. At this meeting,  Commissioner  Freeland indicated he would  support  an ORP to SERS transfer bill; however, he wanted the bill to  address the concerns Peter Tsaffaris raised at that meeting.  
• A week later Tsaffaris delivered a 15 page document of  current and past concerns, including copies of previous correspondence to  legislative committees and to the MTA - stating his objections (and the  Commissioner's) to S1173. Donna and I spent hours reviewing  these documents to identify legitimate concerns about the  bill . We met this week to sort out what needed to be addressed,  what was beyond the purpose and scope of this bill, and what needed further  expertise or explanation to decipher.

• The bill needs major revisions to be sure that  ORP pensions are safeguarded and that the State Retirement Board will be  obligated to let faculty know what that cost is before a faculty member  chooses to opt out of one system to get into another.  
• MTA/union leadership needs to meet with the tax  attorney again and possibly the State Retirement Board  before the bill  can be revised. (Terminology is flawed or inaccurate and the  transfer/buy-in process needs clarity and legitimacy). 
• I also plan to talk at length with Jim Russell,  Chair of the Connecticut Commission for Retirement Equity, to get a  better sense of how they are implementing the transfer of their Alternate  Retirement Plan-enrolled  faculty to the SERS. Connecticut won  an arbitration award to allow some of their ARP faculty to transfer  to the SERS, but they have had to extend the window of opportunity for  such a transfer by several months because of the complications  related to assessment of the transfer cost and the related paperwork process  required for such transfer. They are also trying to address the IRS code  compliance question.

• The Commissioner is not willing  to support our bill at all in its current form. His objection was formalized  in a letter sent to the Senate Ethics & Rules Committee in May of 2010, a  letter that neither the MTA nor union leadership knew about until this month. 
• Without a partial buy-in on the part of the Commissioner,  this bill has no chance of movement to the Senate floor or beyond.  Few, if any, legislators would support a higher  education faculty bill  that the BHE is making a point of objecting  to.
• The goal  right now is to draft the best ORP bill  possible and file it in time for the new legislative session in early  January.

• Join a No Q3 standout with your chapter - using those  fancy new placards to fight the slash the sales tax plan. 
• Volunteer to help elect your local education  friendly legislators, especially those with tough races in your college's  service area. Phone-bank, canvas neighborhoods, join a local candidate  visibility event, or hold a sign on Election Day. Let campaign  committees know you're an MCCC/MTA faculty or Professional Staff member  from __________ Community College. 
• Discuss campaign  issues with everyone. Convince your colleagues, friends,  and family that defeating Q3 and voting for Deval Patrick would  better serve our colleges and communities. 
• Work to Get Out The Vote (GOTV) between now and  Election Day, both formally and informally. 
• Join a GOTV rally in your area - for Deval  Patrick and/or for education friendly Congressional  candidates. 
• Tell your friends, your family, and your students to  be sure to get to the polls on Nov. 2, and, when appropriate, let them  know what's at stake
• Sign on to be a poll watcher on Election Day to  ensure that education voters don't sit home and let the race be won by  those whose agenda is not aligned with ours. 
• Lastly, don't forget to vote on Election Day, and  vote in your/our own best interest.

• Defeat of Question 3 - the ballot initiative that would deplete State Revenues of $2.5 billion and mean further cuts public education and our communities.
• Election of education/community supportive legislators in the State House and in Congress - who understand that the adequate funding of public education and community services is necessary if cities and towns are to serve residents effectively.
• Election of a Governor in the corner office who will work with us to address the deficits in public education, the crises in our community colleges, and the state (mal)practice of pushing forward debt and infrastructure problems to future generations.

• Contact state legislators who have been accessible and supportive in the past;
• Review the attached list of MCCC endorsed candidates (with opponents) whose voting records have revealed overall support for education and our communities:
• See the 2010 Election Guide included in the August/September edition of MTA TODAY which provides the most recent voting records for all State House legislators and highlights those candidates who have a Primary Contest on 9/14.
• Vote this Tuesday (9/14) in the Primary for candidates who will best support the integrity of our community colleges and the educators and others employed there.

• Christine Canavan (Brockton,10th Bristol District): Massasoit CC
• Steven (Stat) Smith (Everett, 28th Middlesex District): Bunker Hill CC
• Pam Richardson (Framingham, 6th Middlesex District): Mass Bay and Middlesec CCs
• Mark Falzone (Saugus, 9th District): Bunker Hill CC
• Kevin Aguiar (Fall River, 7th Bristol District): Bristol CC
• Robert Koczera (New Bedford, 11th Bristol District): Bristol CC

• The State Senate and the House have drafted their state budget proposals. In the next week a 6 panel conference committee made up of 3 leaders from each chamber will finalize a combined budget proposal which will then be submitted to the Governor.  This budget is expected to go before the House & Senate floor on June 21 and could be passed with an up or down vote at that time.
• In both proposals the funding support for public higher education has been reduced from last year's levels, but the Senate version is much less drastic. The Senate provision of $877 million for  Higher Education is a $43 million increase over the House provision. Emails and phone calls are needed ASAP and before June 21st to urge legislators and State House leaders to support the Senate funding proposal for our colleges and universities.

• Contact your State Senator and your Representative:
• Ask each legislator to contact the Budget Conference Committee members to be sure that the community colleges get the most support possible in the coming fiscal year. Emphasize that you want them and their House or Senate conference committee members to support the Senate version of public higher education funding, a $43 million increase over the House version.
• Also ask Legislators to support Senate Budget Amendment "EDU 394." This proposal would set aside money for a Study of Community Colleges to examine the related funding, staffing, and salary structures at these institutions. This proposal was drafted by Commissioner Freeland at the urging of Senator Harriette Chandler after meeting with her QCC constituents along with QCC and statewide MCCC leadership.
• For best results, send a quick email to each legislator and follow this up with a phone call. If you only have time for one action, call them this week.
• Contact information:
• To find out who your State Representative and State Senator are, go to: http://www.wheredoivotema.com
•  To reach your legislator by phone, call the main State House number (617-722-2000) and ask to be connected to your legislator.
• To send an email to your representative, go to: http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenuh.htm
• To send an email to your senator, go to: http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenus.htm

• This bill is floundering in the Senate. Support for this bill needs to be further demonstrated as state funding for educators will be further eroded if this bill is not passed. If you have not yet acted on this bill, please do so this week.
• Of grave concern to us is the fact that funding for higher education was just removed from this bill. Ask your Senators to restore funding for our public colleges and universities as part of your message. If you have already contacted your Senators, please contact them again and urge that they include public higher education in this bill. Also thank Senator Kerry for his sponsorship of this bill in your message.
• Senator Brown is not yet on board. Please urge him to co-sponsor this legislation.
• If you do not live in MA, it is important that you contact the Senators who represent your state in Congress:
• Go to the NEA legislative action center to send your message on the Federal Jobs bill: http://www.capwiz.com/nea/issues/alert/?alertid=14952031&type=co

• As you know, the Higher Education Leadership Council and MTA leaders and strategic action coordinators have been meeting with legislators, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, and Education Secretary Reville to move these contracts forward into a supplementary budget. Our contract sits in the hands of the House Ways & Means Committee awaiting action. The Governor has told a recent higher education audience that, though he would like concessions to deal with the economic crisis, he is not putting pressure on legislators to hold off on these contracts. Note our legislators hold the key to funding these contracts, so that is where our energy needs to be focused.
• Know that MCCC and other higher ed. unions have no intention of reopening contracts at this time. We must all continue to work with the legislature to move these contracts forward.
• My thanks to those who have contacted legislators about our contracts or participated in related in-district meetings. Thanks to Brooks Smith for his weekly meetings with legislators and to Caroline Schwarzwalder and Tiffany Magnolia for their recent legislative breakfast at North Shore Community College. MCCC leadership will continue to work with MTA colleagues on this contract campaign. Please stay in touch with your legislators.
• Further action requests - including phone calls, emails, and/or in district meetings - may be needed, so please pay attention to SAC email action alerts and requests.

• Thanks and kudos to MCCC Professors Marie Canaves, Mo Sowa, Fred Cooksey,  and Karen Dufault for personal testimony that was clear, compelling  and so engaging. They were terrific!  
• Thanks to the MCCC faculty and others who packed the hearing  room and applauded their colleagues most appreciatively. Rarely do you  see this room full - and almost never do you hear applause.  
• The MCCC panel was extremely well-received, holding everyone's attention  from start to finish. Committee chairs both praised and thanked our panel for  their compelling stories. 
• Strong testimony in support of SB 1173 was provided by others as  well:  faculty from the state colleges (MSCA) and UMass  Amherst (MSP), MTA Lobbyist Jack Flannagan, and Michael Muse - Lobbyist for  the MCC College Presidents.

• We had a great lunch and great venue (State House Room 437) for our  afternoon program. 
• Speakers included Art Pippo, Director of Higher Education; Jack Flannagan,  MTA lobbyist; and Senator Pacheco, Chairman of the Committee on Post-Audit and  Oversight and chief sponsor of the bill. 
• Faculty visited their legislators' offices, distributing ORP literature  and telling their ORP stories. 
•  MCCC leadership visited all Public Service Committee members'  offices, distributed the MCCC booklet of stories and ORP talking points,  and met with legislative aides.

• SB 1173 needs to be reported favorably out of the Public Service  Committee before the end of November if it is to  have a chance of being passed this legislative session. 
• If the bill moves out of the Public Service Committee with a  favorable report, it  will then need to be approved by both Ways &  Means Committees and by both Chambers.

• Review the attached (revised) talking points and my Public Service Committee testimony for further understanding of the bill.  (Note the ORP talking points have been revised and are dated  9/22/09. Delete previous versions that say "final' on  them.)
  
  
• Email your legislators (or meet with them) to get their support on  SB 1173. Tell your personal story. If you are calling for a colleague,  emphasize the points in the attached support materials that seem most relevant  and compelling.
  
  
• Ask legislators to read the attached ORP talking points and  the copy of my committee testimony to further understand the  issues. 
  

• Ask legislators willing to support this bill to call the  Chairs of the Public Service Committee to report the bill out favorably.  Senators should call Chairman (Senator) Thomas McGee; Representatives should  contact Chairman (Representative) Robert Spellane.
  
  
• To identify your MA Legislators,  go to www.wheredoivotema.com <http://www.wheredoivotema.com>  
  
  
• To  send an email to your representative, go to: http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenuh.htm <http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenuh.htm>
  
  
• To  send an email to your senator, go to: http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenus.htm <http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenus.htm>
  
  
• To  set up an appointment with  legislators - or to follow up on an  email, contact them by phone. Call the main  State House number (617-722-2000) and ask to be connected to your  legislator.  
  

• Report  concerns, questions, successes to your Chapter ORP Representative or to your  SAC leader or Chapter President who will then compile responses and share them  with me.