Assembly Version of Budget Bill Changes Landscape of Municipal Bargaining Somewhat

By
June 16, 2011

The Assembly passed its version of the Budget Bill early this morning. That version will now be submitted to the Senate for consideration. It is anticipated that the Senate will pass the Assembly version without change, but that remains to be seen.

There are several changes to the Municipal Collective Bargaining Law as amended by Wisconsin Act 10 that change the landscape of collective bargaining for public sector employers.
The Assembly Budget Bill inserts language into the state statutes that makes the employee-required contribution to the Wisconsin Retirement System pre-tax for tax law purposes. This change is directed specifically at the question of whether the employee contribution should be considered pre-tax. Some new language was added to the state law that addresses the employer contribution to the Wisconsin Retirement System. The language seems to state that the municipal employer is required to make the same contribution to the Wisconsin Retirement System as is made by an employee under the new legislative requirements. This does not seem to be a real change, but we are still investigating the statutory language. Everyone understood that the employer would pay one-half of the WRS contribution, but this appears to put that specifically in the statutory language. The effective date of the employee-required contribution is still unclear; the Department of Administration is saying that the contributions would not take effect until August, but that relates to the payroll cycles of the state and may not apply to local governments. We will review this further and provide guidance in the near future.

The Assembly Budget Bill provides collective bargaining rights to “transit employees.” This change extends or re-instates collective bargaining rights to transit employees and provides the same rights as are provided to public safety employees. Unfortunately, the definition of transit employees is not clear; it appears that transit employees will be defined on a case-by-case basis through the union election process. The criteria seems to be whether the positions are covered by or funded by federal funding and if so, those positions would be entitled to collective bargaining rights. The legislation simply says that the definition of a transit employee will be based on a determination by the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission through the regular union election process. More about this will be forthcoming as it becomes clearer.

Additionally, the proposed changes to the Collective Bargaining Law for public safety employees is also included as part of the Assembly Budget Bill. These amendments would make certain proposals, such as the design and structure of a health benefit plan, to be illegal subjects of bargaining. Local governments would therefore have the right to make decisions about health insurance benefits without bargaining with the public safety employee unions.

The requirement to have a grievance process for all local government employees still exists under the proposed Assembly Budget Bill.

Again, remember that the Bill must still be approved by the Senate and that process could result in more changes. Ruder Ware will continue to monitor the legislative developments and provide information as it becomes clear. If you have questions regarding the above, please contact any of the attorneys on the Local Governments Focus Team, or the School Districts Focus Team of Ruder Ware.

Back to all News & Insights

This document provides information of a general nature regarding legislative or other legal developments, and is based on the state of the law at the time of the original publication of this article. None of the information contained herein is intended as legal advice or opinion relative to specific matters, facts, situations, or issues, and additional facts and information or future developments may affect the subjects addressed. You should not act upon the information in this document without discussing your specific situation with legal counsel.

© 2024 Ruder Ware, L.L.S.C. Accurate reproduction with acknowledgment granted. All rights reserved.