Agenda - Council - 05/27/1980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Volunteer ambulance retirement systems Proposals to integrate ambulance and rescue volunteers not part of local volunteer fire depart- ments into the program for retirement for volun- teer firefighters have met rejection from organiza- tions of volunteer firefighters. Creation of another system of local relief is not in the best interest of the state, its political subdivisions or its taxpayers. Therefore, the League urges Congress and the state legislature to remove arbitrary limits on salary (presently ¼ salary) which may be placed in tax deferred status by employers of volunteer ambu- lance personnel, thus providing an efficient, sim- ple and inexpensive means of providing retire- ment benefits to ambulance volunteers. Social security Many public employees in Minnesota are cover- ed by federal social security (FICA) and participate in the plan's benefits including disability, porta- bility, and modest cost-of-living benefit increases. The League recommends as a long-range goal that all public employees in Minnesota, except volunteers, be covered by FICA, on condition that the financing of medical and non-pension related programs are in the future financed from federal general funds. Temporary military service When an employee is temporarily absent because of short-term military service, the League proposes that the pub!lc employer pay only the difference, when the military pay is less than public pay. Furthermore, pension and other rights should be protected. Such pay differential shall apply for a period of fifteen calendar days. Unemployment compensation In 1976, unemployment compensation laws were substantially improved by the elimination of eligibility for those individuals who voluntarily quit or are dismissed for cause. However, requali- fication is provided once the claimant has earned four times the weekly benefit for which he would otherwise be eligible. This requalification is too Iow and should be substantially increased. In addition, the League believes that individuals who knowingly accept temporary employment of specific limited durations or provisional employ- ment not exceeding six months and whose such employment is thus ended, should be deemed to have voluntarily ended their such employment and thus should be disqualified for certain benefits. The employers involved should not be saddled with unemployment compensation costs for individuals who accept and perhaps even plan for the termina- tion of their such employment. The Minnesota Supreme Court is expected to decide on this matter soon. If the Court does not so construe the present unemployment compensation law, the League recommends that the law be appropriately amended. Also, students temporarily employed as interns, such as urban corps interns, should not be eligible for unemployment compensation. GENERAL LEGISLATION AND GOVERNMENTSTRUCTURE Data management The League recommends that the legislature classify that city data, the release of which would adversely affect the public interest, the health, welfare and/or reputation of the data subject, or which would render unworkable'a program authorized by law. Open meetings City officials strongly support the basic premise of the open meeting law - to assure the public's right to be informed about the conduct of the public business. Experience with this law since 1974, however, indicates clearly that there are areas where the legislation should make it more specific or should amend the law in the public interest. First, the law should specifically state that it applies only to meetings where a quorum of the body is present, clarifying the present restrictive interpretation. The League also believes that there are certain specific instances where the public interest would be better served by permitting a local governing body to meet in executive or closed session. These instances include discussion of labor nego- tiation strategy, certain discussions relating to employees, and discussions regarding the purchase of land for a public purpose. In order to safeguard the public's right to know in these instances, the local governing body would make the decision to hold a closed session via two-thirds vote, and a record of the meeting would be made for later disclosure when information is no longer sensi- tive. -12-