as we have it in MN

...That's right...I said WE in MN...that's me...a Minnesotan (that cheers for a "foreign" football team).  This is from the LA CROSSE TRIBUNE.

Minnesota lawmakers are considering changes to the state’s public work force, including paring the state work force by 15 percent and a proposed pay freeze for teachers.
But Minnesota officials aren’t expected to replicate Wisconsin’s efforts to have employees pay more for their benefits, as such efforts likely wouldn’t yield much savings in Minnesota.
A plan to end collective bargaining with teachers and thousands of other public employees is roiling Wisconsin, where Republican Gov. Scott Walker contends it would save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.
Walker is calling for employee contributions to rise from less than 1 percent of their earnings to nearly 6 percent.
In Minnesota, state employees already pay nearly that, said Jennifer Munt, spokeswoman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the union that represents about 20,000 state employees.
“In Minnesota, public employees pay 5 percent of their income toward their pension,” she said. “The average pension for AFSCME state employees is $13,000 a year.”
That’s currently a 50-50 match for the Minnesota State Retirement System.
Those contributions are defined by law — not in contract talks, said Jim Monroe, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, another large state public employee union. He said eliminating collective bargaining, as Wisconsin is considering, wouldn’t change that.
“If anybody here in Minnesota thinks that would generate savings, it would not,” Monroe said of Wisconsin’s plan.
Minnesota teachers have a similar deal. They contribute 5.5 percent of their pay to their pensions, which is matched by their districts. That’s scheduled to rise to 6 percent in July and 7.5 percent by 2014.
In Wisconsin, Walker’s plan also would require public employees to contribute more for their health insurance, to nearly 13 percent of the premium cost.
It’s hard to compare directly, because the benefits are a key factor in the cost of health insurance, but in Minnesota, AFSME and MAPE have bargained to pay 15 percent of a family plan for their employees. The state picks up the rest, with a $3,800 out-of-pocket limit.
Just as in Wisconsin, teachers in Minnesota bargain their health insurance locally, and it varies widely.
“We have a pretty good balance right now,” said Mike Parry, chairman of the Senate’s state government committee. “So I think we’re different from that.”
But lawmakers at the Capitol have been talking about statutory changes to public employment this session, including pay freezes for teachers and a 15-percent cut in the state work force.
Parry said he and other Republicans also would like the state to operate more like the private sector with pensions and other benefits.
“I would like to see the citizens, which is the state, be put in a position where they can decide what they’re going match, if they’re going to match, based on the surplus in the state’s coffers,” Parry said.
Bills have been introduced in the House this year attempting to change Minnesota to a right-to-work state, which would all but eliminate unions’ ability to organize. But so far, neither bill has made any progress in the House.

What difference a border makes

Minnesota and Education Innovation

Lawmakers Flee

...I have lots of opinions on this.  It's giving me migraines and stomach aches.  This was the root of the reason I started writing again.  I will eventually be calm enough to start making sense so I can write it out...I've started the blog, it is just not post-able yet.  I want to make sure I get it right, at least for me.

If you are someone...

...who believe that in government "less is more", then how is it not contrary to your beliefs to write a new law which basically says that before any rules or regulations are create and/or changed, you (as in YOU, ONE PERSON in Government) must personally approve of the change or the new rule. I thought this is what our Legislators were for...nothing is approved without going through them so now why must it come through YOU FIRST...Isn't that asking for more power?

Also at issue (and possibly to be discussed at length in the future): Tort reform, Union-buster, land favors, insurance minimums, personal security....

I need...

...to write. Perhaps that is really what is needed. There is a deep and profound sadness in my life and I have ideas about the contributing factors but no real way to grab and fix those things that are beyond my control. I am beginning to think that the best way to sort through it all and get it out is simply to write...and get it out somewhere.

I have also come to the realization that our blog has been grossly neglected...although it is entirely plausible that this is not something I really had to realize as much as it simply needed acknowledging. The issue here is that I felt I was boring you, our sole and lonely reader. I didn't have anything really "new" to say and I can only thrill you with so many pictures of our little princess pooch, Brandi. My husband is an amazing man but does not like his pictures posted here, and considering I am not a fan of having my picture taken at all, I can hardly blame him.

Recently I read a friend's newly created blog. She doesn't bother with pictures. She just writes (and very eloquently at that). Reading her thoughts is rejuvenating, refreshing and inspiring to me. I've come to understand that this doesn't need to be about entertainment value or filling the world in on the redundant day to day stuff. It needs to be about anything. In that knowledge and with that understanding-I've decided to use this forum to write. Just write. I'm not promising pictures or thrills. What you will get is simply what's on my mind. My intention is to let it out. I most likely can't solve the things that are making me truly sad but perhaps this outlet will provide some relief.

Now, before I begin about what's sad in my world, I believe it is imperative to mention what is not. My husband is the light of my life. He is my everything and without him I would be lost. His mere presence is enough to make me feel safe and comforted, and with him by my side and me by his, there is nothing we can't face togehter. Also right: my cuddle-bum Brandi-dog, my career as it is right now, and generally day to day life. Don't mistake me. Life IS good. It's the ability to keep it that way and my concern and empathy for outhers now and in the future that is inspiring this current word splurge.

Now you know what to expect and perhaps understand that what follows may be totally unexpected. I know that my goals are. I'm trying to do better here (in this blog). My hope is that with this new conceptrual idea for this blog, I will be able to satisfy not only your desire to read, but my desire to purge this sadness within.

That will be it for today. More WILL follow. I am making an effort at this committment.

(PS...it should be noted that my current mood is no longer the deep melancholy I felt this morning when I formulated this blog. I am currently at peace. My hubby took me out for V-Day, yoga was tonight, and this word splurge have all contributed to a state of mind in which I find myself still concerned for the others but personally content)

What is me...

Cut and Paste links to make them work...

S.A.D.~~~Seasonal Affective Disorder

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder

This is NOT me.

Melancholy~~~

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/melancholy

This is more like...and this certainly varies by day. Maybe if I turned off NPR...