We have more good news to report on the legislation funding our new contract. The supplemental budget that includes funding for our negotiated pay increases has just cleared all final legislative hurdles in both the senate and house and is now on Governor Baker’s desk awaiting his signature.
Governor Baker has ten days to take one of the following actions:
- Sign the bill into law
- Return the bill with amendments striking some of the funding or language in the bill. If this happens, these amendments would need to be approved or rejected by the legislature.
- Veto the legislation, which would require a two-thirds vote by both branches to override the veto.
It’s important to note than we believe that Option #3 (veto by the governor) is HIGHLY UNLIKELY and we also believe that any amendments that may be proposed by the governor under Option #2 would NOT be related to the funding of our contracts.
As we reported yesterday, the bill that is now on the governor’s desk does not include approximately $40 million in funding for the one-time hazard pay bonuses we and other unions secured through separate agreements signed in conjunction with our new contract. Since federal relief money received by the state cannot be used for wages and benefits but can be used for hazard pay, we expect the legislature to take up the issue of funding the hazard pay bonuses in the coming weeks in a separate budget bill focused exclusively on spending the federal relief funds.
Council 93 is already working in coalition with other public-sector unions to urge Governor Baker to sign the bill funding the raises and to expedite action on the federal relief money bill that would fund the hazard pay bonuses. We will continue to keep you updated as these matters progress.
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