In practice, the 2.5% pay reduction will be spread out in 26 pay periods and in exchange, employees will take five furlough days. In other words, instead of receiving less pay, but working the same amount of time, the school year has been cut five days to compensate for the loss of pay. For teachers and specialists, the five days will come from professional development days. The language for teachers and specialists is very specific: 180 student days, with one professional development day, and two days for opening and closing. The five furlough days are to come from professional development days.

Other unionized school and state employees will be given their five days through a plan worked out between their local union and school district or agency.

For state employees who are not part of a union, their "...Cabinet Secretary, Agency Head and/or Other Elected Official shall submit for approval a plan that provides for five days of leaving during FY2010."

All plans, even those that we bargain, must then be submitted to the Secretary of Education (for school district employees), the Director of Office of Management and Budget, and the Comptroller General for approval and implementation.

For all DSEA leaders, your DSEA UniServ staff will assist your local association leaders in thinking through the logistics and discussing the process for negotiating your furlough days with your district or agency. This includes transportation workers, public health nurses in our PHNC/DHCI bargaining unit, and Special Schools members who work for the state's Kid's Department.

• The 2009 salary schedules return at the end of the fiscal year. In other words, we do not start “in the hole” when debating next year’s pay issues with the state. We will post here the reduced salary schedule for next year as soon as we receive it.

• Step increases will be paid.

• Lane (education) changes on the salary schedules will be paid.

• Cluster and national board certification pay for those already receiving it, will continue to be paid. However, the moratorium on new clusters and national board certifications will continue (i.e., new stipends and new or renewed certification payments will not be granted).

• "Double state share" for health benefits was not eliminated. This applies to health benefits for married couples, both of whom are state employees or state retirees. Eliminating "double state share" promises, however, to be a cost-cutting issue again next year.

As noted before, insurance premium costs for state employees will go up 50% next year, and mandatory 90-day refills for routine meds will be required.

There will be no increase in deductibles, co-pays or Medicaid payments.

The elimination of "double state share" was NOT enacted for state employees or retirees, but promises to return as a cost-cutting issue for FY2011.

But there is some really bad news, perhaps an issue for our State Workers United Coalition to take up:The Short-Term Disability program was changed: the period employees must now wait before receiving any disability payments was bumped up from 20 calendar days to 60 calendar days for disabilities that begin after August 1, 2009. We fought long and hard to have the state establish a short-term disability program so that people didn't have to consider long-term disability and/or retirement, with no other option.
This is a set-back to that new program. Why? Most employees use their sick leave and lose no pay during the 20 calendar day waiting period. The choices are: go unpaid for two months, use any available sick time or donated leave if available and applicable, or purchase separate disability insurance to cover this period. But most people will have exhausted most of their sick day before they get to the point of needing to consider a short-term leave... which means more pay will most likely be lost before the short-term disability coverage begins.

The struggle to maintain wages and benefits was aided in large part by participation of DSEA in State Workers United for a Better Delaware, a coalition of 14 unions representing state workers.

Again, thank you, for your relentless lobbying efforts that made a very bad situation much better.

Three of Governor's education bills become law

Although economic issues dominated the attention of the legislature, a few education bills became law, including three bills considered to be the Governor’s education package.

o First, a bill eliminating the DSTP and replacing it with a growth model test for the 2010-2011 School Year became law (Senate Bill 68 w/SA 1).

o Second, legislation was filed attempting to establish an alternative compensation plan for teachers that included a component of pay for student performance. Eventually, this bill was completely rewritten to become an Academic Achievement Program (SB 151) to give schools financial rewards from federal stimulus money for showing two years of improvement in closing the achievement gap and meeting AYP.

o The third bill in this package was filed as HB119. The original bill provided school districts with a great deal of flexibility in the use of their state funding as well as increased scrutiny of their financial matters. With the possibility of negatively impacting special needs, health programs, art, music, drama, and vocational technical instruction, the legislation picked up many critics. The bill was withdrawn, rewritten and reintroduced as HS (House Substitute) 1 for HB119. The new bill limits flexibility to movement of money from Division II (energy) to Division 1 (salaries). The bill was amended to remove a section that would have given DOE more direct control of a local district’s budget.

Around 2:30 AM on July 1, the Senate passed Rep. Longhurst’s bill (HB275) giving teachers of the Colonial School District the right to return to their exact same position when returning from FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) leave. Congratulations to Longhurst and Colonial!

(Yes, President Diane Donohue, Exec. Dir. Howard Weinberg, and Tim Barchak, DSEA's dir. of legislation and political organizing, stayed till the bitter end, about 4:15am.)

Personal Income Tax to increase by one point for earnings over $60,000

Revenue bills to help bridge the state's huge deficit include a one point income tax increase (from 5.95% to 6.95%) on earnings of $60,000 or more. Also in the bill is language to end this increase in four years.

The very good news here is that there is no increase in Personal Income Tax rates for people making less than $60,000. However, Delaware will continue to collect income tax at the lower levels: 2.2% on income in excess of $2,000; 3.9% of taxable income in excess of $5,000; 4.8% on income above $10,000; 5.2% on income in excess of $20,000; and 5.55% on taxable income in excess of $25,000 but less than $60,000.

Also passed are tax increases on the purchase of tobacco products; fees for alcohol licenses; fees for birth and death certificates and other vital records; and public utility taxes on direct-to-home satellite services.

There is also a one-year amnesty for people who owe taxes: they won't have to pay any penalty.

And, as of July 1, if you win at the lottery, your winnings are taxable income

For the status of all bills, check out the Bill Tracking section of the General Assembly's web page.

Poll conducted in April 2009 finds Delaware voters oppose proposed 8% cuts to state worker pay, support some tax increases to promote growth, improve public education and critical state services.

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