Senate Education Committee Amends QEO Repeal Bill

The bill repealing the Qualified Economic Offer law underwent some modifications and was released from committee.

The Senate Education Committee added an amendment and then voted for the amended bill, 4-4. Committee Chair Cal Potter said he would report the amended version out of committee even with the tie vote so it can go to the Senate floor for referral to the Joint Finance Committee.

Major provisions of the substitute amendment include:

• Modifies the definition of QEO, to provide increases of at least 2.1 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is higher, applied to the cells of a salary scale.
• Requires an arbitrator to give "greater weight" to economic conditions and to the impact of a bargaining agreement on school district revenue limits.
• Allows school districts to increase revenue limits by the amount necessary to cover the costs of the QEO salary increase and any increased costs required to maintain the percentage contribution to existing fringe benefit costs and to maintain all fringe benefits of the QEO.

The committee also voted to introduce a bill containing recommendations from the 1995 Council on Municipal Collective Bargaining report.

WEAC/WFT have not taken any official position on the amended QEO bill at this time.

Posted January 19, 1998