July 2003

FROM THE PRESIDENT

We received notice of a pending reallocation of approximately 220 members in the
Engineering Specialist classification. DER in conjunction with DOT BHRS reviewed this
matter and made a determination that these members should be represented by
WSEU. We are still evaluating this situation and getting feedback from members.
See your section president if you have questions. The reallocation notice indicated that
on July 13th the members would be moved.

In my view DOT management's denial of involvement is this matter is simply false.
Unless the Association has been given some new responsibilities that I am not aware of
- DOT and DER have been involved in this with both hands and feet too!

Are these not DOT/DER roles?
. Administered the original engineering survey in late 1980's and early 1990's
. Development of the original Engineering Specialist classification
. Assignment of Engineering Specialist to SEA bargaining unit
. Modification of class specifications in 1997
. Development of review criteria based on comments in the WERC decision
. Determination of who should be reallocated in this 2003 action
. Modification of class specification in this 2003 action
. Direction and write position descriptions
. Assignment of duties
. Determination whether or not duties are Specialist or Technician

The next time someone in management tells you that they have no involvement in this
matter ask them if they have given up the above noted responsibilities - last time I
checked they hadn't. They are involved. Statements otherwise are simply spin - bad
spin at that. Think about that for a moment - the people in charge of our organizations
are stating they have no involvement in a major personnel transaction? I find that hard
to believe and employees should too. I wonder who is involved and responsible if they
are not.

The next few years will bring budget challenges for us all in State service - remember
to continue to be professionally and technically the best at your jobs - that's how we
can best serve ourselves and the taxpayers! The Association is YOU! Continue to
support your local leadership and participate!

Respectfully,
Timothy R. Hanley
SEA President

LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON A.B. 304 - JUNE 5, 2003
HEALTH INSURANCE POOLING TO REDUCE COST

1) Includes the State Group Insurance Board to develop a plan
with at least three cost levels and a low cost health plan
that provides coverage for catastrophic illness or injury.

2) Inter-agency task force on bulk purchasing of prescription
drugs.

3) A uniform system of solicitation of health insurance bids by the
Office of Commissioner of Insurance (OCI).
4) Requires the insurer to provide aggregate group health claims
experience information to the local government units on the (OCI)
format.


The following organizations supported the A.B. 304 at the hearing:

WEAC
Lutheran Insurance Group
Wisconsin Counties Association
Wisconsin School Boards Association
Alliance of cities
Touch Point Health plan (Fox Valley)
(more economical than WEAC's plan)

No action was taken by the Committee on Insurance of the Legislature.
A point made during the hearing is that health insurance is not a benefit
Health insurance is only an insurance policy purchased from an insurance
company.

Melvin B. Sensenbrenner,
SEA Retirement & Health
Insurance Representative

WCOA MEETING - JUNE 18, 2003

The 3 tier ETF health insurance system was discussed and the employee
share of the tiers was noted:

Tier one single $25/month; family plan $62.50/month
Tier two single $50/month; family plan $120.00/month
Tier three single $100/month; family plan $250/month

ETF assured us that there will be Tier One plans available in all areas of the
state of Wisconsin. The bids by providers will be reported on at the August 26,2003
ETF Group Insurance Board Meeting

SWIB report was given by Sandy Drew for the Coalition of Annuitants. The
Governor appointed two new Investment Board members: Bill Levitt, an attorney, and
Delores Sims, a banker The Board still has two vacancies--a local government representa-
tive and a public member. Also note the other new members appointed in the SWIB
Report of May 2003 included in your ETF Trust Fund News.

SWIB PERFORMANCE - Year to date
End of April End of May Benchmark
Balanced Fund + 3. 7% +8.6% +8.5%
Variable Fund +4.1% +10.4% +10.3%
Retirement Funds
Balanced 47.72 billion 50.06 billion
Variable 4.71 billion 5.01 billion
52.43 billion 55.07 billion
10.4% external management

Vicki Pool, ETF legislative liaison person, gave us an updated report on legislation
affecting ETF. That report is dated 6-\9-03, and copies have been provided to all SEA
Board members for your review The Republican Legislature has not moved on any items
affecting public employees.

Also provided were two reports from Bill Ford of the Legislative Council. First,
his report of the JSCORS on SB 44, the Governor's Budget. A copy of his full report
has been provided to all SEA Board members The second report Bill Ford presented
was all current legislation on retirement issues and their status It is dated June 17, 2003
and covers the following bills:

S.B. 44 - Governor's Budget
A.B. 7S - Protective status for the Department of Military Affairs performing
security at weapons facilities.
A.B. 76 - Protective status for teachers and librarians employed at all state
correctional facilities.
A.B. 77 - Eliminates the 1974 date for WRS credited military service at time of
retirement
S.B. 91 - Removes all judges and state elected officials whose terms begin after
the effective date of this bill.
S.B. 93 - Credit for military service in Merchant Marines beginning December 7, 1941
and ending August 15, 1945 only for an annuity calculated that is paid
after the effective date of this bill.
S.B. 166- Teaching Assistants and Project Assistants at UW System will be
permitted to participate in WRS.
For more information, see Bill Ford's report dated June 17, 2003, which has been
provided to all SEA Board members.

The next WCOA meeting is scheduled for July 16, 2003.
Melvin B Sensenbrenner,
SEA Retirement & Health
Insurance Representative
 

ETF BOARD MEETING - JUNE 19, 2003

Most of the time was spent discussing the law change that was submitted
and approved last year to pay WRS dividends on April 1st rather than May 1st.
However, they submitted an emergency rule to change it back to May 1, 2003 to
reduce the excess phone calls they would receive from all the people in the
variable fund.

The Board has made a decision to go back to the original date of May 1st
for payment of dividend changes within the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS).
The current participants in WRS for December 31, 2002 are 263,500 actives,
116,289 annuitants and 116,000 inactives, giving us a total of 495,789.
The actuary gave us his opinion of the WRS com~red to other retirement
systems that he works on. Our system is very strong financially with the
best funding system and the best contribution rates. Therefore, we should not
believe what we read in Milwaukee newspapers.

At the June SEA Board Meeting, I called the Board's attention to ETF and
SWIB newsletters that all of you have copies of and should read carefully.

ETF It's Your Benefit May 2003
ETF Trust Fund News May 2003
SWIB The SWIB Report May 2003
DER Letter to Agency Heads May 22, 2003

(3-tier managed health care modeland pharmacy benefit manager) - E-mailed
to all SEA Board members.

The next ETF Board Meeting will be held on September 25 & 26, 2003.

Melvin B. Sensenbrenner,
SEA Retirement & Health
Insurance Representative

Legislative Report

Larry Legro 2nd VP

As I prep this article there is still no final 2003-2005 budget from the legislature, and the
Governor is hinting he might veto the entire budget submitted to him by the Joint Finance
Committee, once it passes the legislature.

Remember Act II, the pension bill signed by Gov. Thompson back in 1999? This action gave
the employers who pay into the pension plan, a $200 million credit to the account. I find this
similar to the Patient Compensation Fund (PCF) where Gov. Doyle wants to use a like amount of
$200 million of its reserves to balance the state budget. The majority is opposed to this, but,
back in 1999, they were all too happy to use the same amount of money from a different source.

(The PCF is a fund that medical providers (Doctors) pay into to ease the cost of medical
malpractice in the event it occurs.) It is a reserve to help keep the cost of malpractice
insurance down by guaranteeing a pot of money to pay possible claims against malpractice.

Also, the Tyson Workers, UFCW Local 538 (470 people in Jefferson WI) are into their 41h
month of a strike action against Tyson Foods. The employer is imposing a reduction in present
pay (with a four year freeze for this level of pay), elimination of pension funding, and an
unaffordable health care plan. They had negotiated for over 8 months prior to this strike
action. Meanwhile the Tyson CEO gets a 59% increase in pay and bonuses while offering about
a 1/3 cut in wages and benefits to employees of Jefferson. Many unions have contributed
goods, services or money to this group, and I will propose a motion that we as a group, SEA,
also come to the aid of our fellow union brothers and sisters. [t could be us next time, and in
some ways it is, if you know about the recent unit clarification issue we will have to deal with
shortly, and which may be discussed in this newsletter by Tim Hanley, President. or another
Board officer.

Do you know that the average impact of a major
shutdown in a large corporation:
costs $96,000 per hour or $4 million per week
. loses 1/2% of market share every eight hours
. requires 3 years to recover 1/2% of market share
. leaves one year of consequences for every 6 hours of downtime

The above average factoids were discovered by me during some information about terrorism I
was looking at. But a shutdown does not necessarily occur from a terrorist act. It could be
due to some environmental occurrence (tornado, flood, etc) or by a union activity (strike), or
some other means.

I hope CEO's, Administrators, Manager's, etc, note some of the consequences of the above.
That is a lot of$$$Cha-Ching$$$ (money).

Bargaining commences for the 2003-2005 biennium on Friday June 27th, 2003. The first
day ofa bargaining session is similar to when our mom's and dads, early in our lives, took us
to the corner, then see us off, where we have to wear our new stiff clothes and new shoes,
where nothing heavy duty occurs this day, but is just a first day get together with the agency that
works on behalf of YOU, the employee (at least it is according to their mission statement). Of
course I refer to the agency that is supposed to work on behalf of you the employee, the
Department of Employment Relations (OER).

Here is a still picture of a hidden truth meter we keep under the table during bargaining.
Our secret is now out. This year, maybe both sides can bargain truthfully again. I am not sure
which side was being metered at the time of this picture. For privacy to both sides, the date and
time of this meter reading will not be discussed in this article. Of course we (SEA) always
speak the truth don't we? We do not have this meter this year, SEA loaned it to the Governor
to use with the legislative process.

Enough humor for now... .By the Way, I paid my debt to SEA President, Mr. Tim Hanley, and
1 even tossed in a bonus for his correct prediction of our contracts and back pay.
The state budget is full of controversy and unknowns. There is a bit of politicking in it.

Each side has used some strategy as they look ahead, not so much for what this budget. does for
the people of this state, but more for bragging rights, and future finger pointing at election
time. It appears that transportation's funding is intact mainly since the road builders donate so
much to one side. Seniors, schools and towns and cities (urban services) are being cutback
along with state emp1oyees and programs. Any increased spending and a property tax freeze
appear to be the main issues from the majority.

There is not a lot of pork to be trimmed from the budget submitted to the Governor. It is said that
this budget can be tweaked but not altered in too many profound ways. Gov. Doy1e will need
to put on his magician's cap to find a workab1e plan that suits everyone during this deficit. This
budget is probably the highest profile, most written about budget in years if not of all time.
To make matters worse, the retirement fund is paying out more than it takes in. This is partly
due to the economy (decline in stocks and bonds) and the manipulation of the retirement
system by former politicians. Employer members of the state retirement system will have
to kick in more money now and possibly again in 2005. Be prepared to not only pay increased
costs for things like parking at work. but for health insurance and dental; You will probably
get little or no raises over the next few years. (Makes a person want to go right out and get a
subscription to .'Despair Comics". ) If we are not in some Nuc1ear War relatively soon, then
things probably won't be too bad. Make sure you vote in the next elections. I think we all
know who created this mess, and that most of them are still around and manipulating things
as usual.

SEA will be looking for some new candidates for local sections from now until the end of the
year, and the Board officers will also have elections in 2004. Now is the time to start thinking of running for office, getting involved with SEA, either on a local level or at the Board
level. I personally will be leaving the 2nd V.P. position (legislative liason/bargaining team)
since I have served my two consecutive two years tenns (four consecutive years). We, as an
Association, have tenn limits according to our Constitution and local Bylaws. My term will be
up in the fall of 2004. Sometime in a future newsletter ( will post the positions, their duties,
and other interesting notes. Give blood, donate some time or money to a worthy cause, and get
involved in your Association. SEA is what you, the members, make of it. Do not think the
"other guy" will do it. Think about attending the Green Bay October Annual Meeting of the
membership. ( would like ideas from anyone regarding if (need to connect with a keynote
speaker such as the Governor, your Senator, or Assemb1y person, maybe a Packer player?, or
the Mayor of Green Bay? Let me know if I can help in securing a person of interest for this area
of the state.

Stay infonned and tell people what is going on and how it affects them. The impact to the DNR
budget is being called decimating. Many services will be eliminated, employees will be
laid off. The impact will be noticed. Privatization (private contracts) does not even
get on the back page. Let people know about this too.

The National Do-Not-Call-List number is 1-888-382-1222. It became active on June 29th. You
can supposedly block calls from telemarketers by signing up for this list. The state of WI also
has a number to call to deter telemarketing within the borders. It is probably better to be
signed up at both the state and national levels. The number will electronically guide you
through the setup. Tell your friends and relatives, especially the elderly relatives about
this. Help them sign up.

If you have ideas or issues you would like me or others from SEA to discuss in this newsletter,
please do not hesitate to advance them to us. Connect with you legislators, now is probably
not a bad time to let them know how you feel about events they control. One call is all it takes.