Republicans who control the state Senate have canceled a floor session Tuesday and plan to use the time instead to discuss bills that would overhaul the state’s elections board and campaign finance statutes.
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Milton Democrat Andy Jorgensen says the Republican bill exchanges “knowledge for cronies”.
“The truth is the bill is about getting the best and brightest to work for the state”, Steineke said during debate.
The two houses disagree on whether job candidates should have to check boxes on their applications if they’ve been convicted of certain crimes. The Assembly proposal passed Tuesday would do away with the requirement, a move opposed by a few Senate Republicans that is not in their version of the bill. But he also said it’s “very important” to keep the prohibition in the law to allow applicants “an equal opportunity” to be considered for a job regardless of their past. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said this week that it’s an issue they are open to taking another look at, noting that the original bill did still include judges in the panels…but it was removed at the request of the Senate. Taylor said. “I can not understand this bill”.
“For minorities like me, like my daughter, like the six of us in this room – we know first-hand that racial biases plague this country and it plagues this state”, Johnson said.
“The sky didn’t fall then, and the sky is not going to fall now”, she said.
The changes affect the rules governing about 30,000 state workers, including how they are disciplined or fired, and the process for hiring new employees.
The bill eliminates civil service hiring exams, toughens discipline, and shortens the appeals’ process.
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The bill removes seniority bumping rights and bases layoffs or bonuses on job performance.
