State Senate Begins Hearings on Reform Proposals

SBAM came out in support of the first installment of the State Senate’s $2 billion in government reforms.  The bills (SB 1072) would amend the binding arbitration procedures for police and firefighters, and SBs 1085 and 1086 would ease the process for local governments to merge and consolidate local services.

The estimated savings from these measures is somewhere between $70 million and $118 million per year.  Both items are part of the list of reforms that our coalition of business groups has been discussing with legislators over the past few weeks.

Concerns were brought up from municipal officials that the bills still needed more work to provide more savings.  The committee intends to meet again next week to vote on the bills.