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Senate panel hears proposals to change arbitration for school employee health benefits
Summary
Lawmakers and education groups debated draft language that would let arbitrators mix elements of competing last-best offers and add two factors for consideration — moves supporters say could curb rising school health costs and opponents say could unsettle bargaining and raise costs for employees.
MONTPELIER, Vt. — The Vermont Senate Education Committee on May 6 considered draft changes to the state’s process for resolving impasses over public school employees’ health benefits, including permission for arbitrators to select parts of competing final offers and two new factors for arbitrators to weigh.
Supporters, led by the Vermont School Boards Association, told the committee that rising health insurance costs are crowding out school budgets and that the arbitration process should allow more nuanced outcomes. “Health insurance is expensive,” said Sue Zaglowski, executive director of the Vermont School Boards Association. Zaglowski urged allowing arbitrators to “select between the last best offer of each party on an issue by issue basis with or without amendment,” language the VSBA requested be added to draft 10.1 of H.480.
The VSBA asked the committee to add two factors for arbitrators to consider: how the value of school employees’ health…
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