Legislation permitting local governments to end contracts when seeking to consolidate services passed the Senate late last week on mostly party-line votes. House Bills 4309, 4311, 4312 and 4534 all received immediate effect.
The package was addressed by the House in March and passed on similar party-line votes.
New contracts are required to be negotiated and finalized when a service consolidation takes place under the legislation, meaning public employee benefits and pay must be dealt with first. The package states that contracts in place at the time of the consolidation will remain effective until they are altered by a collective bargaining process or expire.
