Ratifies labor agreements and compensation plans affecting state employees. These agreements and plans were put into effect on an interim basis by a joint legislative subcommittee. To remain in effect, the agreements and plans must be ratified by the 1999 legislature.

Also, makes several other changes in public employment laws.

Section
1	Ratifications.
	Subd. 1. Ratifies labor agreement between the state and the Minnesota state university association of administrative and service faculty.
	Subd. 2. Ratifies labor agreement between the state and the United Technical College Educators.
	Subd. 3. Ratifies compensation plan for unrepresented, unclassified employees of the higher education services office.
	Subd. 4. Ratifies labor agreement between the state and the interfaculty organization.
	Subd. 5. Ratifies arbitration award and labor agreement between the state and the Minnesota Nurses Association.
	Subd. 6. Ratifies compensation plan for MnSCU administrators as modified by the joint subcommittee on employee relations.
	Subd. 7. Ratifies salary increases for certain state agency heads, as modified by the joint subcommittee on employee relations.
	Subd. 8. Ratifies the salary proposal of the MnSCU board of trustees for the chancellor.
2	Transfer of leave. Under current law employees who move between classified executive branch service and legislative service have vacation and sick leave transferred. This section extends the transfer of vacation and sick leave to unclassified executive and legislative employment. Provides that vacation and sick leave do not transfer if the new position does not provide for such leave (e.g. a MnSCU faculty position may not have vacation leave). Amounts that can be transferred are subject to limits in the receiving entity's collective bargaining agreement or compensation plan.
3	Exceptions. Exempts health department epidemiologist from requirement that no employee can be paid more than the agency heads. Moves current language relating to information systems staff and actuaries.
4	Special mediators. Strikes reference to a statute that no longer applies. (The limit referred to in the stricken language no longer exists).
5	MnSCU. Change in public employee definition, based on MnSCU change to semesters.
6	Teachers unions. Makes references changes in procedures used to establish panel of names for teacher arbitration. Under current law, the MEA and the MFT each submitted seven names. The proposed statutory change reflects the merger of the these two groups by referring to "Education Minnesota" and providing for the new group to submit up to 14 names.
7	Technical. Change in reference to MnSCU merger.
8	Technical. Strikes reference to an abolished board (the Public Employment Relations Board-PERB, which was abolished in the early1990's).
9	Repealer. Repeals statute dealing with exemption to salary limit, because the substance is now in section 3.
10	Effective date. Effective the day following final enactment.