1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to public employees; defining public safety 
  1.3             police dispatchers as essential employees; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 179A.03, subdivision 
  1.5             7. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 179A.03, 
  1.8   subdivision 7, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 7.  [ESSENTIAL EMPLOYEE.] "Essential employee" means 
  1.10  firefighters, peace officers subject to licensure under sections 
  1.11  626.84 to 626.863, 911 system and police and fire department 
  1.12  public safety dispatchers, guards at correctional facilities, 
  1.13  confidential employees, supervisory employees, assistant county 
  1.14  attorneys, assistant city attorneys, principals, and assistant 
  1.15  principals.  However, for state employees, "essential employee" 
  1.16  means all employees in law enforcement, health care 
  1.17  professionals, correctional guards, professional engineering, 
  1.18  and supervisory collective bargaining units, irrespective of 
  1.19  severance, and no other employees.  For University of Minnesota 
  1.20  employees, "essential employee" means all employees in law 
  1.21  enforcement, police dispatchers, nursing professional and 
  1.22  supervisory units, irrespective of severance, and no other 
  1.23  employees.  "Firefighters" means salaried employees of a fire 
  1.24  department whose duties include, directly or indirectly, 
  1.25  controlling, extinguishing, preventing, detecting, or 
  2.1   investigating fires.  Employees for whom the state court 
  2.2   administrator is the negotiating employer are not essential 
  2.3   employees.