1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to the military; clarifying the pay
1.3 	differential law for state employees who are ordered
1.4 	to active military service; amending Minnesota
1.5 	Statutes 2004, sections 43A.183; 192.261, subdivision
1.6 	1.
1.7 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.8 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 43A.183, is
1.9 	amended to read:
1.10 	43A.183 PAYMENT OF SALARY DIFFERENTIAL FOR RESERVE FORCES
1.11 	WHO REPORTED FOR ACTIVE SERVICE.
1.12 	(a) Each agency head shall pay to each eligible member of
1.13 	the National Guard or other reserve component of the United
1.14 	States armed forces of the United States an amount equal to the
1.15 	difference between the member's basic active duty military
1.16 	salary and the salary the member would be paid as an active
1.17 	state employee, including any adjustments the member would have
1.18 	received if not on leave of absence person's salary differential
1.19 	for each month or portion of month that the person is ordered to
1.20 	serve in active military service.  The person's salary
1.21 	differential is calculated as the difference between:
1.22 	(1) the person's monthly total gross earnings as an active
1.23 	state employee, excluding any overtime pay received but
1.24 	including all other earnings, averaged over the last three full
1.25 	months of the person's active state employment prior to
1.26 	reporting to active military service, and including any
2.1 	additional salary or earnings adjustments that the person would
2.2 	have received at any time during the person's military leave had
2.3 	the person been serving as an active state employee during that
2.4 	time; and 
2.5 	(2) the person's monthly base pay in active military
2.6 	service.
2.7 	This payment may be made only to a person whose basic
2.8 	active duty military salary is less than the salary the person
2.9 	would be paid as an active state employee for whom the amount in
2.10 	clause (1) is greater than the amount in clause (2).  Payments
2.11 	must be made at the intervals at which the member received pay
2.12 	as a state employee, except that any back pay due under this
2.13 	section may be paid as a lump sum.  Payment under this section
2.14 	must not extend beyond four years from the date the employee
2.15 	reported for active service, plus any additional time the
2.16 	employee may be legally required to serve. An eligible member
2.17 	of the National Guard or other reserve component of the United
2.18 	States armed forces may apply for the pay differential benefits
2.19 	authorized under this section prior to, during, or following the
2.20 	person's active military service on or after May 29, 2003.
2.21 	(b) An eligible member of the reserve components of the
2.22 	United States armed forces of the United States is a reservist
2.23 	or National Guard member who was an employee of the state of
2.24 	Minnesota at the time the member reported took military leave
2.25 	under section 192.261 to report for active military service.
2.26 	(c) For the purposes of this section, an employee of the
2.27 	state is an employee of the executive, judicial, or legislative
2.28 	branch of state government or an employee of the Minnesota State
2.29 	Retirement System, the Public Employee Retirement Association,
2.30 	or the Teachers Retirement Association.
2.31 	(d) For purposes of this section, the term "active service"
2.32 	has the meaning given in section 190.05, subdivision 5, but
2.33 	excludes service performed exclusively for purposes of:
2.34 	(1) basic combat training, advanced individual training,
2.35 	annual training, and periodic inactive duty training;
2.36 	(2) special training periodically made available to reserve
3.1 	members; and 
3.2 	(3) service performed in accordance with section 190.08,
3.3 	subdivision 3; and 
3.4 	(4) service performed as part of the active guard/reserve
3.5 	program pursuant to United States Code, title 32, section
3.6 	502(f), or other applicable authority.
3.7 	(e) The agency head must continue the employee's enrollment
3.8 	in health and dental coverage, and the employer contribution
3.9 	toward that coverage, until the employee is covered by health
3.10 	and dental coverage provided by the armed forces reports for
3.11 	active military service.  If the employee had elected dependent
3.12 	coverage for health or dental coverage as of the time that the
3.13 	employee reported for active service, the agency head must offer
3.14 	the employee the option to continue the dependent coverage at
3.15 	the employee's own expense.  The agency head must permit the
3.16 	employee to continue participating in any pretax account in
3.17 	which the employee participated when the employee reported for
3.18 	active service, to the extent of employee pay available for that
3.19 	purpose. An employee who has opted to continue a permitted
3.20 	benefit may cancel that continuation at any time during the
3.21 	person's military leave by written notification from the
3.22 	employee, or from the employee's designated attorney-in-fact
3.23 	under a power of attorney, to the agency head or the
3.24 	commissioner of employee relations.
3.25 	(f) The agency head must periodically inform in writing all
3.26 	agency personnel who are or may be members of the reserve
3.27 	component of the United States armed forces of the benefits
3.28 	provided under this section and of the procedures relevant to
3.29 	securing those benefits, including but not limited to any
3.30 	procedures regarding the continuation and discontinuation of any
3.31 	optional deductions.  It will suffice to meet this requirement
3.32 	if the agency head posts the information on the agency Web site
3.33 	in a highly recognizable manner that can be easily found and
3.34 	understood by the employees to whom it might apply.
3.35 	Upon being ordered to active duty, the employee must notify
3.36 	the agency head of that order in a timely manner and must
4.1 	provide to the agency head the name of and contact information
4.2 	for the employee's designated attorney-in-fact under a power of
4.3 	attorney.  Prior to the commencement of the employee's military
4.4 	leave, the agency head must ensure the agency's receipt of that
4.5 	information and immediately convey that information to the
4.6 	commissioners of finance and employee relations, including any
4.7 	subsequent change in that designation by the employee.  When
4.8 	communicating with the employee during the person's military
4.9 	leave, the agency head and the commissioners of finance and
4.10 	employee relations must immediately provide a copy of the
4.11 	communication to the employee's designated attorney-in-fact.
4.12 	Those officials must also honor requests for information or
4.13 	other appropriate directives from that designee on behalf of the
4.14 	employee during the employee's military leave.
4.15 	(g) The commissioners of employee relations and finance
4.16 	shall adopt procedures required to implement this section.  The
4.17 	procedures are exempt from chapter 14.
4.18 	(g) (h) This section does not apply to a judge, legislator,
4.19 	or constitutional officer of the executive branch.

4.20 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day
4.21 	following final enactment and applies to state employees serving
4.22 	in active military service on or after May 29, 2003.

4.23 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 192.261,
4.24 	subdivision 1, is amended to read:
4.25 		Subdivision 1.Leave of absence without pay.  Subject to
4.26 	the conditions hereinafter prescribed, any officer or employee
4.27 	of the state or of any political subdivision, municipal
4.28 	corporation, or other public agency of the state who engages in
4.29 	active service in time of war or other emergency declared by
4.30 	proper authority in any of the military or naval forces of the
4.31 	state or of the United States for which leave is not otherwise
4.32 	allowed by law shall be entitled to leave of absence from the
4.33 	officer's or employee's public office or employment without pay
4.34 	during such service, with right of reinstatement as hereinafter
4.35 	provided.  Such leave of absence without pay, whether heretofore
4.36 	or hereafter, shall not extend beyond four years plus such
5.1 	additional time in each case as such an officer or employee may
5.2 	be required to serve pursuant to law.  This shall not be
5.3 	construed to preclude the allowance of leave with pay for such
5.4 	service to any person entitled thereto under section 43A.183,
5.5 	192.26, or 471.975.  Nothing in this section contained shall
5.6 	affect any of the provisions or application of section 352.27
5.7 	nor of section 192.26 to 192.264, or any laws amendatory
5.8 	thereof, insofar as such sections pertain to the state employees
5.9 	retirement association or its members.
5.10 	
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day
5.11 	following final enactment and applies to state employees serving
5.12 	in active military service on or after May 29, 2003.