Minnesota Senate panel backs lawsuit trying to stop child care union vote

By Doug Belden
Updated: 12/01/2011 11:32:21 PM CST


The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration voted Thursday to file a "friend of the court" brief in support of a lawsuit seeking to stop an upcoming unionization election for in-home child care providers.

The vote was 6-1 along party lines, with Republicans in favor and the lone Democrat in attendance, Richard Cohen of St. Paul, opposed.

GOP senators argued that Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, overstepped his legal authority in issuing an executive order for the election.

Filing an amicus brief does not make the Senate a party to the suit but offers support for the complaint submitted Monday in Ramsey County District Court by 11 child care providers seeking to void the governor's order.

Dayton ordered the election two weeks ago so providers could vote on whether to be represented by a union in "meet and confer" talks with the state.

The order allows in-home providers who participate in state-subsidized Child Care Assistance Programs to vote on whether to be represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, or the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, depending on where in the state the business is located.

Ballots are scheduled to be mailed Wednesday to about 4,300 of about 11,000 in-home providers in Minnesota. They would be counted Dec. 22.

The Senate is arguing that "the governor has exceeded his statutory authority by ordering the Bureau of Mediation Services to conduct an election of private and independent contractors," said Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove. "The Senate has a clear and compelling interest in preventing the governor from exercising unilateral power, which is really reserved to the Legislature under the Minnesota Constitution."

"There's a lot of arguments that I think you could use on why this is not a good idea, but from our perspective as the Senate, I think it's important to focus on the separation of powers issue. That, for me, is the central issue," said Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, R-Buffalo.

Other Minnesota governors have issued executive orders without similar objections being raised, Cohen said, and it's rare for the Senate rules committee to direct Senate counsel to get involved in litigation.

"There's already a lawsuit that's been commenced," he said. "Is the presence of the Senate with an amicus brief going to make any difference at all relative to the resolution of the issue in the Ramsey County District Court?

"I sense this is a little bit more politics than anything else," Cohen said.

Asked about the Senate committee action at a news conference later Thursday, Dayton said that he believes he has the authority to order the election and that the real issue for Republicans is they don't want to let 4,300 child care providers vote on whether to join a union. "They're against an election," he said.

A hearing is scheduled for Monday morning in Ramsey County District Court on a motion for a temporary restraining order to halt the election.