Benefit rights for legislative leaves of absence from state and local government employment aligned.

HF 3461 ensures that state and local government employees elected to the Minnesota legislature retain all employment benefits during their mandatory leave of absence for legislative service. It requires that accrued seniority, vacation, insurance, sick leave, and other benefits remain intact as if the employee had not taken leave, and prohibits deducting the leave period from their length of service. The bill also aligns pension and retirement benefits with those provided to local government employees under existing law. This applies to all affected employees covered by collective bargaining agreements effective July 1, 2027. The legislation directly affects current and future state/local government workers serving in the legislature.