Suspense. Tonight, Columbia brings you as a guest star, Peter Laurie, one of the screen's past masters of the art of suspense. Suspense is compounded of mystery and intrigue and dangerous adventure. In this series, our story is calculated to intrigue you, to stir your nerves, to offer you a precarious situation, and then withhold the solution until the last possible moment. Tonight, for instance, Mr. Laurie plays for us a doctor, a husband, with something dark and terrible on his mind. Was it murder? And if so, can this at last be the really perfect crime? We trust that while you are wondering, we shall keep you in suspense. For Suspense Tonight, CBS presents, Till Death Do Us Part, by John Dixon Carr, starring Peter Laurie. Late one night in December of 1941, a man and his wife sat beside the fire in their country cottage. This man, look at him, a professor of mathematics, stout, middle-aged, guileless as a child, in the remote corner of England, where he lives with his pretty English wife. They say of him, jolly decent fellow, you know, for a foreigner. Isn't he? Always a smile for everybody and so polite. That's why it's such a shame about his wife and that young American. There hasn't been anything between them yet. I'm almost sure. But if the American stays here much longer. Happy man, this professor craft. His cottage in the country is rather isolated. Three miles from the nearest house, no electricity or a central heating or telephone. And on December nights like this, a great wind comes rushing off the Sussex Downs. It rattles at the windows, growls in the chimney, and makes unsteady the oil lamp on the table. Professor Owen Kraft sits before the fire in a snug book-line room. And across from him, sewing, sits his young wife, Cynthia, a domestic scene, a very domestic scene. Oh, my pet, this is wonderful, isn't it? Oh, so nice and cozy.  It's a pleasure to be indoors on a night like this, isn't it? Yes. My darling, have a good day. Just about as usual. No adventures, huh? Not exactly. I walked into the village. Walked? Oh, I really blame myself for burying you out here. I ought to get your car. That's not necessary, thanks. Come now, come. Did something happen to upset my little pet today? No, no, no.  You marvel at what?  Yes, with a skin so fair, and a conscience so transparent that she can actually blush. I wasn't blushing about. About what? About anything you might be thinking. It's your horrible habit of putting everybody else in the wrong. Oh, but the neighbors don't think that about Papa Croft. The neighbors don't have to live with you. I do. And you mustn't scratch, either. Not when we are so snug here, so cozy, in a kettle on a fire is nearly boiling, and no rum is ready under lemon juice and a sugar for her medicine. Oh, and must I drink that stuff? I don't like rum. But you have a cold, darling. I haven't got a cold. Really, I haven't. Now, darling, twice today I heard your cough.  Why do you keep on treating me like a girl of 16? I love to treat you like that, Cynthia, because I cannot fathom your thoughts.  You see, thoughts accumulate, and won't be stifled. And sooner or later, when you least expect it. Well, look out, the kettle's boiling over. So it is. Oh, and please, lift it down from there. Of course, I apologize. I apologize, my darling, there.  I frightened you? I suppose it's foolish. Well, here we are, my dear. Here we are. Now, see, I have put two tumblers on the coffee table. And now, a spoon in each so that the heat doesn't crack them. My dear, must you give me so much rum? Can't I have the small one? But we have to cure that cold of yours, Cynthia. Now comes the lemon juice. Yes. And now comes hot water to the top. Here we are. And two lumps of sugar for each of us. There you are, darling. Now let's drink up, huh? Irwin. I didn't hear anything. I did. It came from that cupboard over there. It sounded like your accordion. Oh, that's nonsense, darling. That's nonsense. There. There it is again. Well, that's only the wind. Or perhaps a rat that got into the cupboard. Irwin, I'm terrified of rats.  Oh, you really set very heavy labors, my sweet, for one of my weight. Well, well, if you insist, I'll take a good heavy poker from the fireplace. And of course, it means a little trip to the cupboard. Irwin, never mind. You haven't changed your mind, have you? It had probably run out across the floor. Come back. Wouldn't run very far, I'm sure. Well, again, if you insist. I can't think of what's the matter with me tonight. No? No.  Certainly not. How about this young American, that fledgling doctor, what's his name? Do you mean Dr. Craig? That's it, Dr. Craig. Dr. Craig. Didn't someone say he was leaving today for London and then back to the States? I believe so. That's what Lady Randolph told me. And you didn't see goodbye to him? Certainly not. Well, that wasn't kind of you, darling. That wasn't friendly. What's the matter, don't you like my nice hot run drink? No. But you would give me no peace till I do drink it. That's right, darling. That's right. Now, take it down like a good girl. I'm keeping your company. See? Oh, how pretty she looks with her yellow hair in the firelight and her red mouth and her light little hands. Very pretty. Oh, there is just one other thing, Cynthia. I gave you a letter to post this afternoon. Did you post it? Yes. Registered? Yes. And did you notice to him the letter was addressed? Everybody notices the address on an envelope. It was to some Mr. Hathaby at Market Shepherd. That's right. But I don't know who he is, if that's what you mean. Oh, Mr. Hathaby is the coroner of this district. Coroner? That's right. That's right. But is there any reason why you should be writing letters to the coroner? Well, there will be tomorrow morning. We have been just drinking poison. Why do you drop your glass, don't you? I don't believe you. No? This will interest you, Cynthia. You were a trained nurse and weren't you? You see, the poison was aconite, munched. No. Yes. Homegrown in our own little garden. You know, 1-sixteenths of a grain has been a fatal dose. There's no telephone here. No car, not even a neighbor. Exactly, my angel.  Let me get out. No, my pet. In about five minutes, you see, the first symptoms will come on. Symptoms? Yes. Our throats will grow dry. Our eyesight will turn dim. No. And presently, we'll lose the use of our limbs. Well, there are convulsions before the end, I believe. But we won't feel them. Let me up. If you try to hit at me, angel, you'll upset that lamp. And well, if you upset the lamp, this cottage would go up like tinder. We don't want to burn to death, do we? Erwin, why are you doing this? Why are you doing it? Why? Do you think all proper craft is blind, my pet?  You mean Jim Craig? So it is Jim Craig. That was nothing, my tongue slipped. A cynic would seem, my dear, that your foot slipped. Do you think I don't know what happened the other night at the schoolhouse? Schoolhouse? Yes, the market shepherd's schoolhouse. At Lady Randolph's little concert in aid of the war relief. Nothing happened. I swear it didn't. No? No. Oh, then it was coincidence, I suppose, that you and that Dr. Craig didn't arrive until the concert was nearly over. Yes. Yes, it was. We didn't go there together. No? We met in the little hall outside the auditorium. It was just as you were finishing your number on the accordion. I beg your pardon, it's so dark here, I almost bumped into you. Isn't that Mrs. Craig? Yes. Good evening, Dr. Craig. We seem to be late. Very late, I'm afraid. I was detained on a case. I didn't see like coming here at all. But just a moment before I open that door for you. Won't it look a little funny our arriving here together? Funny. Why should it? No reason at all, only Cynthia listened to me. Do you know, Dr. Craig, that's the first time you ever called me by my first name. I did want to have a word with you somehow. Of course, you've heard the news. What news? Well, the radio for the past couple of days. We're too far out to get much news, My husband isn't interested. He isn't interested? He isn't interested in anything but himself. Rather, you didn't talk that way about my husband. I'm sorry. Would you push the door open a little? And in conclusion, Lady Randolph is saying something. I'm sure we've all enjoyed our friend Professor Craft's musical numbers on the accordion. And the Vickers' conjuring tricks. And little Miss Lindshaw's spirited recitations. It only remains for me to tell you that the collection for this little entertainment will amount to the... We guess Colonel Thompson, what is it? Colonel Thompson's going across the platform in rather a hurry. Looks like an announcement of some kind. Ladies and gentlemen, your attention. We have just received some late news by the Nine O'clock Bulletin. I think I can guess what it is. Following yesterday's declaration against Japan, the Congress of the United States today declared war against Germany and Italy. No applause, please. I think I can say that these things go too deep for applause. We entered a war lightly, and we have learned. But before the Vickers ends this meeting, I shall ask the orchestra to play us the song numbered 83 in the book. A song we know is dear to the hearts of all Americans. Close the door, Senator. Jim, this doesn't affect you. Naturally it does. You won't be leaving England? Probably in a very short time. You'll be needing doctors. But does a formal declaration of war make any difference? What does it mean to you? What does it mean? I... I can't explain it, Cynthia. That's all in that song. If they're going to need me, I'll go back. But can't you do just as much good here in England? I don't know. That depends on what the army says. And doesn't anything depend on what I say? We haven't got much time, Cynthia. That crowd will be out in a minute. Yes. And we won't admit it, will we? Admit what? Admit how we feel about each other. I haven't said... Nor I. I was only talking about what we were thinking. No, we won't admit it. You say you can't explain about the war. I can't explain about this. Don't try. It's better this way. Owen's been very good to me.  Yes. Everybody likes him. Oh, he has his temper, and he's not easy to live with sometimes, in spite of what they think. But I can't do anything to hurt him. Because he'd never do anything to hurt me. Never. Never. Never in the world. A very fair estimate of my character, too. That's exactly what I said about you. So you are in love with that fellow? I admit it now. Yes. Tell me, darling, do you feel anything yet? Feel anything? I mean, dryness, muscular contraction of the throat. Yes. Oh, well, I thought so.  I won't. And how do you propose to stop yourself? Your only chance would be to reach the village infirmary. And I'll see to it that you don't get there. But what if the poison takes you before it takes me? Then you can't stop me. But it won't, darling. You seem terribly sure of that. You see, the amount I gave you, as you perhaps noticed, was more than I gave myself. I'm going to follow you, my little pet, into the dark, where there are no Dr. Jim Craigs. But not too quickly. I shall still have most of my faculties, Cynthia. When your convulsions are already beginning. I wonder, if you will. Why do you say that? Your legs don't seem any too steady. I don't know. It must be the heat of the fire, perhaps, or it's very hot in this room. Cynthia, Cynthia, darling, listen to me. Yes, Irwin? There is a copy of Taylor's medical jurisprudence on the there over on the shelf there. Please, please get it for me. I'm afraid you'll have to get it for yourself, my dear. And is it if you can? I'll get it. Mind the lamp, Irwin. We don't want the house of fire, just as you said yourself. I'll mind the lamp. Listen to me. You know, some people's systems are intolerant to poisons. They experience in minutes what ought to take hours. Does it hurt, Irwin? Does it hurt? Yes. But you'll find out soon enough, my pet, because you'll never make three months to the village. Never. You think not? I know it. Then, and just remember, I shall be waiting. Waiting? Out in the dark and cold, where there is neither marriage nor giving in in marriage. I'll be waiting for my little pet.  I love you. I'm afraid of you. But I don't want you to die because of me. And yet, you are dead. Irwin, I'm not going to join you. I've never prayed much, Irwin, but I'm praying now. Whatever comes over my wits and makes my senses weak, give me strength enough to get to the village. Just give me strength enough to get to the village. An empty room now, except for the motionless figure by the fire. The great wind enters through an open front door and makes the lamp shake dangerously on the tables. The whole house creaks. Otherwise, it is very quiet. Suddenly, the corpse sits up. Professor Kraft looks pleased, doesn't he? Very pleased, very alert as he moves over into a certain cupboard door. Well, and now I think the real fun can begin. Patience, patience, patience, my friend, while I open the cupboard door. Well, there we are. I hope you haven't been too uncomfortable, Dr. James Craig. I'm all right, thanks.  I managed it, yes, just now. I'm too late. Well, you are still securely tied up, I'm glad to think.  Did I?  You know, she shows very good sense sometimes. I could hear both of you talking, thanks very much. Of course you could, of course. Excuse me, please, I forgot that. Yes, I could see you too, through a crack in the door. Well, you were impended to see us.  Yes, sir, let me take you. Yes. Now we can sit down and have a nice, cozy little chat. How much aconite did you give Cynthia? How much? How about two grains? Two grains? Well, then she can't possibly. No, she can't possibly live until morning. But she can live long enough to testify that she saw me die. And how much poison did you take yourself? I, none. None at all? No, none at all. But you mixed those drinks out of the same materials I saw you do it. Well, but there wasn't any poison in a rum, young man. You see, two lumps of sugar steeped in aconite were dropped into Cynthia's glass. I marked them. And I didn't make a mistake. Can you see the beginnings of Puppercraft's plan? Why you? You see, Cynthia left the door open, my friend. And there is a very strong wind blowing tonight. Well? Just observe how it lifts the table covers, flutters the magazines, makes the lamp tremble. I shouldn't be surprised, you know, if one of those lamps blew over, a fine crash, in a sheet of flame, huh? And when they come here tomorrow morning, after Cynthia's testimony in my letter to the coroner, they'll expect to find at least a few charred bones among the ruins. And of course, they must find some remains. Whose remains? Yours. Yes, you've got me tied up pretty well, haven't you? And now, you see, now comes the best. You were last seen going towards the railway station, to London, and then to America. Nobody, nobody will inquire after you. Except Cynthia. That's why, to accept Cynthia, who will be dead. That I wail at you and brought you here while Cynthia was in a village will not be known to our good coroner, and I shall disappear. What do you think of it, young man, huh? I think it's rather good, huh? You're going to let me burn to death. Yes, and I shall enjoy the necessity. By the way, too bad you missed my performance at Lady Randolph's concert. It was very nice. But then I think you were otherwise occupied. You could call it that. Occupied, I think, in making love to my wife. You hurt my vanity, young man, and you are going to suffer for it. I never made love to your wife. No? No. But I don't suppose you could possibly believe that. Are you already begging for mercy? Now, come on, now, come on. Are you begging for mercy? No, I think not. Dr. Craig, I don't like the way you're taking this. I really don't. Don't you? No. You ought to be afraid. All decent men should be afraid. And no man is heroic when he sees death coming. But you are as white as a plate. Can't take your eyes off me. You seem to be expecting something. Maybe I am expecting something. You are? Well, I think I can persuade you to tell me what's on your mind, my friend. If I use the poker out of the fire? You see, I'm a mathematician. I leave nothing to chance. Do you hear that, Professor Kraft? A car has stopped out in front. Well, they won't come in here. But of course they will. That's probably the home guard.  Don't be childish. Do you think upset me with that? Something's upset you. Take a look at yourself in a mirror. Nothing. Nothing can upset my plans now. Everything is ready. My clothes and my money are in a stable. This place, this pretty little college, will be a furnace. All I have to do is pick up that lamp, you see, like this. And something is wrong with me. You're not acting this time, are you? You're not pretending now.  I have done nothing to you. You have done something to me. I can feel it. There is sweat all over me. My throat is choking.  It was Cynthia's voice. What is wrong with you? And then finding there was nothing wrong with you. Oh, but, but it can't be. It isn't partial. Oh, but it is. You see, your plans didn't include the fact that Cynthia doesn't like rum. Remember, you poured a very large drink for her and a small one for yourself. And you filled both glasses with hot water. Oh, remember when she got, got you to leave her, come over to this cupboard? She changed the glasses then. You're the one who swallowed the poison, two grains of aconite. No, help me, please, help me. Nothing on earth can save you. Help me, please, in the name of... Please, please, please, help me. Nothing on earth can save you. Please, no, you won't. Then, and then I'll show you. I'll, I'll take you with me. I'll take everybody with me. Where are you going? I'll, I'll get that lamp. I'll take you with me. Why, look at you. You can't even see, you're blind. You're staggering straight into that cupboard. I'll take you, I'll take you with me. What are you doing here? Come in, Cynthia. Come in and take a look at the man who died twice. And so ends till death do us part, starring Peter Lorre. Tonight's story of suspense. Columbia presents these tales of mystery and intrigue and dangerous adventure for your relaxation and enjoyment. Next Tuesday, there'll be another in this series, same hour, 9.30 Eastern wartime. Mr. Lorre was starred as Professor Kraft. He was supported by Alice Frost as Cynthia. David Garthard as Dr. Craig. And Mercedes McCambridge as Lady Randolph. William Spear, the producer. John Deets, the director. Bernard Herman, the composer, conductor. And John Dixon, the author. Our collaborators on suspense. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.


We have General Questions Question 1, Alison McAneth. To ask the Scottish Government under what circumstances it considers it appropriate for a guardianship order to be granted. Mr Paul wheelhouse. The adult within capacity Scotland Act 2000 put in place a range of measures to make provision for the personal welfare and or financial affairs of adults who are incapable by reason of mental disorder or inability to communicate of managing their own affairs. An application for a guardianship order can be made to the chef court by an individual or by the local authority where no one else is applying and the adult has been assessed as requiring a guardian. The need for guardianship has to be demonstrated by the applicant and is governed by the ground set out in the 2000 act. Arrangements for making applications are set out in sections 57 and 58 of the 2000 act. It is for the chef to determine whether and in what circumstances a guardianship order should be granted. Guardianship orders can cover financial matters and or welfare matters in orders like to be suitable where a person of 16 years or over lacks capacity or has never had capacity to take decisions or actions on these matters for him or herself. It allows another person with an interest in the adult, such as a family member, to have authority to act and make decisions on their behalf. The Minister for that reply. Monitoring by the Mental Welfare Commission has revealed that the number of successful new applications has risen by 58 per cent since 2008-9 and orders are increasingly being used for adults with learning disabilities. Campaigners such as People First are concerned that some people with learning disabilities are having control over their life removed when it would be more appropriate to support them to make the decisions that they are capable of. Given that it is 15 years since the Adults Within Capacity Act was passed, does the Government believe that it would be appropriate to review the law and practice on guardianship orders to ensure that their use is consistent, justified and that individual autonomy is being upheld as called for by Scotland's national action plan for human rights? I recognise the point that Alison McInnes has made about learning disabilities. I would put on record that the provisions of the act apply to those who have lost capacity to make their own decisions or have never had the capacity, as I said in my opening answer. There is no strict list of categories of people to whom it applies, but legislation recognises that decision making is not on all or nothing and that capacity may fluctuate. Adults who have some form of learning disability may, of course, be able to take and make some decisions for themselves and should be supported in doing so where that is possible. The requirements of each individual will vary and where guardianship is appropriate, the order can be tailored to the needs of that individual. I am happy to discuss with Alison McInnes if she has any specific ideas around this issue because I am conscious that it is something that is increasingly important in the modern era and that it has certainly been encouraged people to look at the matters very closely to see what is suitable for their relative and make sure that the appropriate arrangements are in place. I am happy to meet Alison to discuss that. To ask the Scottish Government when the various phases of the Transport Scotland rate junction improvement works are due for completion. Cabinet Secretary Keith Brown. The improvement works at Wraith interchange have been taken forward as part of the M8, M73 and M74 motorway improvements NPD contract. The overall construction work on the contract remains on course for completion as planned in spring 2017. I am disappointed that the cabinet secretary is not able to give more specific dates for the various completions. However, is he aware that residents living close to the proximity of this construction site expected disruption and therefore negotiated a generous working part in beginning 6.30 in the morning and ending at 11pm at night? That has been breached on one occasion, resulting in sleepless nights for these residents. The residents have now been told that, from 24 March, 24-7 working is due to recommence with the pounding of heavy machinery, intrusive floodlights and all that entails. Does the cabinet secretary think that this is reasonable and, if not, can he intervene? First of all, I am not sure why Margaret Mitchell should be disappointed about the answer that I gave. I have said that the project is due to be completed in spring 2017. There is no phasing. There was no timetable by which different phases would be completed in relation to this contract, as has sometimes been the case in other contracts. That has not changed. If it is the case, as Margaret Mitchell said, that there has been an agreement, and that agreement has been breached, I would be concerned about that. I would be happy to look into that. If the member wants to write to me with more detailed information, I would undertake to look into that on her behalf. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Glasgow City Council to discuss how it is taking forward the childcare commitment for eligible two-year-olds and all three and four-year-olds. The Scottish Government officials and Glasgow City Council officials met on 29 January 2015 to discuss how Glasgow City Council is implementing the early learning and childcare commitment for all eligible children in their area. There has been on-going correspondence since this meeting also. In addition, the First Minister met fair funding for our kids on 9 January 2015 and has written to them this week in relation to their three suggestions. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer following a number of meetings that I have had with fair funding for our kids. I have made a number of representations to Glasgow City Council over the need to develop more full-time nursery places, additional full-day provision and extended partnership nursery provision in order to make sure that every child's right to childcare is practical and accessible as possible. Can I ask the Scottish Government how it would seek to work with Glasgow City Council in this area and, more significantly, to monitor real progress that has been made to make sure that places are available at the right time so that parents that I represent can access to provision that they have been promised? Thank you, Mr Doris, for his question. The Scottish Government will be more than happy to work with all local authorities, including Glasgow City Council, on how we can work together to build our shared ambition for high-quality childcare, flexible childcare and the plans that we all have to expand on childcare provision. That is an on-going dialogue with all our partners in local government, and I assure Mr Doris and others that we are happy to take that forward. Given the evidence that across Scotland thousands of three and four-year-olds are missing out in their three childcare place, will the cabinet secretary commit to an urgent review to identify the full extent of the problem and could include an accurate take-up rate? Does she agree that this crucial national policy requires national oversight to ensure that every single child receives the free childcare that they are entitled to? I think that Ms Hilton overstates her case. We know that the take-up rate of statutory early learning in childcare is very high in Scotland. In fact, it is near universal levels. That does not mean that there is not some local variation, and it most certainly does not mean that there are not families out there with particular needs who are not able to access what is needed for their family. As I indicated in my reply to Mr Doris, the Government and the First Minister have responded to the fair funding for our kids campaign positively to the three suggestions that they made. We welcome those three suggestions, and as I indicated to Mr Doris that we are more than happy to work with our partners in local government, for example, on how we can develop reciprocal arrangements between local authorities. The First Minister has also written to the chief statistician to see how we can improve data collection and sensible use of data at that. We will also consider the issue of independent oversight. To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making towards addressing payday lending and gambling in town centres and neighbourhoods. The Scottish Government has implemented the majority of its action plan with other elements on going to tackle the spread of payday loan companies selling high-entry short-term debt. For example, we have ended business-racially fellage ability for the small business bonus for payday lending properties, launched Scotland's financial health service web portal and amended Scottish planning policy. However, specific controls are needed to address concerns about indebtedness and problem gambling. The Smith commission recommendations and the UK Government's response in this regard fall short of what is needed. The Scottish Government's first priority therefore must be to press the UK Government on these matters, as this is by far the most effective way of dealing with those problems. I thank the cabinet secretary for his reply, but even as SNP were participating in the Smith process, they remain very clear about their intentions to act in the clustering of payday lenders on our high streets with the powers at the disposal of this Parliament. Why has the Smith agreement now been used as an excuse to delay action on the proliferation of payday lenders, which the Scottish Government promised to take in its action plan? I tell the member that we have taken action on the Scottish planning policy, which will deal with clustering, and that has already been announced. The issue that has arisen is whether there would be any effective use that could be made of user classification orders. Our position is very clear. If we get, which we are demanding, the powers that were promised in the Smith report, then clearly they are going to be much more effective in dealing with payday lenders. If we do not get the powers that are the most effective, then we will introduce measures to use the use COs. However, as the recent consultation pointed out, in no uncertain terms, that is of limited impact and certainly has nothing like the impact that could be made if we were given the powers that were promised in the Smith report. Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that the most effective way of dealing with the issue of problem gambling on our high streets, particularly regarding the issue of the fixed odds betting terminals, is to reduce the stake from £100 down to £2 per spin, which, unfortunately, is a power that the Scottish Government does not currently have? I know that the issue has been applied elsewhere or is under consideration in other parts of the United Kingdom, and it is certainly something that had me the powers that we have been looking at, because clearly problem gambling is a major blight in our society. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to publish further details of its attainment fund. Having identified the first seven local authorities to participate in the £100 million attainment Scotland fund, we are now moving into an intense planning phase, working closely with relevant education stakeholders and the participating authorities to develop detailed improvement plans for their particular context. As part of this work, we will identify the necessary resources required and work out allocations on the basis of need, and I will provide further information once those discussions have concluded. Our Parliament should be in no doubt that Labour believes that this is the key challenge for our schools and we do support the attainment fund, but with eight years to prepare for this and £100 million to spend, does the cabinet secretary not think that it would have been reasonable to have had in place a strategic plan based on the professional expertise of our teachers, educational best practice and indeed the aspirations and ambitions of parents? Is not she rather making this up as she goes along? Well, I think it is Mr Gray who is playing catch-up here, and I think it is Mr Gray and the Labour Party who quite clearly are emulating the Scottish Government's plans for education. If you look at, for example, Jim Murphy's press release at the end of February, it is quite clear that he backs our plans for an attainment fund, it is quite clear that he backs our plans for improving reporting and making progress on closing the attainment gap and that Labour also backs our plans for enshining and law the chief education officer role. I think that it is Labour who is playing catch-up, Presiding Officer, and I am very glad that they are emulating our plans. Question 6, Graham Dey. To ask the Scottish Government whether it has responded to the EU consultation on the impact of the use of endocrine disruptors in farming. Cabinet Secretary, Richard Lochhead. The defer reply to the recent European consultation reflected views from across the UK. The response highlights the need to protect human health and the environment through a process which is proportionate and would take account of the nature of what is referred to as endocrine disruptor. European pesticide legislation has added an extra tier of assessment on the basis of hazard, as well as the risk factors that pesticides pose. So, while it is vital that pesticides continue to be properly assessed and they should only be used to do not present a risk to human and animal health or the environment, any assessment needs to be proportionate and evidence-based. Graham Dey. There is undoubtedly a reason to limit the use of endocrine disruptors, but responsible soft fruit growers in my constituency are already only using these as a last resort and confining usage to within polytunnel environments. Will the cabinet secretary, whatever case he is making on the issue, highlight this alongside the predicted impact and crop yield, which, depending on whichever scenario is being consulted upon as it is implemented, would, according to the Agriculture Horticultural Development Board, result in the loss of endocrine. That is ranging from 40 per cent all the way up to 89 per cent. Cabinet Secretary. I certainly recognise very serious concerns being expressed by Scotland's very valuable soft fruit sector. I should say that the Scottish Government is meeting with our Farmers Union and the Agricultural Industries Confederation and the Co-Protection Association in April to discuss many of these concerns and the issues that are being posed to Scotland. I should also say that the Government has also asked experts in the science and advice of the Scottish Agricultural Agency, known as Sassar, and also experts in the rural college to identify what the potential risks are for Scottish crops and what the alternatives might be that could be used by our farmers. So I do very much recognise that this is an important debate and put of ramifications for Scottish crop production. Question 7, David Stewart. The Scottish Government, what appraisal has made of the economic impact in the Highlands and Islands of the oil and gas sector? Minister, Fergus Ewing. Minister, Highlands and Islands Enterprise account managed 100 oil and gas companies and invested around £10 million in 2014 in 23 companies active in oil and gas, levering in a further £58 million in the private sector with the potential to create 1,400 new jobs and an estimated increase in turnover totaling £216 million across the region. I also co-chair the Energy North oil and gas task force that brings together industry in the public sector to maximise opportunities for oil and gas companies in the Highlands and Islands. David Stewart. Does the minister share my view that the Irish fabrication yard, with its skilled staff, its deep water and land to develop, could be the ideal location for the newly announced Wave Energy Scotland posts and a facility to carry out future oil rig decommissioning? First of all, I think that it should be understood that the most important thing is to avoid the premature cessation of production in our oil and gas fields. That is a primary responsibility because premature cessation of production means an end of the jobs and business that flow from oil and gas developments and also an end to the tax revenue, the hundreds of billions of pounds that flow therefrom. However, Mr Stewart is absolutely right that decommissioning presents an opportunity and I suspect that, like himself, I visited the Irish yard, worked closely with John Robertson and BiFab and certainly I would expect that that company will wish to play a part in the decommissioning opportunity. As far as the second part of his question is concerned of Wave Energy Scotland, I am proud that the Scottish Government has announced funding of £14.3 million, the largest ever in marine energy, and I think that the benefits of that investment will be felt across the Highlands and Islands in Orkney, in Inverness, where the core staff will be based and also in the Western Isles. I am very happy to continue to work with the member on all these matters. Rob Gibson To ask the Scottish Government how much private and public land in Scotland was registered on the national map-based register of land ownership by December 2014 and how much it envisages being registered in the next five years. At December 2014, just over 58 per cent of titles and 27 per cent of land had entered the land register. Information whether owners are public, private or third sector bodies is not recorded. Ministers have invited the keeper to complete the register over the next 10 years and to register all public land over the next five. Rob Gibson Thank you for the answer. Only 24 per cent of the land holdings in Ross and Cromarty have been mapped in the register, as I understand last year. Progress painfully slow. What resources can be made available to speed this process up to achieve the targets that the minister has mentioned? Particularly, could he comment on whether there should be higher registration fees for large estates or some means to employ more people in the registers of Scotland? Rob Gibson I have every confidence in the keeper and our staff as having the capacity and the professional skills sufficient to meet the task with which they have been charged by the Scottish Government to complete the land register over the next decade and register all public land over the next five. We have adopted the carrot rather than the stick approach by offering incentives or potential incentives for voluntary registration. That is being considered. We also work with all parties, public bodies and landowners to encourage landowners to make voluntary registration of their holdings and also we will be requiring public bodies to register the land. That is something that they will be doing. That ends General Questions. Before we move to the next side of business, members will wish to join me in welcoming to the gallery His Excellency the right hon. Walter Lockwood Smith, the High Commissioner of New Zealand.


A not-in group, the not-in-consensus movement has caught on the national working committee of the all-progressive Congress APC, the president-elect Atmut Tunubu Tupra-Rail on Senators-Elect, to zone this Senate presidency of the 10th National Assembly to the Neddon region. The president of the movement, Awal Aliou, made the call during a protest by a group to the National Assembly in Abuja, stating that equity, justice, fairness should be applied for the interest of Neddoners who came out amassed to vote for the party during the just concluded general elections, Awal called on the executive to stop interfering with the legislature as to allow democracy to reign in the National Assembly. The note is about to be exchanged by APC or the Central Working Committee of APC allocating the seat of the Senate president to the South-South, and not only South-South, given it to a state that produced only 160,000 votes. The state that the Central Working Committee of APC is proposing that the Senate president should come from gave only 160,000 votes, and the North and the entire region gave only 700,000 votes. The entire South-South gave APC only 700,000 votes, but North gave over 5 million votes. North West alone gave 2.7 million votes. So if North West gave 2.7 million votes, and the state where the only candidate from, of the office of Senate president today from the North is Senator-elect, his Excellency Abubakar Yari, and if he is the only candidate coming from the North, contesting for that office from the North, then the Northern Consensus Movement has no option than to rally around him, support him, and then work towards ensuring that he emerge as the next Senate president at the tent, Senate president because he is the only candidate coming from North. The Northern Consensus Movement is calling for equity, is calling for justice, is calling for fairness, is protecting the interests of North and Northerners that came out in mass, not minding tribe, not minding religion, not minding region, but vote massively for Bola Ahmeh Tunumu. I repeat, we gave over 5 million votes. It is only fair that the position of the Senate president go to the North.


Hey everyone, welcome back to another COUNTERSIDE video. Today's video we're going to be discussing your best farming option for the events that dropped in today's update, but before that, if you haven't updated COUNTERSIDE videos, please hit the subscribe button down below. Okay guys, so we are here at Side Story, so as you can see Orca, I already unlocked this at 100% including John Mason, but as of the update this morning, this was reset. All of your progress here was going back to zero so you have to play it again plus they actually added a mechanic for this one. This particular currency or blueprint moment is required to unlock each stage so you only unlock it once and you can play it multiple times. So this one is being given to us at 4am every morning and you only have a max of 10 blueprints. You can actually buy copies of this blueprint but you have to spend quartz. So as you can see here, quartz is going to be the currency for blueprint moment. So as you go back, I already was able to unlock this and play this as well. So if you're at zero, then you'll have to wait for tomorrow and or you have to buy your blueprint moment at the shop. So let's go back and just want to show you this guys because I was able to already unlock this one. The administration failure, old administration. So this is a new Side Story in which I was really curious on who are we going to farm here. Okay so what I did was obviously I spent quartz for this event so you have for the hard you have one once you unlock normal then automatically you don't have to buy you don't have to use the blueprint moment. You just need one sorry one sorry one this one is already opened you can clear you can clear this one for free this one you have to get the blueprint moment so be one two three four and sorry but the hard you have to open as well. So that's five blueprint moments so as you can see here I have already a sample computation. So you spend 250 quartz okay to get five blueprint moments so and each stage that you clear so one two one two three four and five you will be getting 30 quartz per stage when you clear it okay so that gives you 150 earn you spent 250 this is a math class by the way spent to 50 earn 150 then upon completion as you can see here 150 again so the completion that I that I meant was this one once you complete this at 100% when you get the reward you also get 150 so that's 300 quarts total earn so even if you spend 250 you'll earn them again so it doesn't you know it's going to be a good you know a good payoff because even though you earn only in a net of 50 quarts you'll be able to unlock the hard part as you can see here you the main reward is going to be healed it so for those who haven't unlocked this yet now is a good time to unlock this because we've been waiting for copies of Hilda so that we could take her to 110 without spending fusion course so now this is the time then she can be farmed here three times in a day that's it so you can farm Hilda here with the new side story that has been released and the next one that I'm going to be talking about is in the challenge so both our events are here so we're going to go first with Chloe's credit search because as you can see again this is six days and 11 hours left and this is 13 days so ideally you have to farm Chloe's credit search first because because it expires earlier then you this is your secondary farming the innovation setup let's go to Chloe's credit search okay so you have three stages or also unlock these three stages then I have here a computation again I'm actually prepared so Chloe's credit search the first stage is 350 Eternium you'll be getting 400 48,000 credit from this one so that's a lot of cash next is your second one the level 70 you're gonna be spending 400 Eternium for this one you're gonna be getting 68 credit okay and the last this is 450 for 450 Eternium and you'll be getting a whopping 105 credit again this is most definitely the stage that you're going to be farming the 1-3 okay so once you are in first complete are these rewards and again you can earn quartz here as well so you have obviously credit and experience as well company XP so for Chloe's credit search priority starting today and priority is actually 1-3 if you can reach and if and if you can clear 1-3 okay next would be another math math class so innovation setup for the event challenge I also prepared something here okay so innovation setup these are these are notables okay before we talk about what you're gonna get and let's take a look at one so you're gonna get high performance SOC so these are molds for exclusive or unique weapons then you may get these obtainable units then you have the opportunity to get these as well so these are character weapons so this is for Legion this is for Kim Chowon this is for Saerom sorry for that then this is one this is for Gabriel Jun and the last one is for Xin Zhao which I'm actually looking forward to so these are the rewards more that you may get appraisal is here as well and you have company XP so there's a there's a difficulty here from 70 level 70 opponents to level 100 to level 130 as long as you can clear this then be my guest you can farm for this stage this is the one innovation setup I forgot so for innovation setup you're gonna be getting for this one the level 70 that's 580 Eternium you're gonna have to consume there will be five molds there to be given to you and 20k credit okay so the molds will be the the highlight of your you know your um your you you clearing this stage okay so the next one is the level 100 at 1-2 it's 640 Eternium 6 molds and 25k credit plus the other goodies as well that you may get uh and the last one the level 130 at 1-3 it's 650 Eternium 8 mold and 26k credit so as you can see between 1-2 and 1-3 there's only a small difference of um a 10 Eternium to be to be consumed but there is going to be more molds of course for the level 130 and more credit for the level 130 okay so that is it guys that is the best farming stages that I have for you for um the new events namely innovation setup and Chloe's credit search so for Chloe's credit search please do this first next is going to be innovation setup but before we leave I'd like to take you guys to the molds so for the molds that you're going to be getting for that so you can get weapons or molds of exclusive weapons so you're gonna have to be doing it here so the alpha 6 mold again well the the molds there will also yield you these weapons same weapons that you can get there okay so the clear so these you're gonna be getting there so hopefully guys you could you could you could mine them uh and hopefully you could get these uh weapons for the units that you have okay guys so thank you very much for staying this far this video and also don't forget to uh subscribe or consider subscribing don't forget to click the bell icon and put a like to this video again guys you subscribing helps my channel a lot thank you guys take care stay safe this is the warden and I'm out of here


All funds for fiscal year 2021 was 33.381 million, so minus 2.6 million goes down to about 31 something. 31 million for this coming year? 31.7 million, thank you. And then for the current fiscal year and then total pay act for year two. I don't think changes. That would be 36 million. 36 million for the second year. Yeah, is that actually if Harold Schwartz is on is that correct? I don't think it does. Harold, go ahead and unmute yourself. We would love if you have those numbers in front of you. The. Yeah, for the exempt, so it would affect the second year. Because of the step piece. So we have to calculate that. But the numbers you were talking about also were all funds, not GF. So I just want to make that clear. I mean, however people want to get the numbers, we may need to go back and come back to you guys later with the, with the splits, depending on what you want. It's kind of hard to do it on the fly. Jim, how do you want your information? No, I think at some point it would be good to have a breakdown. I think, you know, obviously we have to look at the total amount and, and work with appropriations as to. We can pass anything we want, but appropriations has to find a way to fund it. So. I think that might be a conversation with them and, and how they break it on to the various. And I think that might be a good idea. I think that might be a conversation with them and, and how they break it on to the various funds, whether it's education or whether it's general fund or transportation fund, whatever. We don't, well, we don't have anything here then on judiciary as part of this. Is that, is that correct, Beth? I have, I can share with you kind of our estimates for judiciary. And we'll see how we, how we've, how we've broken it out, but we would definitely want the judiciary to confirm those numbers, because we haven't really have the judiciary on the call and we'll hear from them in a few minutes. Any other questions? Yeah, one more. Beth, the, the skinny budget for the first three months, supposedly has a, you built in an 8% reduction. Does that include any staff reductions anticipated to get at that 8% reduction? I think that's a question for each department on how they are going to try to get to that 8% reduction for us, for our Department of Human Resources. I mean, we definitely have money. We're doing a lot of work to support the coronavirus relief. So we do have some fund that will be there that will help us for that budget. But it was really presented to us, is that this is our funding to continue running our government. And we haven't done the full look to see what our full fiscal year will look like for 2021. So there may be, some departments may have some staff reductions in there. I'm not aware that there are any in there to make their actual first quarter budgets. I don't have any. I do have vacancy savings in there. We do have a hiring freeze. So there are the vacancy savings that are in there that are included that are going to help us get through that first section. And so that's really where we are right now as far as personnel constraints for people to close out fiscal year 20 and to get through the beginning of fiscal year 21 until we really know what we're going to be budgeting for the full year. Thank you. Thank you. John Gannon and then Bob Hooper. Thank you. And thank you, Beth, for testifying today. Quick question. I believe you said that there was additional savings beyond the governor's staff and the auditor and AG and the lieutenant governor's not getting pay raises. Is there other savings that you've identified? I don't think that I did say that, that there were other. It's if there are other places that the administration, so there are other, there's a lot of people whose salaries are set in pay act. So if you took into account people whose salaries are set in pay act and the legislature decided not to increase those salaries, that could be additional savings that really are impacted by the union contracts. So that's another, that is another way to get savings other than just the kind of the appointed salaries. Also we have in the non-salary pay act, we have a line item for paid family leave that's in there that we're in the process of, you know, getting a provider for that. And that project has been suspended because of the COVID. We were aware that none of the providers would be able to put a bid together and would be able to meet our timeline because number one, they are really implementing their plan in Massachusetts. And then number two, they just didn't have the time to put any of the work together that would be needed to kind of go into this new innovative approach. So in fiscal year 21, we had originally planned, I think that that would start the FML, the paid family leave would start kind of towards the second half of that fiscal year, but doesn't look like that's going to be, that's going to be needed for the fiscal year. And that would wait till fiscal year 2022. Thank you. Bob Hooper. Hi, I did recognize you in the store, but didn't think you might have recognized me with a yellow beard. I'd like to comment that Steve Howard better get a battery for that clock. It's been the same time, the last five times he's appeared here. And Joe McNeil is looking much too comfortable in the front porch there. Beth, is there any, how Harold mentioned the funds before? And Jim then followed up with what state funds? We're talking about a combination of federal funds and state funds that are coming forward. There's at this point no reduction on the basically contractual component of the federal funds that will be coming. And in fact, federal funds actually come with a bonus for personnel in an administrative fee. I'm not really quite sure of the question. The pay raises are kind of spread across the funds that fund each employee. So if their job is funded, mostly federally funded, then the amount of their pay raise would be mostly federally funded. So if that was your question, is that your question? Yeah, and then there's a tip built into that for lack of a better word when we do better. Yeah, it's not just salaries. They're paying for a portion of the benefits and the retirements, the whole salary and benefits component of each employee is charged across the funds that that employee's job is charged to. So for the total package of pay act was as originally just a fiscal year 21, this is the original. So our estimate was $33 million, but the general fund portion of that was about $14 million. And then if no exempts, just as a rough estimate for no exempts or elected officials, the total savings would be $2.25 million with a $1.43 million general fund savings. So that kind of, does that help? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's one out of three down. What do you, I mean, there's a lot of discussion on federal basis about relief funds coming to help state and local governments. Are you anticipating any of that and giving consideration to it in any of the proposals you're making? Not with respect to pay act, no. Well, that leads into number three then. The 8% reduction that was mentioned before, we have a, I mean, everybody, I think, recognizes that the biggest expense in government is personnel costs. We have a pretty well-documented history of that being the first avenue we go after. One of the lessons we learned from the UI experience in the last couple of months is people really make the difference. How flush is our personnel pool at this point that we might even consider that as an option? It just seems like, one, it's a bad thing to say you people got us out of a big mess in the last couple of months, and now you're getting laid off. But two, people make government work. So I'm just kind of throwing that out there as a caution, I guess. Yeah. I mean, it's really interesting because it's different. This particular crisis has impacted different departments really differently. So for example, like the Agency of Transportation and maybe Agency of Natural Resources and typically in past crises like Irene, they're really busy, and they're the frontline workers. And in this case, it's been the Emergency Operations Center and the Department of Health in particular and the Department of Labor have been the ones that have been really highly stressed and had to step up more and more and also a lot of the administrative departments. For example, buildings and general services, all the work they had to do in preparing and looking to set up new sites for COVID relief in my department, just supporting all those other departments with trying to get temporary employees on and just trying to administer different kinds of leave. So we provide some paid leave for people. We had to implement a new federal law as a new paid leave program. So a lot of that work and still I would say 90% of my time and the same as the deputies and our directors on a lot of our work, high percentage, if not all, is going directly towards supporting that COVID relief. We've heard about the pop-up testing sites for around the state for people who are, you know, they don't have symptoms, but they still want to be tested and also for health care workers. Well, that you wouldn't think would have anything to do with the Department of Human Resources, but we have a really good system that we use to schedule our biometrics trainings for employees, and we're using that to schedule those pop-up clinics, which also means so, and that scheduling takes a lot of time. So we're doing that as well as answering all those calls. So the calls that come in that say, I can't schedule this or cancel my thing, that's also going through the Department of Human Resources. So I think every department is really pitching in whether they can to help. And I guess I'd be remiss, especially with this committee, not commending the efforts of our employees and also talking about the support and the cooperation with the State Employees Union and the Troopers Association as far as just working together to try to get communications out there and to try to make sure employees are taken care of. So I think we've all worked really hard to try to make this as less, as possible, as less stressful for employees as we can. I know it's stressful. Thank you, Madam Chair. Sarah, you're not on. My apologies. Rob LeClaire has a question. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon, Beth. Can you tell me, have we had anybody laid off since this thing and has anybody suffered any loss of pay during this state of emergency? No. Thank you. That was quick and easy. Is that all your questions, Rob? It is, Madam. I'll lower my hand. OK, sounds good. Beth, did you want to kick anything over to either Dan or Harold, or should we move on? No, I think they were just here in case you asked questions. Dan in particular has been. He's been working with the state emergency operations center a lot. So he's been working hard on that. So in case any questions came up on COVID, that's really why he was on. And Harold's obviously the numbers guy and also have John Burrard listening in in case any detailed questions regarding union contracts came in. But I don't think that they have probably taken up enough of your time, unless you have questions that I can answer. Well, stick around. We may have more questions. So I'd like to go now to Pat Gable and ask Pat to share with us the status of the collective bargaining agreement and the pay act is from the judiciary perspective. Go ahead and unmute yourself. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. And hello, everybody on the call today. One nice thing about Zoom that I don't think we figured out on teams is that you can actually see everybody who's on the call or most people. And that's helpful in this time. I think because there are so many things about the contract status that are similar to the executive branch, I'll just point those out. Just as in the executive branch, we are here, the judiciary is here to support the full funding of the collective bargaining agreement that's been reached between the judiciary and the VSEA. I'll talk in a minute about what the numbers will look like. But we hope and expect that the legislature would do so. Just as with the executive branch, if the legislature chose not to provide the funding, then we also, under our contract, would go back into collective bargaining. I think one area in particular of concern is because that first lump sum payment comes at the beginning of the fiscal year, we are in the same position that if that was not funded in time to make that payment technically in any event, that would put us back into collective bargaining with the union. And the judiciary bargaining team and the VSEA bargaining team worked very hard this year and put a lot of time and energy and effort into reaching this agreement. And I think similarly with the executive branch, they've also successfully worked out a number of additional side letters to cover the judicial emergency period. And so both of those teams have worked very hard. And I'm sure they would appreciate it if the contract was funded and they didn't have to go back and do that work again. In the, as in some parts of government, it's already been mentioned that payroll is always the largest part. In certain parts of government, such as that something is crashing at my house. I don't know what that is. In certain parts of government, payroll is particularly high. And in the judiciary, we are predominantly payroll. Unlike maybe some of the other branches, the number of positions with the pay act as a part of what statutory salaries as a part includes 62 judicial officers. And so out of our total 350 positions, 62 of those have statutory salaries under the pay act. In the event, and now somebody is mowing the lawn at my house, but I'll try and ignore that because I assume you can't hear them. In the event that the entire payroll of the judiciary had the same increase as the collective bargaining agreement, the total one year cost of FY21 would be $1,173,305. In the event the legislature chose not to fund the statutory salaries of judicial officers or the seven exempts in the judiciary, the total one year cost of that proposal would be $872,330. And so I think the difference there is about $300,000. The total second year costs, FY22, assuming that those were fully funded, the total cost of that would be $1,258,759. And so in comparison to the total payroll, of course, it's a small amount, but of our, as I said, of our 350 positions, approximately 70 of those would be not receiving raises if the pay act is not being extended to the people who have statutory salaries in the government. And I think the Supreme Court and the judiciary are very interested in understanding where the interbranch consensus lies. Obviously, we consider ourselves in collaboration with the other branches during this difficult period. And if the legislature chose not to fund, not to increase the payroll of the statutory salary and not to increase payroll for exempts, then we would be willing to participate in that. Thank you. I appreciate that. Any questions from committee members for Pat Gable? I don't see anybody diving onto the screen to tap their hand button. Great. John Gannon. Thank you. Pat, it would be good to get from you at some point just what the details of the collective barting agreement are. We have the administration the details. Are there differences between the jurors and the? There will not be differences in terms of the compensation side. There are differences in terms of the non-compensation side. We do not have some other provisions the executive branch has, and we do have other provisions that the executive branch does not have. And so we're happy to provide that detail to the committee and writing. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. Any other questions from committee members? All right. Thank you, Pat. Please stick with us. Next, I think I'd like to just invite Annie Noonan if you have some thoughts to share with us, help us understand where you are in readiness for pay act. Good morning. Committee members, it's nice to see all of you. Thank you for bringing us in today, Madam Chair. We are glad to have signed last night a tentative agreement with VSEA. Gary Holdle, chief negotiator for the VSEA. And on this contract is with us, as is Joe McNeil, who assisted the department in the negotiations. So I want to obviously call your attention to the fact that as the three chief negotiators on this contract, I think we work very well together and very collaboratively together. And I want to remind the committee, this is the first contract for the VSEA and the state's attorney's office's bargaining unit. So in essence, remember that as a new contract, this is basically building all of the costs from the ground up. So year one of the contract will obviously have more expense, because it's not as though we're just adding to an existing benefit for which we've budgeted. Everything here is new. So keep that in mind, and we are working fast and furiously to put together our numbers. I also want to point out that Steve Howard, the executive director of VSEA, is also on the call with us today this morning. So because we have just last night signed the tentative agreement, the details of the provisions of the contract are not publicly available. So we can say to you today that we think we've reached a fair agreement. We are very confident that the ratification through the membership will be successful. I can tell you that the state's attorney's executive committee, which is in essence had reviewed this and reviewed sort of where we were at progress-wise and then did review the tentative, voted to support this unanimously, voted to support the agreement. I believe that we have costed this out for year one, and we will cost out for year two. We're close. And I think that it probably would be fair to say to you that in terms of the pay adjustment that we will we are lining up with the executive branch for that purpose. There are other provisions that are salary-driven benefits, which go into the pay act. The pay act is whatever is driven by the salary cost. So those specific provisions, we're not really at liberty to speak about today because it would reveal actually what the terms of the agreement are. And I will let Gary talk about the ratification process. But we do have a we can provide the committee with a spreadsheet just sort of with a general cost estimate for year one and probably for year two later on this afternoon. I would want to also point out, Madam Chair, that the state's attorneys, the 14 states attorneys, and the 14 sheriffs are taking the wage freeze. I think Beth may have said that, but they are planning on being subject to the wage freeze, as is the executive director of our department, myself as an exempt fully exempt employee. I probably shouldn't say this, but I could yell downstairs and have him weigh in, but I think the Secretary of State also has, if he hasn't had a chance to talk to Beth, I know the Secretary of State is also planning on taking the wage freeze and as will his exempt employees. So that you can add that to your tally sheet, Beth, if that helps you out at all. If you need confirmation, I can whistle and see if he'll come upstairs, but I make him go downstairs because we cannot work on the same floor because he's too loud. Okay, I'd like to see if Gary, if Gary wants to weigh in sort of in terms of the process, and then I think we can both and Joe can take questions from the committee. Thank you. Gary, what can you tell us about the ratification timeline? So thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to your committee. The membership is just being notified that the bargaining team has reached the tentative agreement with the department, and that notice is going out today. I need to speak with the rest of our staff to prepare the documents that need to accompany the ratification ballot. The anticipated timeline for that would likely be in the next week that we would prepare the ballot and submit that to the membership. Steve, Howard may have a better recollection of what the timeline is necessary for members to return those ballots, but we will be doing electronic balloting, so it should be fairly soon, but it needs to be done prior to July 1st, obviously, to be able to complete the process of having a negotiated agreement. And I'll just say now that the negotiation between BSEA, those, the new bargaining unit and the department of state's attorneys and sheriffs was one of the best negotiations that I've done, I think in my 26 years at BSEA. It was very cordial. It was positive. It was developing answers and solutions to issues that existed. And the members of this new unit, I think are very pleased that they now will have the same opportunities in a lot of areas that other state employees have. So the relationship during negotiations was certainly very positive. And I expect that to extend throughout this two-year contract. Thanks, Gary. Committee, any questions for Gary on the bargaining process or ratification timeline? Jim Harrison. Yeah, thank you. This may not be for Gary, but he may know the answer. If not, Annie would know the answer. Assuming it's ratified in short order, did we get a cost estimate for each year of the contract? I can, Gary, let me take that. Yes, Jim, we do. I was preparing it last night and this morning. I think I just want to run my numbers one more time. I think I can provide by later this afternoon the cost estimate for both year one and year two. And again, I just want to point out that some of what you will see will be salary-driven benefits that are brand new. So I don't want to say that as though I'm scaring any of you that this is going to have a huge price tag, but of course as a brand new contract, there are new benefits that will be incorporated here that once we have this contract in place, Jim, then we are able to, for FY22, to budget for some of these expenses. Where right now, for the FY21 budget that we've submitted, we were unable to budget them because we didn't have a contract, we didn't know the terms of the agreement. So I think that as we go forward and we're able to put some of these in, our provisions of this contract governing about 107 bargaining unit employees will not look tremendously large. Okay, thank you, Annie. And I know I'm sensitive to your not wanting to go public with the details of the contract until it's ratified, but can you tell us if it contains a similar provision as with the state at large with a kind of a one-time increase, base amount to everybody, and then the step increases? Is it kind of the same format or can you not tell us at this point? I would say that we can say yes to that. Gary, you agree that we can say yes to that? Yes, many of the provisions will mirror the executive branch contracts. And also I should have said, representative, the effective date of this new contract will be July 1st. So the two-year agreement will have the same timeline or effective dates as the executive branch contracts. Okay, thank you both. Committee, any other questions? Okay, well, this is only round one and due to our technical challenges, we got a bit of a late start, so I appreciate everybody's patience as we made sure that we could stream this meeting live in order to keep our open door policy on committee deliberations. So we will come back to the issues around the pay act at our next meeting. We need to hear from the SCA and we also would love to have Annie come back and maybe share with us the spreadsheet that you said you may have finished by this afternoon. And so stay tuned because Andrea will be in touch with you to schedule further conversations about pay act. I wanna again say thank you to committee members for your flexibility and patience today and a big thanks to our IT folks who've been scrambling to make sure we can continue to conduct our business despite a few snags with the technology this morning. So that is a wrap for today and I think we can go ahead and adjourn this meeting and we'll see you again soon. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.