AFSCME Legislative Report
April 22, 2005
AFSCME LEGISLATIVE REPORT
In this issue:
Senate Headed For Nuclear Showdown
The Senate Judiciary Committee set up a potential "nuclear" showdown in
the Senate as early as next week by approving two Appeals Court nominees whose
far-right judicial philosophies and troubling judicial activism resulted in
their nominations being blocked during the last Congress. The
Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee on identical 10-8 party-line
votes gave its approval to Texas judge Priscilla Owen and California judge
Janice Rogers Brown, who were nominated by Bush for lifetime judgeships on the
regional U.S. Appeals Courts, the nation's second-highest courts. They were
blocked from confirmation by Democratic filibuster threats during Bush's first
term but were renominated by the President after he won a second term in
November.
Democrats have already said they will block the nominations again because of
their extremist views. But Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has
threatened to change longstanding Senate rules and ban judicial filibusters (the
"nuclear option") to stop Democrats from blocking the judicial nominees again,
and has been working to secure the 50 votes he needs from his Republican caucus
to make the rules change effective. Currently, it requires 60 votes in the
Senate to overcome a filibuster. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (NV) has
vowed to slow or halt Senate action on routine business if Frist follows through
with his threat to force up-and-down votes in which nominees could be confirmed
by a 51-vote majority of the 100-member Senate.
AFSCME is strongly opposed to the rule change as an abuse of power that will
not be limited to judicial nominations. Once the nuclear option has been used to
push through judicial nominees, it inevitably will be used to enact legislation
that will weaken or eliminate important worker protections and civil rights.
(Cynthia Bradley -
cbradley@afscme.org)
TAKE ACTION
We would urge AFSCME members to take action on this issue by sending letters to
their Senators.
Please click here.
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Budget Action Still Not Finished
Congress has once again missed the April 15th deadline for completion
of action on the federal budget. House and Senate negotiators have yet to meet
to resolve differences between the House and Senate bills largely because of the
large cuts in Medicaid and other entitlements included in the House bill. Any
budget resolution hinges largely on getting Senate GOP moderates led by Sen.
Gordon Smith (R-OR) to agree to Medicaid spending cuts.
(Ed Jayne -
ejayne@afscme.org)
AFSCME members should continue to call their Members of Congress at
202-224-3121 and tell them to oppose any congressional budget resolution that
cuts vital public services to the state, cuts Medicaid, increases the deficit
and gives more tax cuts to the rich.
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The Fight Over Private Accounts for
Social Security Heats Up
Faced with solid Democratic resistance, the Chairman of the Senate
Finance Committee, Charles Grassley (R-IA), said Wednesday he will try to craft
a plan for overhauling Social Security that includes Bush's private investment
accounts and that has only Republican support. Demonstrating their deep
opposition to private accounts, Democratic leaders of the House and Senate will
join a rally on Capitol Hill organized by AFSCME and its allies at the same time
as Sen. Grassley is holding a hearing on Social Security on April 26th.
If even more evidence was needed to demonstrate that investing in the stock
market instead of maintaining and strengthening the current Social Security
structure of guaranteed benefits for life, the dramatic stock market slide over
the past months is it. After running up gains early in the year, the Dow Jones
industrial average has fallen more than nine percent in the last six weeks to
its lowest level of the year. This is bad news for President Bush's argument
that private accounts would be better for workers than Social Security's current
structure. And, to make the timing worse, it comes just as the White House is
preparing to begin discussing the politically painful benefits cuts that would
be part of the President's plan.
Polls continue to show that Bush has made some modest headway in convincing
Americans that there is a problem with Social Security, but his solution of
private accounts is steadily losing favor.
(Marge Allen -
mallen@afscme.org)
Return to Index
Employee Free Choice Act Re-introduced in
Congress
The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) (H.R. 1696 / S 842) was
reintroduced in Congress at a Capitol Hill event attended by the leading Senate
and House sponsors, Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) and
Reps. George Miller (D-CA) and Peter King (R-NY). The bill is identical to the
EFCA introduced in the last Congress and would recognize card check as well as a
secret ballot election as legal means for workers to choose a union. It would
also require mediation and arbitration, if necessary, to reach a first contract
and it increases penalties on employers for violations of labor law.
A panel of workers, including AFSCME member Shirley Brown from Resurrection
Health Care in Chicago, spoke to members of Congress and the media about the
difficulties of forming a union. Ms. Brown said she has been a housekeeper for
nine years at West Lake Hospital, which is now part of the Chicago area
Resurrection Health Care, and is one of 10,000-15,000 employees trying to
organize a union. She said that after 20 years of work, some employees are only
earning $10 per hour. Because of their union activities, their employer has
intimidated and threatened the employees. The employer has also threatened
layoffs and asked employees to sign anti-union petitions and statements. The
employer has fired several pro-union employee activists.
(Marge Allen -
mallen@afscme.org)
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Debate Over New Campaign Finance Bill Heats Up
Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Russell Feingold (D-WI) and Reps.
Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Martin Meehan (D-MA) have introduced a new campaign
finance bill called the "527 Reform Act of 2005". This bill would make it much
more difficult for unions to engage in grassroots activity in support of state
and local candidates. It would also shut down organizations such as America
Votes and America Coming Together that, with financial support from labor,
engaged in grassroots activity in 2004 that produced the highest voter turnout
since 1968.
While the design of the bill would eliminate the grassroots work that unions
and progressive organizations engage in, it would not have the same impact on
conservative 527 organizations that could continue to raise large contributions
from individual contributors. In addition, the bill would not have the same
impact on corporations, allowing them to continue their involvement in political
activity.
Next Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration will
consider the McCain-Feingold bill. It is not clear when the bill will be debated
on the Senate floor. The Committee on House Administration held a hearing this
week on the bill.
(Barbara Coufal -
bcoufal@afscme.org)
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House Expected to Debate Association Health Plans
Next week, the House of Representatives is expected to debate the
so-called "Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2005" (H.R. 525). The bill
would exempt association health plans (AHPs) from state insurance regulation,
including patient protections and state solvency rules. The primary advocates
for the bill include the National Federation of Independent Business, the
anti-union Associated Building Contractors, and other business associations that
plan to market these inadequate health care plans.
The bill is opposed by the labor movement because it would drive up costs for
80 percent of small employers and their workers. While proponents of the bill
promote it as a way to expand coverage of small business workers, studies
indicate that the bill could actually increase the number of uninsured.
(Barbara Coufal -
bcoufal@afscme.org)
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Intergovernmental Relations - Update
The following is a periodic report on the activities of state and
local government interest groups.
Governors Urge Congress to Reauthorize Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families
- In a letter to Congress this week, the National Governors Association (NGA)
urged both the House and Senate to pass legislation to reauthorize the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant and related
programs. Some specific policy options the NGA supported include increased
child care funding, a lower work participation rate for parents of very
young children, an additional 12 months (for a total of 24 months) of
vocational education that would count towards states meeting work
requirements, and improved performance incentives that would protect states
from federal penalties so long as they demonstrate progress in meeting work
participation rates. These positions more closely track the provisions in
the Senate Finance Committee's TANF reauthorization bill than those in the
House Ways & Means Committee, Human Resources Subcommittee's bill.
(Fran Bernstein -
fbernstein@afscme.org)
HHS Secretary Outlines Plan to Reform Medicaid
- U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Michael
Leavitt outlined a five point plan for Medicaid "modernization" at the
National Conference of State Legislators' spring meeting held last week in
Washington, D.C. All are aimed at reducing Medicaid costs without tackling
the more fundamental problem of rising costs for health care across the
board. Secretary Leavitt's proposed reforms include allowing states the
option to charge co-pays of "optional" beneficiaries as well as limiting the
services Medicaid would cover for these beneficiaries. Leavitt also
recommended renegotiating how much Medicaid pays for prescription drugs,
stopping Americans from shifting their assets in order to qualify for
Medicaid, and expanding Medicaid coverage for home and community-based care.
(Fran Bernstein -
fbernstein@afscme.org)
State Employee Health Care Costs Continue to Rise
- Employee health care costs reached a new high in 2005, according to the
2005 State Employee Benefits Survey published by Workplace Economics, Inc.,
a Washington, D.C. economics consulting firm. As of January 1, 2005, the
average total premium for active employee health insurance rose to $417 per
month for single coverage and $937 per month for family coverage. Only
thirteen states pay the full premium of health care coverage for individual
employees, and just four states fully pay for family coverage. All 50 states
make health insurance available to retirees up to age 65, and 48 states
provide coverage under the state plan for retirees age 65 and older.
(Fran Bernstein -
fbernstein@afscme.org)
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