AFSCME Legislative Report
 AFSCME LEGISLATIVE REPORT
Congress — Week ending November 4
Senate passes budget cuts bill as House GOP leaders scramble for votes to pass their budget cutting bill. President Bush nominates Samuel Alito to Supreme Court.
In this issue:
Senate Approves Major Budget Cuts to Domestic Programs
The Senate approved its version of the budget-cutting reconciliation bill by a vote of 52-47. Republican Sens. Lincoln Chafee (RI), Norm Coleman (MN), Susan Collins (ME), Mike DeWine (OH), and Olympia Snowe (ME) joined most Democrats in voting against the bill, while Democrats Mary Landrieu (LA) and Ben Nelson (NE) joined all other Republicans in voting for it. Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ), who is running for Governor in New Jersey, missed the vote. The Senate bill (S. 1931), called the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005, makes $39.1 billion in cuts in many vital domestic programs including increased burdens on seniors by raising Medicare Part B premiums, over $10 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts, $10 billion in student loan cuts and cuts that will reduce affordable housing, in order to pay for $70 billion in new tax cuts that will be considered by the Senate as early as the middle of November. The Senate budget bill will go to a conference with House leaders if and when the House completes action on its $53.9 billion bill that makes even more drastic cuts in domestic programs.
Numerous amendments were considered during Senate action, and most amendments to restore funding cuts were rejected. By a vote of 48-51 Senators rejected Sen. Maria Cantwell's (D-WA) amendment to strike language that authorizes the leasing and development of oil and gas from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Coastal Plain Area. The House bill also opens ANWR to drilling. In other Senate action, $1.66 billion in additional funding was added for education assistance for Katrina victims. An amendment, offered by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), which would prevent scheduled reductions in Medicaid matching funds for some states was adopted 54-45.
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House Budget Committee Approves Harmful Budget Bill
The House Budget Committee voted 21-17 on near party lines to approve a Republican-led budget package, which cuts the budget by $53.9 billion. One Republican, Rep. Connie Mack (FL), opposed it. The package makes deep cuts in funds for Medicaid, student loans, food stamps, and other vital public services. The Budget Committee's ranking Democrat John Spratt (D-SC) said, "this bill has nothing to do with paying for (hurricane) Katrina; it has everything to do with facilitating further tax cuts." The GOP leadership is facing an extremely difficult fight to secure enough votes to win passage in the House. Democrats are unified in opposition.
AFSCME Leaders and Activists:
Keep up the calls and local activities. Media reports say that Republican leaders
are struggling for the votes to pass their harmful budget cuts.
Call your Representative today! Return to Index
Bush's Tax Panel Proposes Harmful Tax Options
President Bush's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform unanimously approved a tax reform proposal which would impose taxes on employer-paid health insurance and eliminate deductions for state and local income taxes and property taxes. The panel also wants to change tax rates and brackets which will increase taxes on middle-class and low-income families and decrease the top tax rate for America's top earners from 35 percent to either 30 percent or 33 percent. It would also sharply reduce homeowners' mortgage interest deductions.
Although the overall package is revenue neutral, it appears to disproportionately benefit wealthier taxpayers and will produce higher income taxes on wages than on investment income.
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President Bush Makes Second Nomination to Replace Justice O'Connor
President Bush nominated Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court on October 31st after accepting the withdrawal of Harriet Miers, his first choice to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Alito currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He is a staunch conservative who has extensive legal experience and a record of restricting Congress' authority to protect Americans in the name of "states rights."
AFSCME is currently reviewing Alito's long record as is the Senate Judiciary Committee, a process that is necessary in determining the type of Justice Alito will be on the court. AFSCME has not taken a position on the nomination, however a preliminary review of his record is troubling. Alito ruled that Congress lacked authority to allow state employees to sue for damages under one section of the Family and Medical Leave Act, which guarantees most working people up to 12 weeks leave for illness or to care for a sick family member. The Supreme Court disagreed with Alito. He has issued decisions making it harder for victims of race and sex discrimination to seek justice. He also set a standard in one case that would have made it virtually impossible for anyone to prove discrimination based on disability. Alito also sided with corporate polluters in a ruling that made it much harder for victims of pollution to sue, even when the polluters were guilty of breaking the law. From what we can see so far, his record shows a willingness to oppose protections for individuals while supporting corporate interests.
Hearings on Alito's nomination will begin on January 9th, with a vote scheduled for January 20th.
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Administration Releases Pandemic Flu Plan
On Wednesday, the Administration released its long-awaited plan to prepare for the threat of pandemic flu. Predictably, the plan had glaring weaknesses regarding the health and safety of first responders, public health and health care workers. It also fails to provide sufficient resources for state and local public health departments which will carry out the work of planning and response.
Contradicting recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and requirements under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the plan recommends that surgical masks be used to protect first responders and health care workers from exposure to the flu virus. Surgical masks are inadequate protection against airborne hazards. The CDC's Avian Flu guidance recommends, and OSHA standards require, that fit-tested respirator masks, at least as protective as the N95 mask, be used to protect workers. The Administration's plan also fails to emphasize the need for training workers in safety measures now, rather than waiting until a community is in the midst of a pandemic flu crisis. Because there is not yet a vaccine to protect against the Avian Flu, there is a critical need for strong health and safety measures to protect first responders and health care workers who will have the greatest risk of exposure to the flu.
The Administration's plan also fails to provide sufficient financial assistance to state and local public health departments. In fact, under the plan, states must pay for much of the antiviral medicines that are to be stockpiled. The consequence is that states with the most severe budget difficulties may be unable to purchase their full share of the supply of antivirals. The added burden on the states comes at the same time that the President and GOP leaders are pushing to make substantial cuts in Medicaid funds and public health grants.
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Senate Votes on New School Aid Formula
The Senate voted in favor of new compromise language on disaster relief funding for schools. Senate education leaders have negotiated several different drafts of bills to distribute financial aid to schools that enroll students displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY) proposed the latest version as an amendment to a budget reconciliation bill (S. 1932), which was approved by voice vote. The Enzi amendment would provide $1.2 billion in one-time temporary impact aid for financial assistance for displaced students and $450 million in "restart" grants for certain operational costs of Gulf Coast schools severely affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) offered an amendment to the Enzi package which would have allowed these funds to pay for private schools, in effect establishing a voucher program. Ensign's amendment failed 31-68.
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Bill to Honor Slain AFSCME Corrections Officer Introduced in House
Reps. Ted Strickland (D-OH), Bart Stupak (D-MI), Harold Ford (D-TN) and Lincoln Davis (D-TN) introduced a bill in honor of Officer Wayne Morgan, treasurer of AFSCME Local 2173, who was gunned down while transporting prison inmate George Hyatte from the main courthouse in Kingston, Tennessee back to the Brushy Mountain Correction Complex in Petros, Tennessee. H.R. 4215, the Wayne "Cotton" Morgan Bulletproof Vest Act, would amend the federal program that makes matching grants to states for the purchase of bulletproof vest for public safety officers, to eliminate the requirement for state matching funds. There would be no matching requirement to the extent that the grant is for the purchase of an armor vest for any officer who works in a high security risk area or for a correctional officer who transports prisoners as Officer Moran did.
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House Committee Votes on Ninth Circuit Split
As part of a $53 billion measure to reduce the deficit, the House Budget Committee on November 2nd approved language that would split the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The measure would split Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington into a new 12th Circuit, leaving California lumped in with Hawaii, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. It would authorize 93 new permanent and temporary judgeships at a five-year cost of $71 million, contrary to the larger bill's stated purpose of deficit reduction. The original bill, the "Federal Judgeship and Administrative Efficiency Act of 2005 (H.R. 4093), was approved by the House Judiciary Committee recently without even holding a hearing. The top Democrat on the Budget Committee, Rep. John Spratt (D-SC), said he discovered the 9th Circuit language on the morning of the vote, which was inserted by Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI). The provision took a number of Budget Committee members of both parties by surprise and is expected to run into stiff opposition in the Senate.
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Government Report Confirms Wal-Mart Violated Child Labor Laws and Made a Sweetheart Deal with Bush's Labor Department to Avoid Oversight and Penalties
A federal inspector general has found that a secret and controversial agreement between Wal-Mart and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), signed in January 2005, was in violation of DOL's normal procedures and resulted in an agreement that was "significantly different" than other agreements signed by the Department. The investigators also concluded that the agreement has brought significant monetary benefits to Wal-Mart while weakening future federal oversight of labor practices at Wal-Mart. The report found that the breakdowns resulted in Wal-Mart being able to author "key provisions" of the agreement, reached after DOL had found that the company had violated child labor laws at operations in three states. In February 2005, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) had requested that the DOL's Inspector General investigate the sweetheart deal after it was revealed in news accounts.
This week, Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Miller introduced a bill (H.R. 4190) that would bar the DOL from including in its compliance agreements assurances of advance notice about DOL inspections before a proper investigation is completed.
A new documentary, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, has just been released and will be shown around the country in conjunction with town hall forums and public rallies. It documents Wal-Mart's long history of labor violations, from failing to pay workers for overtime hours, violating child labor laws, and locking workers into stores at night as well as the costs to taxpayers who pick up medical, educational and other costs associated with the company's well-known low wage policy.
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Intergovernmental Relations — Update
The following is a periodic report on the activities of state and local government interest groups and other advocacy organizations.
- Governors Join Chorus of Opposition to House Ways and Means Committee Budget Cuts in Vital Human Services Programs — In a strongly worded news release, the National Governors Association (NGA) expressed its "serious apprehension" about the House Ways and Means Committee's budget plan that reduces federal funding to states for "essential services to our most vulnerable children and families." Specifically, the NGA criticized the reduction in federal support for administering the highly-successful Child Support Enforcement Program from 66 percent to 50 percent, noting that administrative services account for the bulk of services provided to families served through this critical program. The NGA also voiced its opposition to the committee's decision to reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in the context of federal budget savings instead of good public policy. In particular, the governors criticized the committee's decision to halve the additional amount of child care funding that was included in the House TANF reauthorization bill and expressed concerns with provisions that would impose new limits on federal funding support for children in the foster care and adoption assistance programs.
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