AFSCME Legislative Report
AFSCME LEGISLATIVE REPORT
June 8, 2007
In this issue:
Senate Immigration Bill Hits Roadblock
Late
Thursday, the Senate reached an impasse on the fragile bipartisan
immigration compromise when it failed to get enough votes needed to
shut off debate and move forward on the bill (S. 1348). While
there were many twists and turns in the debate, the bill ultimately
failed due to strong GOP opposition to establishing a path that
would allow many of the country's illegal immigrants to achieve
legal status. After the vote, press from around the country
declared the failure of the bill a major defeat for President Bush,
who urged its adoption.
Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid (D-NV) was forced to pull the bill from further consideration
after supporters fell well short of the 60 votes needed to end
debate and move to a vote on final passage. Reid held out the hope
that the Senate would return to the measure in coming weeks. In
addition to providing a path to legal status, the base immigration
bill would tighten borders, hike penalties for employers who hire
undocumented workers and establish a new temporary worker
program.
Several important amendments were adopted in earlier action. In
particular, on Wednesday, the Senate voted 49-48 to support an
amendment offered by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) to phase out the
bill's temporary worker program after five years. Senate
Republican Conference Chairman Jon Kyl (AZ) called the Dorgan
amendment a deal killer especially since the Senate had rejected the
same amendment just before the Memorial Day recess. The
AFL-CIO supported the Dorgan amendment while the business community
opposed it. The Bush administration, along with business
interests and their congressional allies, were already angry that
the temporary worker program had been cut in half from its original
400,000-person-a-year target.
(Marge Allen- mallen@afscme.org)
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House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee
Approves FY 2008 Spending Bill
With bipartisan support,
a House Appropriations Subcommittee approved the FY 2008 spending
bill which funds the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services
and Education. The bill provides $151.5 billion for programs
that receive annual funding. This reflects an increase of $6.9
billion, or 4.8 percent, over FY 2007, and $10.6 billion more than
President Bush's budget request. The bill's spending levels
represent a significant, positive shift in our nation's priorities
towards increasing investments in human needs programs administered
by state and local governments and other vital services and support
that aid low- and middle-income families.
Specific funding levels in the bill include:
- The largest single increase is a $2 billion, or 14.6 percent,
boost over FY 2007 for Pell grants that fund college scholarships
for low-income students. The maximum grant would rise by
$390, to $4,700.
- $75 million increase for the Child Care and Development Block
Grant (CCDBG), which would be the first funding increase since FY
2002.
- $75 million increase for Head Start, which is $175 million
more than President Bush proposed in his budget.
- $10 million increase for the Employment Service, a major shift
after multiple years of flat funding and cuts.
- $53 million increase for state operations of the unemployment
insurance program.
- $200 million increase for community health centers.
- $50 million for health care treatment for 9-11 responders at
the World Trade Center.
- $948 million for pandemic flu preparedness.
- $2 billion increase for No Child Left Behind programs.
Almost all of the increase would go to schools with high numbers
of poor and disadvantaged children.
- $465 million increase for special education.
- $30 million increase for the Community Services Block
Grant.
The Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee's funding bill is an
important step towards achieving adequate funding for all of the
programs that serve our communities. Additional federal
investments are clearly needed. The full House Appropriations
Committee is scheduled to vote on the Subcommittee's bill June
14. The Senate's Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations
Subcommittee is expected to take up its funding bill in the next few
weeks.
(Fran Bernstein- fbernstein@afscme.org)
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Hearing Held on Public Safety Officers Collective
Bargaining Bill
A hearing was held in the House
Education and Labor Committee, Subcommittee on Health, Employment,
Labor and Pensions on a bill (H.R. 980) providing collective
bargaining rights for public safety officers. The legislation
requires states without collective bargaining laws to establish
minimum standards for these rights and provide a mechanism for
resolving impasses. The hearing focused on the authority of
the federal government to enact a collective bargaining law for
state and local government employees. A constitutional law
expert testified that ensuring that states pass laws granting
minimal collective bargaining rights was sanctioned under the
Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The bill now has
over 230 cosponsors and may be voted on by the Subcommittee within
the next couple of weeks. Leaders of AFSCME Corrections
United, David Moffa (CT) and Tim Shaffer (OH), attended the hearing
and were recognized along with the firefighters and police officers
for their service and dedication to their communities.
(Jayne Clancy- jclancy@afscme.org)
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Congress Moves to Reverse U.S. Supreme Court Decision
Limiting Workers' Anti-Discrimination
Protections
Congressional Democrats have vowed to move
legislation to reverse a U.S. Supreme Court decision that severely
limits the time within which workers must sue their employers for
pay discrimination. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled in
Ledbetter v. Goodyear that a female employee who alleged that she
was paid less than comparable male employees for almost 20 years
could not sue under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The court held that Ms. Ledbetter filed her complaint too late, and
that Title VII requires employees to file a formal complaint within
180 days after the alleged discrimination first occurred, even
though the wage difference continued over a period of years.
The court majority insisted that it did not matter that Goodyear was
still paying her far less than comparable male coworkers when she
filed her complaint. In her dissenting opinion, Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg urged Congress to address this timing issue,
noting: "Pay disparities often occur, as they did in
Ledbetter's case, in small increments; cause to suspect that
discrimination is at work develops only over time."
Several members of Congress have spoken out in favor of
congressional action in response to this ruling. Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton (D-NY) said she would introduce legislation "to
clarify congressional intent," and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) vowed
to "restore full protection against wage discrimination." Rep.
George Miller (D-CA), Chair of the House Education and Labor
Committee, plans to introduce legislation that would reverse the
Supreme Court's decision. Lilly Ledbetter will testify about
her case before the House Education and Labor Committee on June
12.
(Fran Bernstein- fbernstein@afscme.org)
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House Subcommittee Caps IRS Outsourcing
The
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services approved
their FY 2008 spending bill which included language capping at $1
million the amount that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could use
to oversee and implement the private tax collection program.
It is believed that this action will effectively kill the program,
which has been criticized as being wasteful and the wrong policy for
the IRS to follow. The outsourcing program puts taxpayer
privacy rights in jeopardy, and has fostered illicit activities by
private companies. The full Appropriations Committee will soon
consider the bill. Amendments to attempt to restore the program are
expected to be offered.
(Ed Jayne- ejayne@afscme.org)
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