AFSCME Legislative Report
AFSCME LEGISLATIVE REPORT
November 16, 2007
In this issue:
House Fails to Override the President's Veto of Labor-HHS-Education Spending Bill
On Thursday, the House voted 277 to 141 to override the President's veto of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor-HHS) spending bill for Fiscal Year 2008. While the vote demonstrated strong, bipartisan support for the Labor-HHS bill – legislation that rejected harmful cuts proposed by the Bush Administration to workforce, health care, human services and education programs – the margin of support was two votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the President's veto. No Democrats voted against the override. On the other hand, 51 Republicans sided with the Democrats and voted to override the President. Congress is now expected to turn its attention to an "omnibus" spending package combining several spending bills, but will likely try to reach a compromise with the President by splitting the difference in the level of increased spending which would mean an increase of about $11 billion above the President's request.
(Fran Bernstein– fbernstein@afscme.org)
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Head Start Reauthorized
Congress passed by overwhelming margins the Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007 (H.R. 1429), which reauthorizes Head Start for the next five years. House members voted 381 to 36 in favor, while the Senate vote was 95 to 0. President Bush is expected to sign the bill soon. It rejects the Administration's previous proposals both to turn Head Start over to state governments and to allow faith-based hiring decisions. While the legislation requires that 50 percent of Head Start teachers nationwide have a BA degree, this requirement does not go into effect until 2013 and the bill reserves 40 percent of new Head Start funds for program quality enhancements, including salary increases for staff. The bill also expands funding for Early Head Start, which serves infants and toddlers. And, the reauthorized program expands eligibility to families earning up to 130 percent of the poverty level, up from the current 100 percent of poverty, and it halts the controversial annual assessments of four-year-olds participating in the program.
(Becky Levin – blevin@afscme.org)
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Children's Health Bill Languishes on Life Support
A week ago, proponents of the bill to renew the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) negotiated a compromise with a rump group of House Republicans led by Rep. Judy Biggert (IL). However, in the week since the deal was worked out, this group of House Republicans has yet to make a firm commitment to actually vote for the compromise and to vote to override an expected veto from the President. As a consequence, the bill has not been scheduled for a vote. It is increasingly likely that the legislation will be shelved temporarily and the current SCHIP law will be continued until the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2008. As a result, millions of low-income children will go without doctor's appointments and medicine. While the President spends hundreds of billions on the war in Iraq, he remains unwilling to spend an extra $35 billion over the next five years for children's health care.
(Barbara Coufal– bcoufal@afscme.org)
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Senate Recesses Without Completing Action on Farm Bill
After two weeks of efforts to clear the way for the Senate Farm bill, the Senate prepared to recess for the Thanksgiving holiday without any substantial action on the bill. Republican leaders refused to reach agreement with the Democratic leadership on limiting the number and nature of amendments that would be offered. We are continuing to push for passage because failure to enact a Farm bill this year will mean the loss of important improvements in the nutrition programs, including the Food Stamp program, and the anti-privatization provisions in the House bill.
(Nanine Meiklejohn– nmeikljohn@afscme.org)
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National Labor Relations Board Massacres Workers' Rights
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued an unprecedented 61 decisions in September, the majority of which weakened worker protections. Taken as a whole, the "September Massacre" makes it harder for workers to organize through voluntary recognition, easier for employers to withdrawal union recognition, cheaper for employers to violate the law, more difficult for employees to recover back pay, and places a stamp of approval on employer discrimination, coercion, and retaliation. On November 15, AFSCME joined Members of Congress, the AFL-CIO and affiliated unions in protesting the NLRB and rallied public support to prevent President Bush from making further anti-worker appointments to the Board. AFSCME is also working to encourage Congress to pass the Re-Empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradesworkers (RESPECT) Act (H.R. 1644/S. 969), legislation which modifies the statutory definition of "supervisor" under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and reverses recent Board decisions that strip collective bargaining rights from nurses and other employees who do not have managerial authority but may direct a co-worker on a single, discrete task.
(Andrea Zuniga DiBitetto– adibitetto@afscme.org)
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The College Opportunity and Affordability Act
This week, the House Education and Labor Committee unanimously approved the College Opportunity Affordability Act of 2007 (H.R. 4137), which reauthorizes the Higher Education Act. It provides up to $10,000 in loan forgiveness for employees in careers of "national need," including early childhood educators, child welfare workers, public health workers, firefighters, first responders, law enforcement officers, educators, and others. Further, the bill includes a provision to codify the role of guaranty agencies in delinquency and default prevention, and mandates a role for guarantors in the provision of financial literacy for students and families before, during, and after postsecondary education, and through loan repayment. The guaranty provision is not currently in the Senate bill (S. 1642). Once the bill passes the House it will be conferenced with the Senate, and is expected to be signed into law early next year.
(Becky Levin– blevin@afscme.org)
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House Approves Transportation-HUD Spending Bill
The House voted 270-147 to approve the $105.6 billion FY 2008 Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (HUD) spending bill with no Democratic opposition and 45 Republican supporters. Despite relatively strong GOP support, the vote is shy of the two-thirds needed to override Bush's threatened veto. While Bush recently requested an extra $200 billion for military operations, the White House said the Transportation-HUD bill represents "an irresponsible and excessive level of spending."
(Marc Granowitter– mgranowitter@afscme.org)
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Hearings Highlight Short Staffing at Nursing Homes
In response to news reports of how private equity ownership of nursing homes contributes to inadequate care, the Senate Aging Committee and Health Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee held hearings on Thursday on private equity firms’ roles in nursing homes and their impact on patient care through inadequate staffing. Testimony before the House subcommittee revealed that registered nurse staffing hours per resident day have dropped by 25 percent since 2000, leading to a decline in quality care. AFSCME, in coalition with other unions and consumer advocates, will continue to press for adequate nurse staffing levels in all nursing homes and accountability for quality care.
(Linda Bennett– lbennett@afscme.org)
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Warren Buffett Tells Senate Finance Committee to Keep the Estate Tax
At a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Warren Buffett, the world's 3rd richest person, urged Congress to retain the federal estate tax because efforts to repeal it would benefit a handful of the very richest American families and worsen America's income inequality. Buffet said, "tax-law changes have benefited this group, including me, in a huge way - the average American went exactly nowhere on the economic scale: he's been on a treadmill while the super rich have been on a spaceship.'' Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) said repeal lacked Senate support and would not happen. The hearing was designed to solicit ideas for replacing changing rules and uncertainty. While Committee ranking Republican Charles Grassley (R-IA) opposes the estate tax, he said he may accept a compromise short of repeal, if it "looks out for small business owners and family farmers.''
(Marc Granowitter– mgranowitter@afscme.org)
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Shareholder Rights and Proxy Access Hearing
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) urged Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Chris Cox to support shareholder rights and proxy access supported by AFSCME at a hearing. The SEC recently proposed two new rules and is expected to vote on these proxy access proposals in November. However, Reed said both SEC proposals "miss the mark." AFSCME, CalPERS, and other union investment funds do not see the need for urgent action and prefer waiting until the entire SEC has a full set of commissioners. Overall, Senate Democrats criticized Cox and reinforced the House Democrats' recent request for the SEC to delay action.
(Marc Granowitter– mgranowitter@afscme.org)
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