OREGON AFSCME

e-lert #3  ¥  Jan. 30, 2009

Edited by Don Loving, Council 75 Public Affairs Director

 

 

This was a relatively quiet week at the capitol. Legislators and lobbyists alike are in large part waiting for bill drafts to get back from legislative counsel with bill numbers and such. Until that happens, hearings are at a minimum for the most part. And lawmakers are hesitant to do very much regarding the state budget until they get the numbers for the February revenue forecast, which aren't due until Feb. 20.

 

That doesn't mean there's nothing going on, it just means you don't have to dread another 12-page e-lert this week! J

 

By the way, I learned a long time ago not to ever assume anything, so we should probably mention once here in an early e-lert that throughout the session, you'll frequently see the abbreviations "SB" and "HB." Those stand for "Senate Bill" and House Bill" respectively. By-and-large Senate bills are numbered between 1 and 1,999 and House bills are numbered 2,000 and up, so between the bill number and the "HB" or "SB" prefix you get two chances to know which chamber a certain bill originated from. You'll also see some "HJR" and "SJR" designations — the "JR" stands for "Joint Resolution." Legislative joint resolutions are typically ceremonial in nature and don't carry the force of law. So, just in case you didn't know, now you do.

 

Anyway, it's Week 3 for the 2009 session, and here we go ...

 

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HELP FOR EMPLOYEE-SOLDIERS — One bill that does already have a number and has already had a hearing this week is HB 2298. This measure would change the way that "average salary" is calculated for an important program that allows state employees who are deployed overseas in the U.S. military to recoup some of their lost wages.

 

The State of Oregon allows its workers to voluntarily donate into a "paid leave pool." Military families can request to draw money out of that pool when an employee is deployed.

 

"You may be making $4,000 a month at your job, and then the National Guard comes calling and all of a sudden you're getting $1,000," said Oregon AFSCME Political Coordinator Mary Botkin. "The leave pool was established to help families in that situation. However, as currently constructed, you can only draw from the leave bank based on your base salary. We have a lot of members — Corrections is a great example — where the 'average month' always includes overtime. This bill will allow for average overtime wages to be calculated when figuring how much aid a family is eligible to request."

 

A pair of AFSCME members from Local 974 (Two Rivers Correctional Institution) in Umatilla testified this week in favor of HB 2298, Alan Humphrey and Richard Young. In addition, Humphrey's wife Sherrie Humphrey, who is an Oregon School Employees Association member, gave heartfelt testimony about her husband being deployed three times and the financial hardship it caused their family.

 

"I'm optimistic the bill will pass because other than some very minor administrative costs, this isn't an expensive measure," said Botkin. "It's people giving time that is already a liability on the state's books to some others in need. It should be fine."

 

Botkin notes that some municipal jurisdictions have copied the state leave pool program for employees in the military. HB 2298 would not require them to mirror the state's change in computing average salary, but Botkin says, "We would certainly heartily encourage them to do so — and to adopt such a program if they haven't already."

 

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DOC TRAINING WARS — Speaking of Corrections, we mentioned in an earlier e-lert that Department of Corrections Director Max Williams wants to shave a $7.5 million line item out of the DOC budget by eliminating Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) training for incoming corrections officers and instead move to an "in-house training" model, mostly by computer with little or no personal training.

 

Botkin has been on the offensive in fighting this proposal literally since Day 1 of the session. It was AFSCME, some 25 years ago, that led the fight to establish consistent, certified and independent DPSST training for Corrections personnel. The union considers it "a giant step backwards" to eliminate that training.

 

What has been the general reaction to date from legislators when hearing of Williams' plan?

 

"Disbelief," is Botkin's one-word answer.

 

"It takes most legislators about 30 seconds to connect the dots and see what a huge liability issue this could be for the state," Botkin continues. "That's a factor for us, though we're more concerned about employee safety inside the institutions. But legislators are correct that it only takes a single mistake by one new untrained or poorly trained officer to open up the state to an inmate lawsuit that could potentially cost far more than continuing the training."

 

Botkin says she and lawmakers are frustrated that Williams and the DOC aren't identifying how much they think can be saved.

 

"They're not saying, but they can't claim it'll be the full $7.5 million," she said. "Even in-house, it has to cost something. Although I have to say, veteran DOC employees are highly suspicious because they remember that in the past, the Department was quick to 'steal' money from the training line item whenever there were any budget hiccups within the DOC. In fact, the Department has cancelled most in-house 'in-service' training recently already, so that doesn't bode well for the idea of moving all training in-house.

 

"I have pulled no punches with Max Williams and his minions — we will fight this to our last breath."

 

Botkin says it appears that Gov. Ted Kulongoski has targeted $10 million to be cut from the overall DOC budget in his state budget proposal. She is concerned that DOC administrators are "taking the easy way out" by targeting the training money, which constitutes three-quarters of that goal in one fell swoop.

 

"There are lots of areas you can look at within the DOC budget to save money, but it's hard work," said Botkin. "How about all of the assistant management people? There are a whole bunch of them in the Dome Building that never see the inside of an institution.

 

"Ultimately, if cuts have to be made, we need to make them as responsibly as possible and we must cut without destroying the base so that when times improve, we can rebuild," said Botkin. "We will work with the Department if they want to engage in reasonable dialogue, but eliminating certified training is not reasonable."

 

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ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION — Council 75 Political Coordinator Joe Baessler testified this week in favor of a bill that would establish online voter registration in the state. It's a program other states have adopted with success.

 

"For most people, you would simply take their DMV signature and use that as their online signature, so you already have that in the database," said Baessler. "You're not starting from scratch."

 

While Oregon is widely acknowledged as a leader in many respects relative to election matters — vote-by-mail, for example — Baessler says there are still issues to be worked on.

 

"I was surprised to learn that Oregon has the widest disparity between 'younger' voters and 'older' voters," he said. "That is, our gap between the percentage of voters who are under 35 and those who are over 35 is the largest in the nation. So anything we can do to get more people registered and part of the process is a good thing, and we think this will help and has the necessary safeguards."

 

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CHILD CARE 'STORIES' — Baessler is also looking for help from members of AFSCME Local 132 (Child Care Providers Together) and their clients. The governor's proposed budget not only eliminates the gains made in the 2007 session in child care subsidies for low-income families, it takes that subsidy level back to a point worse than 2007.

 

"We need to start developing 'stories' from our members and their clients, the parents, about how devastating this proposed subsidy cut would be for those who are the most in need," said Baessler. "While we want to emphasize this is only the governor's suggested budget, we've got to work hard to make sure it doesn't get adopted as is. Ultimately, legislators are going to need to hear from 'real people' on this issue, not paid lobbyists."

 

If you believe you have a compelling tale to tell, please send a synopsis of that story in an e-mail to Baessler.

 

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT PRE-EXEMPTIONS — We also mentioned in an earlier e-lert that AFSCME is interested in removing a variety of state law existing pre-exemptions that disallow Oregon local governments from even considering adopting certain fees. For example, Clackamas County cannot implement a county real estate transfer fee, nor can the City of Eugene adopt a local beer or wine tax of its own.

 

"We are trying to introduce a bill that would 'sunset,' or end, those restrictions in conjunction with the assumed end of the federal timber payments," said Baessler. Late last year Congress passed a bill that extends the timber payments, but they are phased out and successively lowered over a four-year time period.

 

"At that point, local governments need to have all available options on their respective tables," said Baessler. "It doesn't mean they are going to adopt any or all of them, but there are these state pre-exemption laws that handcuff local governments' options from the get-go, so we're hoping to ease those at the same time the timber money ends."

 

Botkin, who works the timber receipts issue for the Council, would be quick to add that AFSCME and the counties have not given up on the idea of pushing new President Barack Obama for a further extension of the aid program. But Botkin and Baessler agree it's wise to move forward as though the payments will end in four years.

 

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OHSU BOARD SEAT — Botkin is working closely with Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) lobbyist Jack Dempsey on a bill that would add one non-voting, designated labor member to the Oregon Health & Sciences University Board of Directors. If passed, it would be up to AFSCME and the ONA to choose who that labor rep would be. AFSCME Local 328 represents over 4,000 employees in a huge variety of classifications at OHSU; ONA represents most of the nursing staff.

 

"It would be nice to have a voting member, but we can't get there at this point," said Botkin. "First things first, we want to get this measure passed and we'll go from there in the future. Jack and I are both working this very hard."

 

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NEW DIGS — If you pass by the office of state Rep. Tobias Read (D-Portland), you'll spot a familiar face. Eva Rippeteau, a former political staffer for AFSCME International (but based primarily in Oregon) is one of Read's legislative aides this session.

 

"Hey, I'm out of the dungeon!" Rippeteau says with her characteristic laugh, referring to her former home in the Portland AFSCME office basement. "Basically, I was on a temporary political grant with the International, and that ended when the election cycle was over, and I wanted to stay around, so here I am. It's OK, other than I hate getting up at 5:30 a.m. to get ready for my carpool ride down here from Portland. That part sucks. Otherwise, so far I'm having fun."

 

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SIGN UP, IT'S FREE! — We want to throw in another plug for our new Text Messaging Center, which you'll find at the top of the right hand side of our website front page. As mentioned last week, just click on our snazzy little red cell phone icon and then enter your name, phone number and provider. This feature is meant for members who are willing to receive urgent and/or timely information from your union about important, breaking issues — particularly legislative news as the session progresses.

 

We'll also repeat our two promises regarding the Text Message Center: we won't "abuse" the system and overburden you with messages and we won't ever share this list with anyone outside of our union.

 

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Away from the capitol this week ...

 

SAM I AM — No reason for us to rehash the details of the Portland Mayor Sam Adams brouhaha here, you've seen plenty about that in the regular media the past couple of weeks. But we have heard from a handful of curious members, wondering if Local 189 — which represents over 1,000 City of Portland employees — has taken a position on the mayor's situation.

 

The answer is no. Local 189 has adopted a "wait and see" attitude, believing that at this time, it would be premature to take a formal position before the Oregon attorney general office's investigation is completed. Council 75 staff rep James Hester notes that while the local certainly has an ongoing relationship with whoever is in the mayor's office, the union day-to-day is dealing with secondary management people and given that, the Adams situation "doesn't impact the normal daily flow" of the relationship between the city and the union.

 

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WE'RE NOT GOING AWAY — Those people who want to bury unions will have to hold off again. For the second consecutive year, union membership in the United States has increased after many years of steady decline. However, there is still a stark difference between the public and private sector, and union membership still lags far behind its peak numbers from the 1950s.

 

The good news: overall U.S. union membership increased to 12.4 percent last year, which translates to a raw numbers jump of 428,000 workers. That's the biggest annual gain reported ever since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics officially began compiling such numbers in 1983.

 

Public sector unions accounted for most of 2008's increase. The union membership rate for government workers rose to 36.8 percent, up from 35.9 percent in 2007. In the private sector, membership remained essentially steady — 7.6 percent in 2008 compared to 7.5 percent in 2007.

 

In the '50s, overall union membership in the U.S. workforce hovered at 35 percent. Union membership was about 20 percent in 1983, the first year the bureau began compiling the numbers, so there's still a lot of ground to make up.

 

Unions are hopeful that the new Congress will pass the Employee Free Choice Act this year, which would make it easier to organize workers. The Employee Free Choice Act would give workers the option of forming a union by simply signing a card or petition instead of holding secret ballot elections. It passed the U.S. House last year but could not work through the Senate.

 

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WELCOME NEW 'MEMBERS' — We end this e-lert with the thought that there's more than one way to grow the union, including methods that don't include the Organizing Department.

 

In that regard, we're happy to report on the two newest "members" of the Oregon AFSCME family:

 

á      Giovanni Michael Kunhyung Galizio was born on Jan. 24. He is the son of Council 75 Political Coordinator Janice O'Malley Galizio and state Rep. Larry Galizio (D-Tigard). Giovanni checked in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces and was 19 inches long at birth.

 

á      Luke Daniel Ramseier was born on Jan. 28. He is the grandson of Council 75 Fiscal Director Jeaneane Ramseier, born to Jeaneane's son and daughter-in-law Todd and Erica Ramseier. Luke weighed in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces and was 20.75 inches long.

 

It's the first child for both respective families, and the first grandchild for Jeneane. We're glad to report that babies, parents and Grandma are all doing fine.

 

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