OREGON AFSCME

e-lert #19 ¥ May 22, 2009

Edited by Don Loving, Council 75 Public Affairs Director

It's a holiday weekend, and based on the number of automated "out of the office" replies I get on a normal weekend, I know a lot of you aren't going to see this until next week. Therefore, we're going to go with a shorter edition of the e-lert this week:

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WYDEN'S BAD IDEA — Historically, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore). has been a good friend of organized labor in general and AFSCME in particular. However, he's gone way off track on his latest national health care proposal and the union needs your help in turning him around.

AFSCME and other unions are pushing for a national plan that would allow you to keep your current health insurance plan if you want to, but allowing you (and everyone else) the option of switching to competing public health insurance plans. Such public plans would guarantee that every American, no matter their income level, has access to a health care plan — and, importantly, without that plan's benefits being taxable.

Wyden's proposal, U.S. Senate Bill 391, includes three key provisions that labor strongly opposes:

á Your health care benefits would be taxed, which would in essence translate to the largest middle class tax increase in history.

á You would be forced to give up your current (union-negotiated) health care plan, even if you like it and it works for you and your family.

á There is no public health insurance option that would guarantee coverage and lower costs by competing with private health insurance plans.

Oregon AFSCME Executive Director Ken Allen was recently in Washington D.C. for the national union's annual Legislative Conference. Allen — along with Council 75 President Gary Gillespie from Local 1724 (City of Eugene), Mike Oester from Local 1847 (Port of Portland Police) and national union staff — met with Wyden in an effort to dissuade him from continuing to push S. 931.

"We could not move him," said Allen. "He will not commit to having a public option in the bill and is insisting on taxing health benefits when employees receive insurance from their employers."

AFSCME, the AFL-CIO and other unions are backing an Obama administration national health plan that the president hopes to present and pass by the end of this year. AFSCME will be participating in a coordinated public effort to get Wyden to, as Allen puts it, "do the right thing." The campaign will include radio ads, mailers and phone calls. You'll be hearing more about this campaign soon — and you can listen to the radio ad, which is attached to this article as an MP3 file.

In the meantime you can get started right away. You can contact Wyden via e-mail; this link will take you directly to an online form, and in the "message" section tell Wyden you are opposed to S. 391. You can also call Wyden's office and leave a message opposing S. 391 toll-free at (888) 460-0813.

There is more information available at www.StopWydensHealthTax.com.

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COME TO THE CAPITOL — We are hosting another state budget oriented "Lobby Day" at the state capitol on Tuesday (May 26). This will coincide with the resumption of state Central Table bargaining that day, the first such session since the May 15 state revenue forecast came out.

Council 75 Political Coordinator Joe Baessler is coordinating the May 26 event. Central Table participants will be coming over that afternoon. If you'd like to join the event, e-mail Baessler or call him at (503) 319-1912.

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THE BUDGET — Last week we were able to outline the details of the May 15 state revenue forecast, the key piece legislators use in crafting the state budget. This past Tuesday (May 21) the Co-Chairs of the Joints Ways and Means Committee — Sen. Margaret Carter (D-Portland) and Rep. Peter Buckley (D-Ashland) — released their proposed budget outline.

Even three days later there are significant questions about "what does it mean?" We will hit a few highlights here as it relates to some of our AFSCME-represented agencies. There will be more to come soon as further details are released. One important note: throughout the document there are many line items referencing the elimination of pay raises. That subject, of course, will be addressed at the bargaining table.

Corrections — The good news, such as it is, is that at first blush it does not appear that many, if any, of our DOC members face layoffs. There are DOC employee positions that go away in the proposal, but many are unrepresented positions, vacant positions or future positions. For example, the budget lists 150 full-time position savings at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution in Madras by delaying the opening of the medium security portion of the facility for two years. But those positions hadn't been filled yet, so from that standpoint they're not "lost" — or at least more properly, they aren't layoffs. But this point illustrates the difficulty of reading the Co-Chairs budget notes and trying to distinguish exactly what is what. Also in Corrections, there is a huge $77.8 million unspecified reduction that will come, according to the notation, from "changes to sentencing and other changes to reduce need for prison beds." That sentence has Oregon AFSCME Political Coordinator Mary Botkin scratching her head. "I have no idea what that is supposed to mean, exactly, or how it can total almost $78 million," she says. "We're still working that one."

OLCC — As it stands now, the budget proposal would close the agency's eight person Salem office. Those individuals would have the opportunity to bump into positions in other offices, but of course they live in the Marion County area and don't want to drive to Eugene to work. The Portland and Eugene offices would have to cover the four-county area now serviced by the Salem office; that all adds up to services delays and watered down enforcement in all of the areas. And of course, as we've often repeated, this is an agency that makes a profit for the state General Fund and there's no reason to cut any staff there. At least three Local 2505 Salem office members are taking a vacation day Tuesday to join the Lobby Day activities at the capitol.

Human Services — Our biggest concern here is the State-Operated Community Program, the state group homes for MR/DD clients. Local 1246 represents these employees. Botkin says the DHS cuts are very unclear. "There are some items in there that might impact the SOCP, but to be honest with you, I can't tell yet," she says. "We're trying to figure that out."

OSP — Our Local 896 represents the non-sworn employees of the Oregon State Police, including crime lab technicians and such. Line items denoting reductions in Forensics, administrative and dispatch staff concern Botkin, but again, she's seeking more information.

DPSST — The biggest hit here is the Corrections training, which as of now will move in-house to DOC. That eliminates eight trainer positions in the DPSST budget (though seven are added in the DOC budget). Otherwise, Botkin says there are apparently no further cuts to DPSST that hadn't already been announced.

That's a snapshot of a handful of agencies. More to come soon as details are released!

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INITIATIVE CHANGES — On Tuesday (May 21) the House approved a number of changes to the state's citizen ballot initiative system, all aimed at putting stricter regulations on Oregon's initiative and referendum system.

HB 2005 passed 52-7. It was the priority bill of the 2009 session for new Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown, who campaigned on the issue. In a statement she said HB 2005 gives her office "more teeth" to combat abuse.

"These reforms will help us ensure that the measures on the ballot get there legally and legitimately," Brown said.

Under HB 2005, the Secretary of State can conduct background checks on all prospective signature gatherers and throw out petitions collected by circulators who have broken the law. Gatherers would have to turn in signature sheets once a month and would not be allowed to collect as a volunteer for one cause while simultaneously gathering for another cause as a paid worker. In addition, chief petitioners would be held responsible if a gatherer breaks the law and he or she "should have known" it was happening. Currently, they're liable only if they "have knowledge" a circulator is breaking the law.

As you might guess, many of these issues came about over the years regarding Bill Sizemore.

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Other news, briefly ...

Ÿ Political Coordinator Janice O'Malley says members of Local 132 (Child Care Providers) as well as members who use child care need to contact their legislators about the child care budget immediately. "We need providers and users to make phone calls and send e-mails that urge no cuts to the subsidy rate," says O'Malley. "This could impact as many as 3,500 families statewide." She notes the Co-Chairs' plan followed a full 30 percent DHS cutback, though there is some optimism that House members will be willing to make changes.

Ÿ A battalion of labor lobbyists are working on changes to the Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA), trying to find piece-by-piece what issues will fly. For example, the governor has said he wants expedited bargaining left in the law in some form, though he's willing to see it made "more fair."

Ÿ If SB 776 passes, the cost of each state Voter's Pamphlet statement will double, from $500 to $1,000. But the money would help pay for two additional petition field investigators, so most labor groups are on board with the increase.

Ÿ On the health care issue, HB 2009 — minus the provider tax options, as reported earlier — is scheduled for a hearing on May 26. There is also apparently a "deal" in place on HB 2116, which picked up the tax piece. It looks as though that measure will pass with a 1 percent provider tax on insurers and a 3 percent tax on hospitals. The money will be used as matching money for up to $1 billion in increased Medicaid funds for Oregon.

Ÿ In Pendleton, nearly two dozen community and union members staged an informational picket May 21 outside of the Pendleton Convention Center to protest the Umatilla County Commission's plans to close down the county's Juvenile Detention Center and slash the services offered by county's public health clinics. Pendleton was hosting the Western Regional Conference of the National Association of Counties (NACO), so the event offered an opportunity for some good visibility said Oregon AFSCME Legal Counsel Jason Weyand, who coordinated the informational picket. "The picketers were a good mixture of AFSCME members and concerned citizens who oppose the cuts proposed by the county commissioners, and included people from neighboring communities Hermiston, Stanfield and Milton-Freewater, as well as Pendleton," said Weyand. You can read the entire story on the Council 75 website.

Ÿ Alas, Local 189 retiree Chuck Moffit was unsuccessful in his run for the Multnomah ESD Board of Directors in Tuesday's balloting. Incumbent Sean Schafer was re-elected instead.

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