OREGON AFSCME

e-lert #24  ¥  June 26, 2009

Edited by Don Loving, Council 75 Public Affairs Director

 

The 2009 Oregon Legislature could adjourn today (Friday). It's not very likely, but it's possible — that's how close they are to being done. Rumors are they will work tomorrow, and Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem) has even said he's willing to work Sunday. A resolution passed early in the session that calls them back for a short special session in February 2010 mandates they must adjourn no later than June 30, which is Tuesday. At this point, it certainly appears they will beat that goal. By how much may well depend on whether or not they put in some weekend time.

 

The fast and furious nature of the last days leads to an edition of the e-lert that is as up-to-date as we can make it, but please understand that by the time we hit "Send" something new may have happened. We will follow-up with some sort of short synopsis once the session ends, and at some point later in the summer we'll send you another missive that looks back with some greater analysis and perspective on the session. Do not expect that to happen immediately after the session, however. Our lobbying staff will need some time to dissect and review everything that happened, as well as some deserved time off to simply recoup and recharge.

 

That said, in no particular order, here's what we can tell you right now ...

 

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YES, NO, (MAYBE?) — We'll lead off with a couple of issues that are still hanging out there. One of those is HB 2414, an elections-related measure with a proviso that caused a late storm of controversy at the end of this week. The measure included language that would have essentially turned ballot language on tax referral measures upside down, meaning voters would in essence have to vote "Yes" to defeat the referral or "No" to retain it. Republicans accused Democrats of political subterfuge, of course, and today's Oregonian includes an editorial lambasting the measure. While Council 75 Political Coordinator Joe Baessler, who lobbied the bill for AFSCME, can explain how and why the language came out the way it did, at this point it's moot — this morning the Senate moved the bill back to committee. It now appears to be a race against the clock to see if the measure is amended and resurrected before adjournment.

 

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LOOKING FOR TWO VOTES — The other big issue for labor that's wallowing in no-man's-land for lack of two votes is HB 2831, the measure that brings about changes to Oregon's Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA). Passed by the House earlier, HB 2831 is stymied in the Senate at 14 votes — it needs 16 to gain a majority in the 30-member chamber.

 

The 12-member Republican caucus is locked down tight at this point, with four Democrats either siding with them or still uncommitted. A vote has been scheduled for the last couple of days, but Senate leadership keeps pulling the bill as it's lacking the majority it needs. What's causing the headache is the provision in the bill that redefines "supervisory" employees to the standard that was in effect prior to 1995, when that session's SB 750 made wholesale changes to PECBA. The language change is important to police and fire fighters unions; objectively, it would not make a huge difference in AFSCME-represented public safety units — particularly in Corrections, where sergeants are already part of the bargaining unit. But it's far too late to think about dissecting the bill into individual pieces; it will pass or fail as one measure.

 

To make clearer the dynamics at play, we'll use state Sen. Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose) as an illustration, with no malice intended toward her. Johnson, generally a good labor vote, is one of the Democrat fence-sitters on HB 2831. Why? Here's what happened. The lobbyists from the League of Oregon Cities and the Association of Oregon Counties have bought into the idea that somehow, this whole supervisory language issue would cost local jurisdictions a lot of money (it wouldn't). Both LOC and AOC employ lobbyists who have never bargained a contract and have no real experience with PECBA from a practical standpoint — and certainly not in the pre-SB 750 days. Those lobbyists are calling their clients — Scappoose city councilors and Clatsop and Columbia County commissioners, for example — and telling them the sky will fall financially if HB 2831 passes. Those councilors and commissioners are in turn calling Johnson and telling her "Oh my God, oh my God, you can't let HB 2831 pass, it will ruin us." And so Johnson, who maintains a close relationship with her fellow district elected officials, feels torn between them and us and not quite sure which side to believe. Again, this paragraph is not meant to be anti-Johnson — she's hardly the only one holding up this bill. It's just meant to provide a better "peek behind the curtain" at what's happening here in these final hours of the session.

 

The bottom line is that HB 2831 has been stuck at 14 votes for the better part of the week, AFSCME lobbyists Mary Botkin and Ralph Groener in particular (along with every other public employee lobbyist, especially Bob Livingston from the Oregon State Fire Fighters Council) have been pulling no punches looking for those last two votes and, as of right now, we don't have them. Courtney likely will not allow the bill on the floor unless he's assured it has 16 votes.

 

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PUBLIC $AFETY DOLLAR$ — Botkin is still fuming over HB 3508, headed for a floor vote any time and likely to pass over AFSCME's strong objections.

 

HB 3508 is a vehicle of compromise that addresses a host of issues, including a delay of Ballot Measure 57. But buried in the bill are cuts to the Department of Corrections funding and community corrections. That money was "traded," essentially, in order to better fund the Oregon State Police — at least that's a large portion of the internal horse-trading that went on.

 

"I feel as though our Corrections members have been ignored and disrespected in this process," said Botkin. "The Corrections employees represented by AFSCME are asked to place their lives on the line every day and oversee the people in society we have deemed unworthy of their freedom. It's a different world inside state prison walls, not a job for everyone, and all our people ask for in return is safety and respect. The deals and compromises that ultimately created HB 3508 give them neither."

 

One result of HB 3508 would be the loss of DPSST-based training for Corrections employees, a key issue Botkin has been fighting all session.

 

"Our members brought forward many alternate ideas and identified other ways to save millions of dollars within the DOC," said Botkin. "They were brushed off, patronized and ignored by the decision-makers and the budget-writers running this 2009 legislative session. We may lose this battle, but this will not be the final word on this issue."

 

Again, legislators will vote on the compromise package soon, albeit with a tersely worded floor statement in their bill packets from Botkin urging them to vote "No."

 

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CHILD CARE VICTORY — Let's move on to some better news. After a session-long struggle, Council 75 Political Coordinator Janice O'Malley is pleased to report we have successfully held the line on two major issues important to Local 132 (Child Care Providers Together).

 

You may recall that at the beginning of the session, child care started out grim. The governor's budget was released with major setbacks to the child care budget. In order to pay for health insurance for uninsured children, the governor made major reductions in the DHS budget, including a decrease to the child care provider reimbursement rates, as well as reductions to eligibility for low-income families to access child care.

 

As the session progressed, and the economic forecast started to get worse, the Ways and Means Co-Chairs came out with their version of the budget that included even worse reductions. This time it included a decrease in subsidy reimbursement rates, an increase to family co-pays, as well as a decrease in eligibility to those leaving the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program.

 

The cuts proposed by the Ways and Means Co-Chairs would have been a devastating blow to the child care budget that, in the 2007 session, included monumental changes to the child care system that hadn't been seen in over a decade. These cuts, if they had been enacted, would have meant 700 providers would lose their business and 3,500 families would lose their child care assistance.

 

Child care providers, with the help of Acting Local 132 President Guadalupe Alvarado and Council staff rep Faye Zepeda, mobilized members of the local union, as well as other members of Council 75 and led the charge to contact their legislators with e-mails, visits and phone calls flooding their offices. Legislators got the message. 

 

"During economic times as bad as these, the last thing to do is to do away with access to child care for families who are struggling to make ends meet," said O'Malley. "It is with much excitement that we can report that through the efforts of our members, our allies, state Rep. Tina Kotek (D-Portland) in particular and members of the subcomittee on human services, child care managed to leap a huge hurdle. Providers will maintain their current reimbursement rates, co-pays will also be maintained, and the TANF eligibility requirements will be held off in implementation for a year."

 

It is hoped that the economy will pick up enough in the year to come to make the TANF issue a moot point.

 

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'GREEN' VICTORY — With Senate Democrats leading the way, a significant environmental bill passed late this week, a measure that was the priority bill for Council 75's "Green Caucus."

 

HB 2186 authorizes adoption of a Low Carbon Fuel Standard to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and conduct a study on retrofitting to improve aerodynamic drag on medium and heavy-duty trucks. It passed the House on a narrow vote earlier in the session, herded through with the help of Groener, who spearheads environmental issues for the Council. HB 2186 will involve the Oregon DEQ, where our Local 3336 represents some 700 members.

 

"It is in Oregon's self interest to be a leader in the very practices and technologies that will solve climate change because we will reap the financial gains of exporting those solutions to others," said state Sen. Jackie Dingfelder (D-Portland), Chair of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee. "This is an important step towards meeting the goals Oregon has set for reducing greenhouse gases."

 

The Oregon Legislature adopted goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions during the 2007 session. HB 2186 begins the process of defining the path to meeting these energy efficiency goals.

 

"This bill strikes a balance between the need to address our carbon output while not putting an unfair burden on Oregon business," said Sen. Rick Metsger (D-Welches), Chair of the Senate Business and Transportation Committee. "Many hours of deliberation went into this bill and in the end we've created a product that is forward thinking and sensitive to these challenging economic times."

 

The version of HB 2186 that passed the upper chamber was the product of a work group established after the bill was sent to the Senate. Significant provisions of final bill include:

 

á       A Low Carbon Fuel Standard to reduce lifecycle green house gas emissions from gasoline and diesel;

 

á       A process to ensure that replacement parts for vehicle emissions control systems perform as well as the original equipment;

 

á       A requirement for auto mechanics to check and fill tires when otherwise servicing vehicles to improve fuel efficiency;

 

á       Authority to restrict unnecessary idling or commercial ships to reduce wasted fuel;

 

á       A Metropolitan Planning Organization Task Force to look at other ways to reduce green house gas emissions through alternative land use and transportation scenarios.

 

HB 2186 directs the DEQ to provide regular reports on implementation to the Legislature, including to the interim legislative committees during 2010, and to the 2011, 2013, and 2015 Legislative Assemblies.

 

"Our caucus has developed a strong record this session of passing legislation that is forward thinking environmentally while also sensitive to the tough economic climate many businesses face," said Senate Majority Leader Richard Devlin (D-Tualatin). "This bill is a fitting example of finding that equilibrium and meeting our commitment to address climate change and improve energy efficiency in Oregon."

 

Low carbon fuel standards will start July 1, 2011 and will sunset on December 31, 2015.  Because there were some changes made, the bill will now go back to the House for concurrence.

 

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'GREEN' 2 — Two other bills also passed this week that will be of interest to our "green members." (This is not a good phrase for AFSCME, where we are all "green people.")

 

HB 2182 expands access to loans for alternative energy projects and will allow more projects that invest in energy conservation, renewable energy, alternative fuels, or creating products from recycled materials to qualify for loans from the Department of Energy. Access to the low-interest, fixed-rate Small Scale Energy Loan Program (SELP) will expand to include equipment, such as forestry equipment used to process wood into fuel.

 

"This expansion rides on the momentum of Oregon's growing green jobs movement while preparing us for an even more vibrant future," said Sen. Vicki Walker (D-Eugene), who carried HB 2182 to the Senate floor. "The greater access we give to entrepreneurs to develop the technologies of the future, the better poised Oregon will be to reap the rewards."

 

HB 3300 builds Oregon's long-term strategy for promoting green jobs.

The bill defines green jobs as those in industries that focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and improving the natural environment. It also directs the state government to develop a Green Jobs Growth Initiative for promoting family-wage green jobs in Oregon by the 2010 Legislative session. The initiative is funded by $150,000 from the federal Workforce Investment Act.

 

"To a significant degree, Oregon's economic future will be determined by how we can best promote green jobs," said Sen. Rod Monroe (D-Portland), who carried HB 3300 in the Senate. "We need to have a long-term view to ensure that Oregon stays competitive in promoting green industries and that those industries are able to thrive."

 

Both bills will now go to Gov. Ted Kulongoski for his signature.

 

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One quick note away from the capitol ...

 

STATE MEDIATION — The Council 75 Central Table Bargaining Team met June 22 with the State of Oregon in its first day of mediation for AFSCME-represented state employees. The state and the union spent the day in separate rooms while the mediator, State Conciliator Robert Nightingale, facilitated unresolved issues between the two parties.

 

There was some progress on certain issues, although nothing was resolved relative to the "big" economic issues. The state did provide the union with some of the data that was requested in support of its proposed 24 mandatory unpaid days, COLA freeze and salary step freezes. The union's bargaining team is currently analyzing that information and will now be able to begin development on a counter-proposal on the economic issues.

 

Additional bargaining dates have been set for July 1, July 6, July 14 and July 23. All sessions will be held at the Salem AFSCME office. State employees can follow the progress at the Central Table Update tab on the Oregon AFSCME website.

 

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