This is the Federation Hotline for late Monday and Tuesday.
TUESDAY KEY DAY IN LEGISLATURE ON BUDGET, MOVING KEY BILLS
Tuesday is a key day as both the majority Democrats in the Senate and House roll out their respective budget proposals.
It’s also the day committee action is needed on the Federation-initiated interpreters’ collective bargaining bill and the signature-gathering accountability bill.
The budget
The Senate will unveil its budget plan Tuesday at 9 a.m., with a 3:30 Tuesday afternoon hearing in the Senate Ways and Means Committee, in Senate Hearing Room 4 in the Cherberg Building on the Capitol campus. Your attendance is encouraged.
Meanwhile, the House will roll out its plan at about noon on Tuesday, with a 6 o’clock hearing Tuesday night in the House Ways and Means Committee, House Hearing Room A in the O’Brien Building on the Capitol campus. Your attendance is encouraged.
Interpreters’ collective bargaining bill
Tuesday is the deadline for most Senate bills to clear House committees. One key bill up for action before the deadline is the Federation-initiated interpreters’ collective bargaining bill, ESSB 6726. It’s scheduled for a committee vote in the House Commerce and Labor Committee at 10 a.m. Tuesday in House Hearing Room B in the O’Brien Building
CALL TO ACTION ON INTERPRETERS’ COLLECTIVE BARGAINING BILL
Call your legislators at 1-800-562-6000 and urge them to support ESSB 6726, to give state Medicaid interpreters collective bargaining rights and a seat at the table on a reform-oriented work group.
Signature-gathering accountability bill
As we told you in our weekend message, the Federation-supported bill to bring accountability to the practice of paid signature gathering in initiative drives is scheduled for a vote Tuesday in the House State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee. It must get out of committee to survive.
ESSB 6449 is fairly simple. It requires that signature gatherers sign the back of each petition to attest all signatures were collected in accordance with state law. In addition, all paid signature-gathering firms would have to register with the state Public Disclosure Commission. The provisions in ESSB 6449 are similar to those in 19 of the 24 states with an initiative process.
CALL TO ACTION ON SIGNATURE-GATHERING ACCOUNTABILITY BILL
Call your two House members at 1-800-562-6000 and urge them to support ESSB 6449, the signature gatherer accountability bill. It’s needed to keep our initiative process free of fraud and forgery.
CAPITOL NUGGETS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Nugget No. 1: In the ongoing fight to save state institutions, the Bremerton City Council last week voted unanimously to demand that the Legislature keep Frances Haddon Morgan Center open. The Morgan Center is a residential habilitation center caring for autistic citizens. City councils and mayors in cities as widespread as Buckley, Medical Lake and Yakima have also taken stern action to support their local state institutions.
Nugget No. 2: As we told you in Monday’s message, Federation-produced radio commercials supporting the work done by members and calling for closing tax loopholes and raising revenue started airing on 35 stations around the state Monday.
KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING WITH CALLS ON THE KEY ISSUES:
Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell your legislators:
• STOP HEALTH CUTS! Tell them to do the right thing. Restore the $300 million in state employee health insurance funds. They created the problem when they underfunded your health plan in 2008. Tell them that only half of that needs to be state funds—the rest would be from federal and other funds. Both Senate and House budgets come out Tuesday.
• RAISE REVENUE! SUPPORT ESSB 6130 to amend I-960 and allow majority rule on revenue issues.
• CLOSE TAX LOOPHOLES! SUPPORT HB 3176 to close tax loopholes to recoup hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue.
• OPPOSE FURLOUGHS! OPPOSE SSB 6503, the state employee furlough bill. Its unintended consequences will cost more, not less.
• PASS INTERPRETERS’ COLLECTIVE BARGAINING BILL, ESSB 6726. Give state Medicaid interpreters a voice on economics and workplace issues and a seat at the table on a reform-oriented work group. It has a key committee vote Tuesday.
• SUPPORT THE SIGNATURE GATHERER ACCOUNTABILITY BILL, ESSB 6449. It’s needed to keep our initiative process free of fraud and forgery. It’s scheduled for a key committee vote Tuesday.
FOR CORRECTIONS MEMBERS, DON’T FORGET TO REGISTER FOR THE DOC SUMMIT
Corrections members have an opportunity to shape their future on a number of issues at the Federation’s DOC Summit
When: Saturday, March 20, 2010, 10 AM - 4:00 PM
Where: SeaTac Doubletree Hotel
Who: This summit is open to the first 200 DOC members who register.
Registration deadline: March 1, 2010
The goal of the summit is to gather a diverse group of DOC members from as many field offices, institutions, and represented job classifications as possible to help shape our future.
The summit will include:
An open conversation about what we’ve learned this past year and where we are headed now as a union.
AFSCME staff from “the other Washington” will share Corrections and Law Enforcement presentations from other parts of the country.
Lunch will be provided only for members who register prior to the March 1st deadline. WFSE will reimburse registered members’ travel expenses. Carpooling is encouraged.
PLEASE REGISTER ONLINE at WFSE.org > DOC Summit. Look for the DOC Summit icon in the upper right corner of the webpage. Questions? Contact Pam Herrick at 800-562-6002 or pamh@wfse.org.
That’s it for now. Call late Tuesday for reports on the Senate and House budget bills.
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