Amp up calls against furlough bill

This has to be priority No. 1 because it appears to be one of the first bills the House will vote on when it reconvenes Friday. 

The call to action is simple. Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell your legislators: OPPOSE ESSB 6503, the state employee furlough bill.

UPDATE ON THE FURLOUGH BILL 

If not for the union and the many members who have come to Olympia, phoned and e-mailed, the furlough bill situation would be much worse. We have to still oppose it outright, but also continue to mitigate the impacts if lawmakers finally approve it. 

ESSB 6503 originally would have mandated 16 furlough days across all of state government, while achieving very little savings. 

Thanks to your activism, the bill as it stands directs agencies to come up with a plan to reduce state employee compensation, that could include furloughs, but could also include voluntary retirements, reduced work hours and the like.  

Lawmakers hope to save $50 million, with at least $10 million of that coming from management positions exempt from civil service. 

If agencies can’t come up with a plan, they’d impose 10 (down from 16) furlough days, when employees would be laid off for one day, starting in July 2010. 

The list of exempted classes has grown to the point that as it stands, ESSB 6503 would cover just 26 percent of state employees. And under the bill now before the House, employees earning less than $30,000 a year could use annual leave or shared leave in lieu of a furlough. 

Those exemptions to furloughs would include: state corrections and social service institutions, child protective services, law enforcement, military operations, state hospitals, emergency management, state parks, highways, and ferries, revenue collection by the Department of Revenue, higher education classroom instruction and student employees, state liquor stores, state lottery, unemployment insurance and reemployment services, workers compensation and workplace safety programs, agricultural commodity commissions and food inspections, employees necessary to protect state assets and public safety, and state legislative agencies, the Governor, and Lieutenant Governor during legislative sessions. 

The House has on the floor an amendment to take away state employees’ personal holiday. But because your contracts trump state law, they can’t do that without negotiations, so the practical effect would be the amendment if passed would take the personal holiday away from unrepresented state employees – those without a collective bargaining agreement. 

But no furlough bill is still the best solution. In the end, any furlough bill will cost more than it saves. That means it has symbolic value, but in these tough times, we can’t afford to pay for symbolism. 

Again, call 1-800-562-6000 and tell legislators to oppose ESSB 6503, the state employee furlough bill. A vote is expected Friday in the House.

Legislators return to Olympia for key votes Thursday and Friday

The Senate returns Thursday and the House Friday to start the final run toward an end to the special session—we hope with a responsible budget and revenue package. 

The Senate will vote on a few remaining bills to send to the House. 

The House on Friday may take up the state employee furlough bill. That’s why it is so important to keep getting calls in. More on that later. 

According to the Tri-City Herald, the House and Senate may agree on a tax package and then adjourn for the Easter weekend. Then they’d return probably April 9 to take up final budget and revenue votes before the end of the 30-day special session April 13. They’ve agreed on the amount of the tax package, about $800 million, just not which revenue to raise. And of course, the size of the revenue package determines the final budget bill.

What if lawmakers do nothing?

As we told you last week, the governor has said she will not call legislators back for another 30-day special session if they don’t put together a budget and revenue deal by the end of this 30-day session, set to end no later than April 13. 

If that happens, she will revert to her all-cuts budget. 

Here are some examples that the governor’s office gave KING-5 news in Seattle if legislators can’t come to agreement and the governor inflicts across-the-board cuts of 20 percent:

• Between 17,500 and 21,500 (of 69,000) Basic Health Plan slots.
• A cut of 55 Child Protective Services workers in DSHS.
• A cut of 57,000 student slots in state colleges and universities.
• Cutting funding for 6,422 prisoners, 19,000 offenders in community supervision and closing Pine Lodge Corrections Center in Medical Lake and five other DOC facilities.

Said Rep. Bob Hasegawa of the 11th District: “I could pretty much guarantee people will die.” 

That’s why legislators must come to a sensible agreement on revenue and the budget.

CALLS TO ACTION:

    So here are the important calls to action:

• REVENUE AND LOOPHOLES:  Call 1-800-562-6000 and urge legislators to raise revenue and close tax loophole in the final state budget, ESSB 6444.
  
  If you want more specifics:
  
  • Add $150 million in additional revenue by supporting HB 3181 (the Clean Water Act of 2010) to increase the tax on hazardous substances and HB 3021 (establishing the Medicaid nursing facility quality assurance trust fund).
  
  • Raise $50 million by closing the tax exemption big banks—mostly based outside this state—receive on first home mortgages.

• HEALTH CARE:  Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell legislators to fund state worker health insurance with at least $65 million in General Fund-State funds in the final budget (ESSB 6444) for state employee health care. And no mandate to bargain over premiums! Instead, close tax loopholes on big out-of-state banks in the final state budget (ESSB 6444) so we can keep health care funded, stable and affordable for our families.

• RESIDENTIAL HABILITATION CENTERS:  Urge your legislators to oppose SB 6182, the RHC wipeout bill.

• INSTITUTIONS CLOSURES:  The Senate and House budgets are far apart, and this is an area where a rush to a final compromise could throw institutions under the bus. The Senate generally wants to close more state RHCs, JRA facilities and Corrections centers than the House. But they’re all at risk in the short term (Frances Haddon Morgan Center, Maple Lane School, Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women) and long run (all RHCs, most JRA, Pine Lodge). Urge your legislators to oppose closures of state institutions in the supplemental budget (ESSB 6444)!

CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS DIRECTLY. HERE’S HOW:

Log onto the state Legislature’s site (www.leg.wa.gov) and click “Find Your Legislator” at ( http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx ) and put in your address, city and zip. You’ll then get the names of your three legislators with phone number and a link to send an e-mail.

Is pendulum moving toward a furlough bill?

We also believe budget negotiators may be working on a final compromise on furloughs. As you recall, the Senate has passed legislation, but the House has refused to take a vote, although the bill is still alive in the House as well—with the proposed House amendment to take away your personal holiday.

• CALL TO ACTION ON FURLOUGHS:  Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell your legislators: OPPOSE ESSB 6503, the state employee furlough bill.

New threats to Maple Lane School emerge

Some news does trickle out and we have reason to be on heightened alert for a new run against Maple Lane School in south Thurston County. 

As you may recall, the Senate budget as it stands would close that juvenile rehabilitation facility. The House budget as it stands would keep it open. But we need to save Maple Lane and all JRA facilities in any rush to a final budget deal.

• CALL TO ACTION ON JRA:  Call your legislators at 1-800-562-6000. Urge them to keep Maple Lane School and all JRA facilities open in the final budget, ESSB 6444. As we know from previous sessions, an attack on one JRA facility is an attack on all.

McKenna escapes heat over health reform suit, flees to WSU

State Attorney General Rob McKenna, the Eagle Scout with his eyes on being governor one day, has taken Harry Truman’s advice. He apparently can’t take the heat so he’s left the kitchen.
In this case, McKenna has ordered a “modified lockdown” of his Olympia headquarters to guard against the Federation and its allies when they deliver some 18,000 petitions to his office at noon today against his lone-wolf lawsuit against the national health reform law signed by President Barack Obama this week.

Note to the attorney general: We’re the union and movement of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—you know, the movement of non-violent, peaceful protest. We’re not like the tea partiers and others who have vandalized and terrorized supporters of health reform. It’s kind of an insult to suggest we act anything like the tea partiers.

According to McKenna’s office, the attorney general in fact will himself escape his “modified lockdown” and flee town. He’ll be talking to a Washington State University business class about his lawsuit.

However, he will be in town Saturday when his supporters rally. Hmm. I wonder if he’ll still have his “modified lockdown” in place then?

YOU CAN JOIN THE JOB ACTION TO SEND A MESSAGE TO MCKENNA

You can sign the online petition opposing Attorney General Rob McKenna’s lawsuit against health care reform.

(SIGN THE PETITION HERE.)

TAKE PART IN THE TWO JOB ACTIONS IN SUPPORT OF HEALTH REFORM

12 noon, today, Friday, March 26. Meet at Tivoli Fountain on the Capitol Campus in Olympia to deliver some 18,000 petition signatures to Attorney General Rob McKenna. Let him know that his lawsuit to undermine the health care reform act does not represent the millions of people in Washington who will benefit from the passage of this legislation.

And on Sunday…3 p.m., this Sunday, March 28, join our U.S. senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell for a “Celebration of Health Care Reform,” at the Machinists Lodge 751, 9125 15th Place S. in the South Park are of Seattle. Joining the senators will be Marcellus Owens, the 11-year-old Seattle boy whose mother was uninsured and died of pulmonary hypertension. After Sen. Murray told the story of Marcellus and his mother at the bi-partisan health reform summit last month, radio talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin viciously attacked him. Yeah, they went after an 11-year-old kid. So on Sunday, come out and support health reform and show Marcellus most adults have more class than Limbaugh, Beck and Malkin.

FINALLY ON THE MCKENNA LAWSUIT….

It’s no secret we’ve had a few testy moments with Gov. Chris Gregoire recently. But on the issue of the attorney general’s over-reaching lawsuit against health reform, the governor is right. She’s a former three-term attorney general who worked for Republican AG’s before that. We believe she’s thumbed through the Constitution a time or two. We have a link to a press conference where the governor explains the outlandishness of McKenna’s lawsuit better than we can.

Tell McKenna to DROP IT!

 

Petition delivery urging Rob McKenna to DROP IT!

At noon on FRIDAY, MARCH 26, union members and other supporters of health care reform are urged to gather at the Tivoli Fountain of the Capitol Campus in Olympia to participate in the delivery of more than 10,000 petition signatures urging Republican State Attorney General Rob McKenna to end his participation in a lawsuit to undermine federal health care reform signed into law by President Obama.

(SIGN THE PETITION HERE.)

We want to deliver a strong message to McKenna: "Not in Our Name and Not on Our Dime!" His partisan political grandstanding harms the millions of people in Washington state who will benefit from this new law.

 

From the WSLC website:

OLYMPIA (March 23, 2010) -- Decrying the lawsuit as a "partisan political showmanship on the taxpayers' dime," the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) has urged Republican State Attorney General Rob McKenna to withdraw his participation in a lawsuit to undermine the federal health care reform signed into law today by President Barack Obama. The WSLC is the largest labor organization in the state representing some 400,000 rank-and-file union members.

"By participating in this lawsuit, Rob McKenna is using our precious state tax dollars to advance a partisan political agenda," said WSLC President Rick Bender. "McKenna isn't speaking for the Governor and he isn't speaking for the more than 1.5 million Washingtonians who will be helped by this legislation. He is forcing Washington taxpayers to finance partisan efforts originating in Florida, Texas and South Carolina that aim to maintain the status quo and help the insurance industry that profits from it. And he is aligning his personal political fortunes with the radical fringe of teabagging extremists.

"His participation in this suit without consulting with the Governor and our elected state leaders is inappropriate and we call on him to withdraw his name -- and our state -- from this partisan political showmanship on the taxpayers' dime," Bender said.

Gov. Chris Gregoire has come out against the lawsuit (see the video clip) and called it a money-losing proposition for the state at a time when our budget is in crisis. She has said that McKenna's actions are risking our state's future.

Constitutional law experts across the country are predicting the lawsuit by McKenna and other attorneys general will fall flat and likely amount to no more than a speed bump for health care legislation. Most observers say it is a political exercise, not a legal one.

Support for President Obama's health care legislation has been growing as people find out the benefits of the bill. A USA Today/Gallup Poll reports that since the bill passed the House of Representatives there has been a 9% jump in Americans who have a favorable view of the health care overhaul. Only four in 10 of the people surveyed describe the bill in a negative way.

McKenna says he is fighting health care reform legislation on behalf of the people of Washington, claiming that it is unconstitutional to require people to get health insurance.

Because the health reform bans insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, that requirement, which takes effect in 2016, keeps people from buying insurance only after they are sick. McKenna's attempt to remove it undermines the foundation of reform and effectively maintains the status quo, where uninsured patients get uncompensated care from hospitals and those costs are socialized onto the rest of us. Studies by the consumer advocacy group Families USA show this hidden health tax increases our health care premiums an estimated 8%, or $1,017 for a family and $368 for an individual with coverage.

Many observers not that McKenna has aspirations to run for Governor in 2012 and this effort may be laying the groundwork for that campaign.

"If McKenna wants to run for Governor of this state by advocating the radical teabaggers agenda, I say 'good luck with that'," Bender said. "But do not force Washington taxpayers to finance that campaign with this partisan political lawsuit."

• Contact Rob McKenna at (360) 753-6200 or via web-based email and tell him: "Don't fight health care reform! Not in MY name and not on MY dime!"

• Sign U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee's petition urging McKenna to "drop it!"

• Join the Facebook group: Washington Taxpayers OPT OUT of Rob McKenna's lawsuit. It has more than 11,000 members after less than 48 hours! A rival Facebook group supporting McKenna's action has 221 fans.

 

Pressure on legislature to fold up and go home - could be good, could be bad

The governor and the Seattle Times editorial page have hit lawmakers with a one-two message this morning that the Legislature has overstayed its welcome and it’s time for them to compromise and go home.

As you know, the Legislature is in the 11th day of a special session that could go to 30 days under law. The governor wanted them done after seven. The Times says the budget crisis can’t be that urgent because lawmakers missed a crucial deadline to impose some taxes April 1 at a loss of $15 million.

And most legislators aren’t even in Olympia. They’ve been sent home on a “rolling recess” while legislative leaders negotiate a final deal that resolves differences in the House and Senate budget and revenue packages.

But we know much is at stake.

• The governor says if lawmakers don’t get a deal by the end of the 30-day special session, she will not call them back. Instead, she’ll revert to her December “all-cuts” budget and inflict cuts of 20 percent across the board. All the progress you, our allies and responsible legislators have made to save institutions, safety net programs, public safety, health care and much more will go out the window. 
• The Seattle Times, an annoying, often off-base but influential source of information for decision makers, said lawmakers agree on the amount of the revenue package – about $800 million – just not whether it should be based on a sales tax increase (Senate) or targeted hikes (House and governor). Under a headline titled, “Compromise and get out of Olympia now,” the Times said it’s “time for state leaders to put their differences aside, pass the revenue package and get out of Olympia.”

But if legislators fold under such pressure, very likely you, your families, the vulnerable, public safety and much more will be thrown under the bus.

So we need to keep the pressure on and on and on. All agree the deadlock over revenue has gone on too long. Frustration is growing. It is time to come to an agreement on revenue—but it has to be the right agreement that doesn’t throw the safety net and state employee families under the bus.

We know you may have contacted your legislators in many ways and at many times already. But with the rolling recess, they need to keep hearing from you. Otherwise, in the fog of the budget and revenue war, they will forget and you will end up under the bus.

We can’t let that happen.   So here are the important calls to action:

• HEALTH CARE:  Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell legislators to fund state worker health insurance with at least $65 million in General Fund-State funds in the final budget (ESSB 6444) for state employee health care. And no mandate to bargain over premiums! Instead, close tax loopholes on big out-of-state banks in the final state budget (ESSB 6444) so we can keep health care funded, stable and affordable for our families.

• FURLOUGHS:  The ball is in the House’s court. The Senate re-passed the furlough bill, it’s still alive on the House floor, and the proposed House amendment to take away your personal holiday is still in play. Tell your legislators: OPPOSE ESSB 6503, the state employee furlough bill.

• REVENUE AND LOOPHOLES:  Urge legislators to raise revenue and close tax loophole in the final state budget, ESSB 6444.

If you want more specifics:

Add $150 million in additional revenue by supporting HB 3181 (the Clean Water Act of 2010) to increase the tax on hazardous substances and HB 3021 (establishing the Medicaid nursing facility quality assurance trust fund).

Raise $50 million by closing the tax exemption big banks—mostly based outside this state—receive on first home mortgages.

• RESIDENTIAL HABILITATION CENTERS:  Urge your legislators to oppose SB 6182, the RHC wipeout bill.

• INSTITUTIONS CLOSURES:  The Senate and House budgets are far apart, and this is an area where a rush to a final compromise could throw institutions under the bus. The Senate generally wants to close more state RHCs, JRA facilities and Corrections centers than the House. But they’re all at risk in the short term (Frances Haddon Morgan Center, Maple Lane School, Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women) and long run (all RHCs, most JRA, Pine Lodge). Urge your legislators to oppose closures of state institutions in the supplemental budget (ESSB 6444)!

You can also e-mail your legislators and call their offices directly. Here’s how:

Go to  the state Legislature’s site (www.leg.wa.gov) and click “Find Your Legislator” at ( http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx ) and put in your address, city and zip. You’ll then get the names of your three legislators with phone number and a link to send an e-mail.

Governor signs bill expanding shared leave

Gov. Chris Gregoire on Tuesday (March 23) signed into law ESSB 6724 to raise the cap on how much shared leave donations an employee can receive.

ESSB 6724 raises the cap to 522 days. It would help longtime employees facing the need for more than the current limit of 261 total shared leave days.

The bill folds in the concept from two WFSE/AFSCME-initiated bills (SB 6695 and HB 3063). Ecology worker Andy McMillan, who has battled bone marrow cancer for five years while working as much as he can, inspired it.

McMillan was on hand for the bill signing. The governor congratulated McMillan for the “legacy” the new law leaves. Joining McMillan were Federation President Carol Dotlich, Vice President Sue Henricksen and Federation Lobbyist Alia Griffing.

ESSB 6724 is the fourth major expansion of the shared leave law that the Federation initiated and got passed into law in 1989. In the past 21 years, the shared leave law won by the Federation has helped hundreds if not thousands of state employees who are seriously ill or injured, who are caring for ill or injured relatives, who are called to service in the uniformed services, who are responding to Katrina-like state of emergencies anywhere in the U.S. or who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.

Special delivery message No.1: Senator Jim Kastama

Members are giving us feedback that it’s hard to get feedback from some of their legislators on the critical issues facing state employee families and the citizens we serve. 

So we’ve heard from our members in the 25th District in the Puyallup area that their senator, Sen. Jim Kastama, may need a rolling recess reminder how important these issues are. So here is the message to Sen. Kastama: 

As a taxpayer, and a member of a working family, I want you to fight for my interests by voting for closing tax loopholes. Please vote for closing loopholes around custom software, large, out-of-state financial institutions and out of state sales tax exemptions. This financial crisis is too big for just working families to lift. Big corporations that make large profits need to share the burden too. 

Thank you for helping to protect working families.

How to contact Sen. Kastama:

1.    Olympia office: (360) 786-7648

2.    E-mail: kastama.jim@leg.wa.gov

3.    Legislative Hotline: 1-800-562-6000. Caution: Operators may not take your message for Sen. Kastama unless you come from the 25th District.

Legislature in rolling recess - "Road Kill" caucus makes 11th hour push to underfund your health benefits and make you pay more

Most of the Legislature has gone home, not to be called back until their leaders have worked out a budget and revenue deal. When that will be is anybody’s guess.

But this means we have more time to send messages to them, including some of the customized messages here.

“ROAD KILL” CAUCUS MAKES 11TH-HOUR PUSH TO UNDERFUND YOUR HEALTH BENEFITS AND MAKE YOU PAY MORE  

The so-called “Road Kill Caucus” of supposedly middle-of-the-road House members have urged the three top House budget writers to scuttle the $65 million state employee health insurance funding plan. They, in effect, want to impose higher state employee co-pays, deductibles and premiums.  

The 16 House Road Killers in their March 21 letter instead call for $55 million to fund the health insurance deficit. They call for language that says if the state insurance commissioner deems that the fund has become unstable, then automatic “adjustments” would be made to co-pays and deductibles. This is already a self-fulfilling outcome—Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has already said the health insurance program needs $105 million to become stable, so the Road Killers’ real goal is to make you pay more. 

The Road Killers also include another poison pill—saying the higher co-pays and deductibles could be avoided if “the terms of the underlying bargaining agreements are revisited and the division of insurance premium between employer and employee are adjusted.”  

So in more direct language, the House Road Killers want to underfund your benefits – hiding behind the insurance commissioner to do it -- and trigger higher co-pays, deductibles and premiums.  

That’s why it’s so important to keep the calls coming into your legislators.

CALL TO ACTION AGAINST THE ROAD KILLERS ATTACK ON YOUR FAMILY’S HEALTH CARE:  Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell legislators to fund state worker health insurance with at least $65 million in General Fund-State funds in the final budget (ESSB 6444) for state employee health care. And no mandate to bargain over premiums! Instead, close tax loopholes on big out-of-state banks in the final state budget (ESSB 6444) so we can keep health care funded, stable and affordable for our families.

WHO ARE THE ROAD KILLERS? 

Here are the names of the 16 House Democrats who signed the Road Kill Caucus letter attacking your health benefits:

Rep. Deb Eddy, 48th Dist.
Rep. Dave Quall, 40th Dist.
Rep. Judy Clibborn, 41st Dist.
Rep. Reuven Carlyle, 36th Dist.
Rep. Kathy Haigh, 35th Dist.
Rep. Lynn Kessler, 24th Dist.
Rep. Brian Blake, 19th Dist.
Rep. Dean Takko, 19th Dist.
Rep. Larry Seaquist, 26th Dist.
Rep. Marcie Maxwell, 41st Dist.
Rep. Fred Finn, 35th Dist.
Rep. Larry Springer, 45th Dist.
Rep. Tina Orwall, 33rd Dist.
Rep. Al O’Brien, 1st Dist.
Rep. Ross Hunter, 48th Dist.
Rep. Jeff Morris, 40th Dist.

It’s worth noting that two of the three recipients of the letter are also members of the Road Kill Caucus: Rep. Kelli Linville, 42nd Dist., chair of the House Ways and Means Committee; and Rep. Mark Ericks, 1st Dist., Ways and Means vice chair.

We're asking for respect for the work we do.

WFSE's VP, Sue Henricksen, on the record for state workers.

Keep up the pressues as legislature enters second week of special session

Lawmakers took the day off Sunday while House and Senate budget negotiators tried to work out a deal that will send them home for good.

Conflicting revenue packages were adopted before they left. The governor is trying to referee that disagreement. So the budget, revenue and loophole stalemate continues. We can’t let legislators forget your issues.

HERE ARE THREE THINGS YOU CAN DO:
 

We have one overall message you can send (the other calls to action are below):

1. Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell your legislators to close tax loopholes on big out-of-state banks in the final state budget (ESSB 6444) so we can keep health care funded, stable and affordable for our families.
   .
   
2. If you’re able, join with our revenue coalition partners for two job actions Monday and Tuesday at the Capitol in Olympia.
   
   MONDAY: Sign waving and handing out donuts. Meet at Tivoli Fountain for sign waving, 9-10 a.m., and then head into the Capitol to hand out donuts with the message: “There’s a hole in the budget—fill the hole—close tax loopholes.”
   
   TUESDAY: Sign waving, messages to legislators and handing out “Close loopholes” donuts, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
   .
   
3. Keep the calls and e-mails coming to legislators:
   
   E-mails and direct calls to legislators’ offices: Go to the state Legislature’s site (www.leg.wa.gov) and click “Find Your Legislator” at ( http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx ) and put in your address, city and zip. You’ll then get the names of your three legislators with phone number and a link to send an e-mail.
   
   Or call the Legislature’s toll-free message hotline, 1-800-562-6000, which is open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday.

The messages:

• HEALTH INSURANCE:  Tell legislators to fund state worker health insurance with at least $65 million in General Fund-State funds in the final budget (ESSB 6444) for state employee health care. And no mandate to bargain over premiums! 

• FURLOUGHS:  The ball is in the House’s court. The Senate repassed the furlough bill, it’s still alive on the House floor, and the proposed House amendment to take away your personal holiday is still in play. Tell your legislators: OPPOSE ESSB 6503, the state employee furlough bill.

• REVENUE AND LOOPHOLES:  Urge legislators to raise revenue and close tax loophole in the final state budget, ESSB 6444.

• RESIDENTIAL HABILITATION CENTERS:  Urge your legislators to oppose SB 6182, the RHC wipeout bill. 

• INSTITUTIONS CLOSURES:  The Senate and House budgets are far apart, with the Senate generally wanting to close more state RHCs, JRA facilities and Corrections centers than the House. But they’re all at risk in the short term (Frances Haddon Morgan Center, Maple Lane School, Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women) and long-run (all RHCs, most JRA, Pine Lodge). Urge your legislators to oppose closures of state institutions in the supplemental budget (ESSB 6444)!

A look at how you've gotten under the skin of legislators

Yes, it’s true. Most of the Legislature and the governor wish you would just go away. Your constant presence at the Capitol in our unmistakable AFSCME Green shirts, the job actions around the state, the phone calls, the e-mails, the petitions have all served to keep your issues alive.
 
It irritates them when they hear that you’ve sacrificed $1 billion already, it’s not fair to balance the budget on your back and worse balance the budget on the backs of the people and causes you serve, the abused, the elderly, the disabled, the vulnerable, public safety, clean natural resources, safe workplaces, safe highways.
 
It got to the point in Saturday’s House debate on the revenue bill that one prominent legislator lashed out at you and implied you’re taking from the very people you serve.

“Now we’ve come to the point where everybody that has a sense of entitlement shows up in the galleries or is wearing colored shirts out in the hallway and demanding that we give to them, that we take from our neighbors, and give to them,” said Rep. Bill Hinkle of the 13th District, the minority whip in the House Republican Caucus.

“Now you tell me that’s justice. You tell me that’s what our forefathers died for.”

Instead, said Hinkle, when legislators head home, “We won’t have those union guys calling us because guess what -- they’re going to get their paychecks.”

No mention was made of how state employee families sacrifice, how many state employees have second and third jobs to make ends meet, how many state employees still volunteer in their schools, churches, youth groups and all of their community.

Renton Technical College wraps contract negotiations

The Renton Technical College Bargaining Team, which negotiates under a different law than all other Federation members, wrapped negotiations March 17 on a new, three-year contract. It’s retroactive to July 1, 2009. An onsite ratification vote is set for Tuesday, April 13, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, in Room H-102 on the RTC campus. 

A summary is being sent to RTC members. The full tentative agreement is online at www.wfse.org -- click on “Bargaining Center.” Copies will also be available at two contract information sessions: 5 p.m., Tuesday, March 23, Room M-114; and 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Thursday, March 25, Room H-102.
 
The RTC tentative agreement comes with no take-aways and new language on personal convenience leave, college closure, union-management, new employee orientation, layoff and recall, reclassification, discipline, safety, performance evaluations, training and in-service training. Seniority definitions and rights were retained. And the contract document has been restructured to make it easier to use. 

Now, we have to stress that RTC bargains under a different law, so their cycle of negotiations is different from all other Federation members. The teams representing other Federation members, which bargains under the newer, 2002 Personnel System Reform Act, have been meeting to prepare for the start of their negotiations on the 2011-2013 collective bargaining agreements.

Kidney donor needed (humanitarian request)

We have a humanitarian request on behalf of one our members.  Peter Stalgis, a Seattle Local 304 member, has a wife who is need of a kidney transplant. As you know, sometimes there can be a very long wait. That is why the local is appealing to all Federation members.

If you are interested in being a donor and you have Type O blood, contact Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle at 1-800-354-9527, Ext. 11201, and tell them you want to be tested as a donor for Sue Stalgis. Peter says there will be no cost to you. He also asks if you are unable to be a donor, please pass this to other people who might be interested.

The "dadgummit" legislative news

LEGISLATIVE NEWS
 
There isn’t much to report. But the governor has made two pieces of news you might be interested in:

• The governor signed into law E2SHB 1560, the bill allowing our higher education members a bigger say in how they bargain. That is having an immediate effect on the Federation. On Wednesday, the existing Higher Education Coalition voted to use the new law to split bargaining. So that coalition no longer exists. The 12 Community Colleges will now bargain as the Community College Coalition. The four-year universities that were in that coalition (Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, The Evergreen State College and Western Washington University) now have the option of bargaining separately or in a coalition of the four schools. That decision hasn’t been made yet by the member from those four schools.

• It appears legislative leaders are negotiating a final budget and revenue package. It’s unclear if they can get it done this weekend as the House leadership apparently wants under pressure from Gov. Chris Gregoire. Thursday the governor used strong but clean language to express her frustration.

“Dadgummit, get it done,” she told reporters, using an expression made popular in the 1960s by Hoss Cartwright, a character on the popular Western TV series of the time, “Bonanza” (because the phrase “Yer durn tootin’” had already been taken by Gabby Hayes, a popular Western star of 1950s TV).


Gregoire                         Cartwright                                                         Hayes
 
So it’s not clear if lawmakers will actually be on the floor Saturday and Sunday. Whether they are or not, you are encouraged to call and e-mail them. You can’t call the Legislature’s toll-free message hotline because it is now closed on weekends.

House Democrats pushing to end special session by Sunday

We have learned that the House Democratic majority is pushing to wrap up business on the budget, revenue and loopholes by Sunday.

The challenge for us is the Legislature’s hotline message center is closed Saturday and Sunday because it’s special session. So please take the time over the next two days to make what might be the final calls to save institutions, programs and jobs. The hotline, 1-800-562-6000, is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and tomorrow.

State worker health care - M*A*S*H tent job action a success, but will legislators get message of new study?

The WFSE/AFSCME-M*A*S*H-style tent set up on the Capitol lawn Wednesday was a big success as dozens of members donned doctors smocks and checked blood pressure to demonstrate that unless the Legislature acts with at least $65 million, state employee families will be on life support because of unaffordable health insurance.

Without that funding—to correct the Legislature’s diversion of funds in 2008—co-pays, deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs could triple. This comes on top of the average $1,100 more in health costs you took on Jan. 1.

But will legislators get the message?

If they don’t believe you, we hope they read a new report submitted to the Public Employees Benefits Board that suggests a direct co-relation between layoffs and job insecurity and an increase in state employee health problems.

The March 5 Milliman study showed an increase in health insurance claims starting in the second quarter of 2009—the same time the huge layoffs and takeaways were rolled out. The report suggests, that later discussion of the Jan. 1, 2010 increases also caused insecurity that contributed to greater usage.

The moral of the story is: hiking health costs isn’t going to keep usage down. Maintaining a stable workforce will. That will relieve the stress and resulting health problems that come with job insecurity. And that, in turn, will drive health care system costs down.

And in the larger picture, we can only imagine the stress and anxiety and health problems faced by the people you care for—the abused, the vulnerable, the disabled, the elderly—who face a loss of the Basic Health Plan and other safety net programs.

That’s why if these are the final days of this terrible legislative session that we need to keep up the fight.

Senate takes routine votes to re-send bad budget and furlough bill back to the House

Special session means some legislation needs to be re-passed to get it back to where it was at the end of regular session. The Senate did just that Monday be re-passing the supplemental budget (ESSB 6444) and Tuesday re-passing the furlough bill (ESSB 6503). Both are now back in the House.

There’s not much to tell. The furlough bill is still a bad bill. The call to action remains the same to oppose it.

TELL LEGISLATORS IN PERSON YOUR HEALTHCARE STORY AT WEDENSDAY’S CAPITOL CAMPUS JOB ACTION

The WFSE/AFSCME-M*A*S*H-style tent will be up near the Tivoli Fountain on the Capitol lawn, just off Capitol Way, tomorrow, Wednesday, March 17, from 9 a.m. until about dusk.

We’ve invited all 147 legislators to stop by for coffee and a pastry to learn more from you about why the health insurance funding issue is so important. We’ll have materials on hand you can use to hand to legislators. It’ll also be an opportunity to argue for funding to save the Basic Health Plan and other health-related programs that are on the budget chopping block.

If you can make it, please do!

SPECIAL SESSION CALLS TO ACTION:

Because of the health care job action on the Capitol campus, the call to action is focused on that issue.

• HEALTH INSURANCE CALL TO ACTION:  Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell legislators to fund state worker health insurance with at least $65 million in General Fund-State funds in the final budget (ESSB 6444) for state employee health care. And no mandate to bargain over premiums!

• CALL TO ACTION ON FURLOUGHS: The Senate has re-passed the furlough bill, so it’s back in the House. And there’s still the proposed House amendment to take away your personal holiday.  Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell your legislators: OPPOSE ESSB 6503, the state employee furlough bill.

REVISED HOURS FOR LEGISLATIVE MESSAGE HOTLINE - 1-800-562-6000.

During special session, the Legislative Message Hotline will be open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. It is closed weekends.

Feel M*A*S*Hed by possible tripling of health costs? Turn out Wednesday to tell legislators in person your stories

If you’re feeling smashed by the possible tripling of health costs legislators could inflict on you, turn out Wednesday at the Federation’s M*A*S*H tent on the Capitol campus in Olympia.

The M*A*S*H tent, sponsored by several Federation locals, aims to show legislators how bad the state employee health care plan may be if lawmakers reject the funding now in the version of the budget passed by the state House. The Senate has not agreed.

The WFSE/AFSCME-M*A*S*H tent will be up near the Tivoli Fountain on the Capitol lawn, just off Capitol Way. It will be up this Wednesday, March 17, from 9 a.m. until about dusk.

We’ve invited all 147 legislators to stop by for coffee and a pastry to learn more from you about why the health insurance funding issue is so important. It’ll also be an opportunity to argue for funding to save the Basic Health Plan and other health-related programs that are on the budget chopping block.

BACKGROUND ON WHY THIS EVENT IS SO IMPORTANT

• The House budget includes $65 million to fund state employee health insurance. This helps close part of the deficit caused when $200 million was diverted in 2008. 
• The Senate budget is not at that level. 
• The House budget amount is fair. It will keep funding level for the remainder of the biennium. 
• State employees already are paying more for health insurance; it will not roll back the increases in premiums, co-pays, deductibles and other point-of-service costs that took effect Jan. 1, 2010. 
• State employees have sacrificed more than $1 billion in lost cost-of-living adjustments, health insurance costs, pension contributions and jobs. 
• It’s time to raise revenue and close loopholes, not cut health care!

Job actions set for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at Capitol for start of special session

As you know, the Legislature returns today to start a special session to finish work on a budget, revenue package and other legislation.

We must keep the pressure on.

MONDAY'S JOB ACTION IN OLYMPIA:

Sign-waving to welcome legislators back for the special session will be Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the corner of Jefferson and 15th, east of the Capitol Campus and OB2-DOT Building-Maple Park Plaza. You can go directly there or to the Federation office first, but because of tight parking in and around the Federation Building, we encourage carpooling or taking the DASH shuttle. If you have questions, call April Sims at 1-800-562-6002.

TUESDAY'S JOB ACTION IN OLYMPIA:

Sign-waving on the Capitol Campus, 7:30 a.m., Tuesday, March 16. Meet at the Tivoli Fountain on Capitol Way. From there, we'll walk to the sidewalks in front of the Capitol Building. Coffee and donuts provided!

WEDNESDAY'S JOB ACTION IN OLYMPIA:

The Federation will have a major presence on the Capitol grounds Wednesday, 9 a.m. to dusk. We're finalizing details this morning-watch for information about where and when and what.

RALLY TODAY TO END $67 MILLION TAX LOOPHOLE FOR OUT-OF-STATE BANKS

As part of the revenue debate in Olympia that will continue in the special session starting Monday is a proposal to end a $67 million giveaway to big out-of-state banks. But powerful bank lobbyists are working hard to make sure this plan doesn't end up in the final revenue package.

We need to join with our coalition partners and call out the banks and pressure legislators to do the right thing so they cut this wasteful tax giveaway and not schools, healthcare, services for those in need and public safety.

The event is:

11 a.m., today, Monday, March 15, at the Chase Bank branch at Second and Union in downtown Seattle.

You can join a pre-rally sign-making party from 9-10:45 a.m. at the Fuse Office at 1402 Third Ave., Suite 510, Seattle, WA 98101.

King county members march on Seattle

Some 100 members from the Federation's King County locals and allies staged a spontaneous march in the Denny Regrade area of Seattle Saturday to step up the pressure for a fair budget and revenue settlement from the Legislature, which starts its special session today.

The members poured out of the Seattle Labor Temple on First Avenue and marched up the street to Key Arena at the Seattle Center. In the shadow of the Space Needle, they chanted, "Cut loopholes, not healthcare." One banner read: "Not on strike yet." Passing motorists honked and even handed out refreshments to support the wildcat protest.

They then marched back to the labor temple and got down to the hard work of planning more job actions to keep the pressure on legislators. One major action is Wednesday in Olympia-details to come shortly.

Kick off the special session with a job action in Olympia on Monday morning

To welcome legislators back for the special session starting Monday, come out for sign-waving near a busy off-ramp to the Capitol.

The sign-waving will be 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the corner of Jefferson and 15th, east of the Capitol Campus and OB2-DOT Building-Maple Park Plaza. You can go directly there or to the Federation office first, but because of tight parking in and around the Federation Building, we encourage carpooling or taking the DASH shuttle. If you have questions, call April Sims at 1-800-562-6002.

Watch for information on other job actions during the first week of the special session. Too much is at stake – we need to keep the pressure on.

Special session starts Monday

The Legislature did not approve a budget or revenue package by midnight Thursday, the end of the 60-day session, so Gov. Chris Gregoire has called them back for a special session starting at noon on Monday.

She said she wants them to wrap up work in seven days. But once a special session starts, it can go as long as 30 days. Legislators decide that timing issue now.

So, keep the calls coming. We expect more job actions to keep legislators and the public aware of the high stakes involved in protecting quality public services.

But before we repeat the calls to action….

RALLY MONDAY TO END $67 MILLION TAX LOOPHOLE FOR OUT-OF-STATE BANKS

As part of the revenue debate in Olympia that will continue in the special session starting Monday is a proposal to end a $67 million giveaway to big out-of-state banks. But powerful bank lobbyists are working hard to make sure this plan doesn’t end up in the final revenue package.

We need to join with our coalition partners and call out the banks and pressure legislators to do the right thing so they cut this wasteful tax giveaway and not schools, healthcare, services for those in need and public safety.

The event is:

• 11 a.m., Monday, March 15, at the Chase Bank branch at Second and Union in downtown Seattle.
• You can join a pre-rally sign-making party from 9-10:45 a.m. at the Fuse Office at 1402 Third Ave., Suite 510, Seattle, WA  98101.

CALLS TO ACTION:

• HEALTH INSURANCE CALL TO ACTION:
  
  STOP THE HEALTH CUTS! Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell legislators to fund state worker health insurance at the level in the House supplemental budget (ESSB 6444) – with no mandate to bargain over premiums!

• REVENUE
  
  The House’s revenue package is at least $150 million short of what is needed.
  
  CALL TO ACTION ON REVENUE:  Please call your legislators at 1-800-562-6000 and urge them to support common sense proposals to raise the $150 million in additional revenue by supporting HB 3181 and HB 3021.

• FURLOUGHS
  
  The House stripped furlough language from its budget. The Senate has not. And the furlough bill, SSB 6503, is still alive in the House—with a proposed amendment to take away your personal holiday.
  
  CALL TO ACTION ON FURLOUGHS:  Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell your legislators: OPPOSE SSB 6503, the state employee furlough bill.

• RHCs
  
  CALL TO ACTION ON THE RHC WIPEOUT BILL: Call 1-800-562-6000 and urge your legislators to oppose SB 6182, the RHC wipeout bill.

• INSTITUTIONS CLOSURES
  
  The Senate and House budgets are far apart, with the Senate generally wanting to close more state RHCs, JRA facilities and Corrections centers than the House.  But they’re all at risk in the short term (Frances Haddon Morgan Center, Maple Lane School, Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women) and long-run (all RHCs, most JRA, Pine Lodge).
  
  CALL TO ACTION ON INSTITUTIONS CLOSURES:  Call 1-800-562-6000 and urge your legislators to oppose closures of state institutions in the supplemental budget (ESSB 6444)!

KING COUNTY MEMBERS STRATEGIZE SATURDAY

Members of the Federation’s many King County locals are invited to a strategy session this Saturday to step up the fight in any special session and during upcoming contract negotiations.

The meeting will be 12 noon, this Saturday, March 13, at the King County Labor Temple, 2800 1st Ave., Hall No. 1, Seattle.


SPECIAL 49TH DISTRICT TOWN HALL MEETING SATURDAY

Legislators in the 49th District of Vancouver hold a town hall meeting 10 a.m.-noon, tomorrow, March 13, at the Election Office at 1408 Franklin St., Room 226, Vancouver.

IN MEMORIAM:

    Some sad news….

IN MEMORIAM: Tom Adams, a retired member of Local 482 at the Veterans’ Home in Retsil, passed away peacefully Feb. 12 with his family at his side after a four-month illness. His death came on his 61st birthday.

Adams had been a trades helper in Retsil.

He was also an honorary member of Pierce County Local 53 as he supported the activities of his wife of nearly 40 years, Theresa Adams.

Theresa thanks all those who supported her emotionally and by donating shared leave. She also wants to thank the Local 53 membership for taking up a donation at their local meeting, allowing her to help pay for an apartment while she worked in Seattle for almost 60 days while Tom underwent treatment at Harborview Medical Center.

A celebration of Tom Adams’ life was scheduled at a memorial, 1 p.m., Saturday, March 27, at Parkwood Community Center, 3045 Madrona Drive S.E., Port Orchard.

IN MEMORIAM: Local 53 members at the Region 5 Tacoma Division of Child Support office mourn the sudden death Feb. 28 of co-worker Diane Racine, a support enforcement officer 2. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m., tomorrow, Saturday, March 13, at Tuell-McKee Funeral Home, 2215 Sixth Ave., Tacoma. You can sign an online guestbook at www.tuellmckee.com.

Special session likely, but don't assume anything

Legislative leaders tell the press it’s unlikely they’ll wrap up their business by midnight tonight, the last day of the scheduled 60-day session.

If that’s true, there’s lots of speculation about when a special session might start.

The bottom line is: Your calls and other direct action have made a difference. So, we’ve said it before, we’ll say it again—keep the calls coming.

HEALTH CARE

We know legislative budget negotiators are focusing on how to fix the health insurance fund deficit problem. But they need to do it right.

Without a fix, legislators will triple your health care costs -- triple what you pay now for deductibles, co-pays and other out-of-pocket costs. On top of that, some legislators want you to pay even more—more than the current 12 percent share you now pay for your health insurance premiums that is deducted from your paycheck. They want to mandate negotiations with the dictated direction of changing that split. We know the administration has suggested raising it as high as 20 percent or even 30 percent for employees.

But progress is being made on a fix. The House has already added $65 million to your health plan. But the Senate has not agreed to that.

HEALTH INSURANCE CALL TO ACTION:

STOP THE HEALTH CUTS! Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell legislators to fund state worker health insurance at the level in the House supplemental budget (ESSB 6444) – with no mandate to bargain over premiums!

REVENUE

 The House’s revenue package is at least $150 million short of what is needed.

 CALL TO ACTION ON REVENUE:

Please call your legislators at 1-800-562-6000 today and urge them to support common sense proposals to raise the $150 million in additional revenue not in ESSB 6143.

Keep the message simple: Please prevent deep cuts to services and create jobs by supporting HB 3181 and HB 3021.

FURLOUGHS

The House stripped furlough language from its budget. The Senate has not. And the furlough bill, SSB 6503, is still alive in the House—with a proposed amendment to take away your personal holiday.

CALL TO ACTION ON FURLOUGHS:

Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell your legislators: OPPOSE SSB 6503, the state employee furlough bill.

RHCs

The bill to wipe out residential habilitation centers by removing their statutory authorization is still on the Senate floor. Some proposed amendments would mitigate it, but the best outcome if to keep it from a vote or to have it defeated. They need to understand that RHCs are quality campuses that care for some of our state’s most profoundly disabled citizens when there are no resources for the kind of community care they need.

Here’s what the parent of one of the residents at the targeted-for-closure Frances Haddon Morgan Center wrote:

PLEASE KEEP MY HOME OPEN!!

Our wonderful son, Thomas is a resident at Frances Haddon Morgan Center. Looks can be very deceiving regarding his ability to function. You can see he is very engaging and happy – but what you can’t see are the facts that he can’t do his own personal care, use a toilet or wash his hands, can’t write his name, isn’t aware of safety and needs almost constant interaction with people to maintain his behavior without getting destructive. His needs are very demanding and he receives the supports he needs at FHMC.

CALL TO ACTION ON THE RHC WIPEOUT BILL:

Call 1-800-562-6000 and urge your legislators to oppose SB 6182, the RHC wipeout bill.

INSTITUTIONS CLOSURES

The Senate and House budgets are far apart, with the Senate generally wanting to close more state RHCs, JRA facilities and Corrections centers than the House.

But they’re all at risk in the short term (Frances Haddon Morgan Center, Maple Lane School, Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women) and long-run (all RHCs, most JRA, Pine Lodge).

CALL TO ACTION ON INSTITUTIONS CLOSURES

Call 1-800-562-6000 and urge your legislators to oppose closures of state institutions in the supplemental budget (ESSB 6444)!

ANOTHER GOOD BILL HEADED TO THE GOVERNOR

 Theirs is some upbeat news. ESSB 6724, the bill that was amended to raise the cap on how much shared leave donations an employee can receive, passed its last hurdle in the Senate March 8 and yesterday was officially sent to the governor for her signature into law.

ESSB 6724 raises the cap to 522 days. It would help longtime employees facing the need for more than the current limit of 261 total shared leave days.

The bill folds in the concept from two Federation-initiated bills (SB 6695 and HB 3063). Ecology worker Andy McMillan, who has battled bone marrow cancer for five years while working as much as he can, inspired it.


KING COUNTY MEMBERS STRATEGIZE SATURDAY

Members of the Federation’s many King County locals are invited to a strategy session this Saturday to step up the fight in any special session and during upcoming contract negotiations.

The meeting will be 12 noon, this Saturday, March 13, at the King County Labor Temple, 2800 1st Ave., Hall No. 1, Seattle.

QUICK UPDATE: More spontaneous job actions!

We have reports that Spokane and Medical Lake-area members swarmed the governor’s Spokane office at noontime Tuesday, where some 40 marchers hoisted signs against cuts in services, to save Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women and Lakeland Village and against other institutions closures.

Meanwhile, Frances Haddon Morgan Center members gathered in Bremerton Tuesday morning to make hotline phone calls to save their residential habilitation center. It’s targeted for closure in the Senate supplemental budget.


At Frances Haddon Morgan Center March 9.

QUICK UPDATE: Senate concurs with House, sends Interpreters collective bargaining bill to Governor

The Senate Tuesday afternoon concurred with the House’s changes to the Federation-initiated state interpreters collective bargaining bill.

The Senate vote was 29-19 with one excused. ESSB 6726 now goes to the governor for her signature into law.

Senate supporters said the bill was about reforming a system where middlemen suck up most of the program’s money before it ever reaches the interpreters themselves. The interpreters help patients from a wide range of language backgrounds communicate with their doctors on Medicaid-covered issues.

“We have learned that under the current system we’re paying more than $50 an hour for medical interpreter services but the interpreter is getting about $20 of that $50 an hour,” said Sen. Karen Keiser of the 33rd District. “The rest is being spent on third-party brokers and agency fees—middlemen—and it’s an inefficient, time-wasting and money-wasting approach….”

“When we are underpaying our interpreters, we are undercutting the whole system. This approach will resolve that problem.”

Call to action on the other piece of the puzzle: revenue.

The House on Monday night on a vote of 52-45 passed a $680 million revenue bill (ESSB 6143) that will help prevent devastating cuts to core services by closing tax loopholes and raising some targeted sin taxes. 

While this funding package is a step in the right direction it is $150 million too small to fund the House budget that was passed a few days ago.

The House budget already has over $650 million in cuts and to prevent deeper cuts we need legislators to find enough funding to fully fund the House budget.

Fortunately there are two proposals that would raise over $130 million.  They are:

• The Clean Water Act of 2010 is a bill (ESHB 3181) that would make big polluters pay their fair share for the pollution they cause in our communities.  This bill would create green jobs and raise over $100 million for clean water programs and give legislators additional flexibility to fund other programs.

• The Nursing Facility Quality Assurance Fee (HB 3021). The second proposal is a fee on some nursing homes that would actually return more money to nursing homes through federal matching dollars than they are charged and free up millions to prevent cuts to other key services for seniors and people with disabilities.

 CALL TO ACTION ON REVENUE:

Please call your legislators at 1-800-562-6000 today and urge them to support common sense proposals to raise the $150 million in additional revenue not in ESSB 6143.

Keep the message simple: 
Please prevent deep cuts to services and create jobs by supporting HB 3181 and HB 3021.

Keep up calls on health care!

The legislative session ends Thursday. There is talk legislators won’t get their business done in time, so will go into special session. But we can’t assume anything. We have to view the finish line as 11:59 p.m. Thursday.
So remember—

Legislators want to triple your health care costs!

• The House heard you and on March 5 added $65 million to your health plan. But the Senate has not agreed to that. The Senate officially still wants to balance the budget on your backs with higher health insurance costs—triple what you pay now for deductibles, co-pays and other out-of-pocket costs.

• And remember, on top of that, some legislators want you to pay even more—more than the current 12 percent share you now pay for your health insurance premiums that is deducted from your paycheck.

FINAL 48 HOURS HEALTH CARE CALL TO ACTION:

STOP THE HEALTH CUTS!  Call the Legislative Hotline at 800-562-6000.

• Tell legislators to fund state worker health insurance at the level in the House supplemental budget (ESSB 6444) – with no mandate to bargain over premiums!

3/9/10 HOTLINE: Call legislators to support House funding level on health care, no furlough language, revenue increases; candlelight vigil at Capitol Tuesday night; more

3/9/10

    This is the Federation Hotline for Tuesday.


UPDATED CALL TO ACTION

    The House budget is closer to the shared sacrifices/raising revenue/closing tax loopholes model you’ve been pushing for. The House passed its version of the budget (ESSB 6444) Friday and sent it back to the Senate. House and Senate conferees now must work out a compromise.

    The House put in $65 million that keeps out-of-pocket health care costs at current levels. Language directing the governor to immediately negotiate a new premium split is troubling and possibly illegal. (The Legislature can’t dictate to the governor or unions in this way—they vote up or down on economic issues once a contract is negotiated.)

    So we have our comprehensive call to action again later in this message. But lead with this:

3/9/10 CALL TO ACTION

    Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell legislators to support the House funding level in ESSB 6444 on health benefits (without the bargaining proviso) and no mandatory furloughs and continue efforts to raise more revenue to head off what could be another 2,000 layoffs.


JOB ACTIONS CONTINUE



    We now have reports back from Saturday’s big rally in Medical Lake. The Spokane Spokesman-Review estimated 350 members and allies showed up to picket at a busy intersection there. They sent a message to save Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women, to reject legislation wiping out Lakeland Village and other residential habilitation centers and to stop cutbacks at Eastern State Hospital. Speakers included Medical Lake Mayor John Higgins, City Councilmember Howard Jorgenson (a former Federation president), DD activist Duwane Huffaker (another former Federation president), Federation President Carol Dotlich and several activists from the targeted institutions.



    On Monday, dozens of Federation members in Olympia picked up the grassroots campaign of spontaneous, impromptu job actions by staging a death march to the Capitol to protest cuts in funding for services and potential cuts in health insurance. Led by a marcher dressed as the Grim Reaper and four pallbearers carrying a casket, the protesters chanted “Cut loopholes, not health care!”

    Meanwhile, lawmakers inside debated revenue increases.

    Tuesday night, the Federation-led coalition pushing for revenues and closing tax loopholes holds a “Candlelight Vigil for Our Future” at the state Capitol. It’ll be 6-8 p.m. inside in the Capitol rotunda. It’s meant to be a positive event to bolster legislative allies in the final days of the regular 60-day session. And if you’re wondering, because of fire code regulations, glow sticks will supply the “candlelight.”


STOP THE RHC WIPEOUT BILL!

    The Senate Ways and Means Committee resurrected a dead bill from 2009 that would wipe out all RHCs and passed it out of committee March 3.

    Senate Bill 6182 now goes to the Senate Rules Committee, which schedules bills for votes of the full Senate. We need calls to the Rules Committee to keep SB 6182 off the Senate floor.

    SB 6182 is bad. It would wipe out the statutory authority for all RHCs: Rainier School, Frances Haddon Morgan Center, Yakima Valley School, Fircrest School and Lakeland Village.

    SB 6182 would allow the governor to immediately shut down any or all RHCs.

CALL TO ACTION:

1. Call 1-800-562-6000 and urge your senator to oppose SB 6182. RHCs are quality campuses that care for some of our state’s most profoundly disabled citizens when there are no resources for the kind of community care they need.

2. Contact members of the Senate Rules Committee, especially if the senator from your district is on the committee. Especially call if your senator is on the list of committee members below. If you’re able to call or e-mail them directly from your own phone and computer and on your own time, please do so.


SENATE RULES COMMITTEE

Chair: Lt. Gov. Brad Owen
(360) 786-7700
ltgov@leg.wa.gov

Franklin, Rosa
Dist. 29
(360) 786-7656
franklin.rosa@leg.wa.gov

Hewitt, Mike
Dist. 16
(360) 786-7630
hewitt.mike@leg.wa.gov

Brown, Lisa
Dist. 3
(360) 786-7604
brown.lisa@leg.wa.gov

Eide, Tracey
Dist. 30
(360) 786-7658
eide.tracey@leg.wa.gov

Fraser, Karen   
Dist. 22
(360) 786-7642
fraser.karen@leg.wa.gov

King, Curtis
Dist. 14
(360) 786-7626
king.curtis@leg.wa.gov

Kohl-Welles, Jeanne
Dist. 36
(360) 786-7670
kohl-welles@leg.wa.gov

Marr, Chris
Dist. 6
(360) 786-7610
marr.chris@leg.wa.gov

Murray, Ed
Dist. 43
(360) 786-7628
murray.ed@leg.wa.gov

Parlette, Linda Evans
Dist. 12
(360) 786-7622
parlette.linda@leg.wa.gov

Pridemore, Craig
Dist. 49
(360) 786-7696
pridemore.craig@leg.wa.gov

Regala, Debbie
Dist. 27
(360) 786-7652   
regala.debbie@leg.wa.gov

Schoesler, Mark
Dist. 9
(360) 786-7620
schoesler.mark@leg.wa.gov

Stevens, Val
Dist. 39
(360) 786-7676
stevens.val@leg.wa.gov

Zarelli, Joseph
Dist. 18
(360) 786-7634
zarelli.joseph@leg.wa.gov


CRITICAL DAYS AHEAD—KEEP THE PRESSURE ON

3/9/10 CALL TO ACTION

    Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell legislators to support the House funding level in ESSB 6444 on health benefits (without the bargaining proviso) and no mandatory furloughs and continue efforts to raise more revenue to head off what could be another 2,000 layoffs.


KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING WITH CALLS ON THE KEY ISSUES:

Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell your legislators:

• CLOSE TAX LOOPHOLES! SUPPORT HB 3176 to close tax loopholes. It will 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. Several proposed but unadopted floor amendments also await action in the House. The House version of the budget (ESSB 6444) passed March 5 does not mandate furloughs but directs agencies to reduce compensation costs.

• OPPOSE INSTITUTIONS CLOSURES!

• PASS INTERPRETERS’ COLLECTIVE BARGAINING BILL, E2SSB 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 passed both houses, but the Senate must now take up House amendments.


SHARED LEAVE REQUEST:

    Finally, a shared leave request:

IN NEED OF SHARED LEAVE: Janice Walker, a WorkSource specialist 4 in Thurston County and a member of Local 53, is in desperate need of shared leave. To assist Janice with a donation of eligible unused annual leave or sick leave or all or part of your personal holiday, contact Kathleen Young at (360) 902-9413.


    That’s it for now. Call Wednesday for the next message but this may be updated sooner as events warrant.

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3/8/10 HOTLINE: House, Senate must work out budget differences; more details on House-passed budget; Seattle Times busts myth of "high paid" state employees; more

3/8/10

    This is the Federation Hotline for Monday.


HERE’S WHERE WE’RE AT IN THE FINAL FOUR DAYS OF SESSION

    The 2010 legislative session is set to adjourn its regular session Thursday. If they can’t come to agreement on a budget and revenue package, they would go into special session.

    The Senate over the weekend passed and sent to the House a revenue package. Meanwhile, the House passed its version of the budget sent them by the Senate (ESSB 6444) and sent it back to the Senate. The House and Senate now must go into conference committee negotiations to see if they can reach a final compromise by 11:59 p.m. Thursday.

    To recap Saturday’s message, the version of the budget passed by the House has gone the farthest in raising revenue and funding services with less balancing on your backs.

    The pendulum could be swinging away from the anti-state employee crowd now that even the Seattle Times has busted the myth of “high paid” state employees.

    More on that later.

    Here are a few more details about what was in the budget (ESSB 6444) passed by the House Friday:

- On institutions closures, the House does not close RHCs or JRA facilities, but the House budget would close one cottage at Maple Lane School and two wings of a cottage at Green Hill School and Green Hill residents would be double bunked. The House, unfortunately, sticks to its original plan to close Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women in Medical Lake.

- On furloughs, a note of caution. The furlough bill, SSB 6503, is still technically alive on the House floor with several proposed but still unadopted floor amendments, including one to take away personal holidays (which would require negotiations). But the budget passed by the House Friday stripped out budget language mandating furloughs, instead directing state agencies and higher education institutions to reduce state compensation costs by $48 million. Here is what the effect statement on that amendment says:

EFFECT: Deletes the section reducing appropriations related to SSB 6503 (temporary layoffs), and directs the Office of Financial Management to develop a schedule of reduced compensation expenditures of state agencies by $48,648,000 million General Fund-State and $51,975,000 from all other funds. The reductions are to be distributed to each agency and institution of higher education proportionately based on each state agency and institution's share of the total compensation of all state employees.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Reduces General Fund-State by $434,000.
Increases Other Funds by $40,066,000.


- On health insurance, the House adopted amendments that increase funding for your health benefits, but calls on the governor to go to the bargaining table to push for a change in the share of premiums the state and employees pay. Currently, the state pays 88 percent, employees 12 percent. Here is what the effect statement on that amendment says:

EFFECT: Increases the monthly employer funding rate charged to participating employers for the Public Employees' Benefits Board (PEBB) health and insurance benefits for fiscal year 2011 from $768 to $863 per eligible employee, and requires the PEBB not to adopt a plan for expenditures on benefits and administration that would project a total reserve level for the end of fiscal year 2011 of less than $90,000,000.
The intent of the Legislature is that the Governor immediately request to commence bargaining a corresponding increase in the employee share of health premiums with the coalition of all the exclusive bargaining representatives with which health care benefit funding is bargained.
Transfers $30 million from the Data Processing Revolving Fund (fund 419) and $13 million from the Public Works Assistance Account (fund 058) to the Salary/Insurance Increase Revolving Account (fund 406). This amount is appropriated for agency charges due to the increased monthly employer funding rate in lieu of an appropriation from the state general fund.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Increases General Fund-State by $22,340,000.
Increases Other Funds by $111,554,000.
Transfers $43 million in funding between accounts.


- The House also restored funding for seven positions at Eastern State Hospital and seven at Western State Hospital:

EFFECT: Restores 14.0 direct care vacant positions that were eliminated in the DSHS mental health psychiatric hospitals. The FTEs restored are 7.0 at Eastern State Hospital and 7.0 at Western State Hospital.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Increases General Fund-State by $2,434,000.


- And the House budget restored budget reductions:

EFFECT: Restores budget reductions in the following agencies:
Department of Commerce
Restores $625,000 in General Fund-State for Growth Management Act technical assistance.
Department of Health
Restores $200,000 General Fund-State for environmental health programs related to grants to local health jurisdictions for monitoring on-site sewage systems.
Department of Ecology
-Restores $500,000 from the State Toxics Control Account for the Hazardous Waste Cleanup Program;
-Restores $273,000 from the State Toxics Control Account for the Solid Waste Cleanup Program;
-Restores $3,501,000 from the State Toxics Control Account for the Toxic Cleanup Program;
-Restores $300,000 from the General Fund-State for the Air Quality Program;
-Restores $75,000 from the General Fund-State for the Water Quality Cleanup Program;
-Restores $75,000 from the General Fund-State for the Water Quality Monitoring Program;
-Restores $354,000 from the General Fund-State for the Shorelands
Program; and
-Restores $5,309,000 from the General Fund-State for local watershed planning.
Recreation and Conservation Office
Restores funding for the Biodiversity Council ($92,000 General Fund-State) and for salmon recovery data coordination ($78,000
General Fund-State).
Department of Fish and Wildlife
Restores funding for wildlife disease monitoring ($162,000 General Fund-State); scientific assistance for salmon recovery($250,000 General Fund-State); and land management ($264,000 General Fund-State).
Department of Natural Resources
Restores $75,000 General Fund-State for the Natural Heritage Program.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Increases General Fund-State by $7,859,000.
Increases Other Funds by $4,274,000.

    Again, the Senate and House must work out their differences. And on institutions closures, furloughs, health care and other key areas, the differences are significant. So stay tuned.


STOP THE PRESSES! SEATTLE TIMES BUSTS THE MYTH OF “HIGH PAID” STATE EMPLOYEES—AND THE MYTH THAT THE SEATTLE TIMES CAN’T GIVE STATE EMPLOYEES A FAIR SHAKE!

    The Seattle Times on Saturday busted two myths—that state employees make more than those in the private sector (and therefore should sacrifice even more) and the myth that the Seattle Times can’t give a fair shake to state employees.

    To be fair, it’s been the editorial pages that have called for the state to stick it to you even more, not the news pages.

    The analysis done by the Times compared some 200 standard occupational categories of state employees. It found that the median pay of state employees exceeded private sector workers in only 74 of the 200 categories. Median pay means half earn more, half less.

    This finding left anti-state employee groups like the Evergreen Freedom Foundation and the Building Industry Association of Washington without their typically snarky comebacks.

    And Sen. Joe Zarelli, who is leading the charge to take away state employee step increases, deflected.

    “I don’t know,” he told the Times when asked if state workers are compensated better than private-sector workers.

    Zarelli’s comeback: “Right now, our issue isn’t about competitive pay, it’s about balancing the budget and everybody sharing in that process.”

    After sacrificing $1 billion last year, state employees would agree it’s time for more shared sacrifices!

    The Times quoted an expert on state-employee compensation to verify its findings.

    “In general, private-sector pay is higher than in the public sector, and the higher up the occupational hierarchy the job is, the greater the advantage for the private sector,” said Rick Kearney, director of the School of Public and International Affairs at North Carolina State University.

    To read the entire Seattle Times story go to:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011277862_statewages07m.html


JOB ACTIONS CONTINUE

    We told you about the impromptu sign waving on I-5 overpasses in Saturday’s message.

    On Saturday, members from several locals congregated to waive signs at an overpass in SeaTac. Included were members from Corrections Local 308, Seattle Employment Security Local 435 and Whatcom-Skagit Local 1060.

    Also on Saturday, members rallied in Medical Lake.


STOP THE RHC WIPEOUT BILL!

    The Senate Ways and Means Committee resurrected a dead bill from 2009 that would wipe out all RHCs and passed it out of committee March 3.

    Senate Bill 6182 now goes to the Senate Rules Committee, which schedules bills for votes of the full Senate. We need calls to the Rules Committee to keep SB 6182 off the Senate floor.

    SB 6182 is bad. It would wipe out the statutory authority for all RHCs: Rainier School, Frances Haddon Morgan Center, Yakima Valley School, Fircrest School and Lakeland Village.

    SB 6182 would allow the governor to immediately shut down any or all RHCs.

CALL TO ACTION:

1. Call 1-800-562-6000 and urge your senator to oppose SB 6182. RHCs are quality campuses that care for some of our state’s most profoundly disabled citizens when there are no resources for the kind of community care they need.

2. Contact members of the Senate Rules Committee, especially if the senator from your district is on the committee. Especially call if your senator is on the list of committee members below. If you’re able to call or e-mail them directly from your own phone and computer and on your own time, please do so.


SENATE RULES COMMITTEE

Chair: Lt. Gov. Brad Owen
(360) 786-7700
ltgov@leg.wa.gov

Franklin, Rosa
Dist. 29
(360) 786-7656
franklin.rosa@leg.wa.gov

Hewitt, Mike
Dist. 16
(360) 786-7630
hewitt.mike@leg.wa.gov

Brown, Lisa
Dist. 3
(360) 786-7604
brown.lisa@leg.wa.gov

Eide, Tracey
Dist. 30
(360) 786-7658
eide.tracey@leg.wa.gov

Fraser, Karen   
Dist. 22
(360) 786-7642
fraser.karen@leg.wa.gov

King, Curtis
Dist. 14
(360) 786-7626
king.curtis@leg.wa.gov

Kohl-Welles, Jeanne
Dist. 36
(360) 786-7670
kohl-welles@leg.wa.gov

Marr, Chris
Dist. 6
(360) 786-7610
marr.chris@leg.wa.gov

Murray, Ed
Dist. 43
(360) 786-7628
murray.ed@leg.wa.gov

Parlette, Linda Evans
Dist. 12
(360) 786-7622
parlette.linda@leg.wa.gov

Pridemore, Craig
Dist. 49
(360) 786-7696
pridemore.craig@leg.wa.gov

Regala, Debbie
Dist. 27
(360) 786-7652   
regala.debbie@leg.wa.gov

Schoesler, Mark
Dist. 9
(360) 786-7620
schoesler.mark@leg.wa.gov

Stevens, Val
Dist. 39
(360) 786-7676
stevens.val@leg.wa.gov

Zarelli, Joseph
Dist. 18
(360) 786-7634
zarelli.joseph@leg.wa.gov


CRITICAL DAYS AHEAD—KEEP THE PRESSURE ON

CRITICAL CALL TO ACTION ON HEALTH CARE

STOP HEALTH CUTS! Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell legislators to fund state worker health care at a fiscally responsible level in the supplemental budget (ESSB 6444). They will know what you mean. They want to triple your health care costs—that is unacceptable on top of the $1 billion you’ve already sacrificed and the average hike of $1,100 a year in health care costs imposed on you this past Jan. 1.


KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING WITH CALLS ON THE KEY ISSUES:

Call 1-800-562-6000. Tell your legislators:

- STOP HEALTH CUTS! Tell legislators to fund state worker health care at a fiscally responsible level in the supplemental budget (ESSB 6444). The plan passed by the House March 5 is a good start.

- CLOSE TAX LOOPHOLES! SUPPORT HB 3176 to close tax loopholes. It will 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. Several proposed but unadopted floor amendments also await action in the House. The House version of the budget (ESSB 6444) passed March 5 does not mandate furloughs but directs agencies to reduce compensation costs. It’s unclear if furloughs are still in the mix, so we need to keep the pressure on.

- OPPOSE INSTITUTIONS CLOSURES!

- PASS INTERPRETERS’ COLLECTIVE BARGAINING BILL, E2SSB 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 passed both houses, but the Senate must now take up House amendments. The effect statement on the House amendment adopted March 5:

EFFECT:
Specifies that the working group's plan must describe the best possible means by which access to services is maintained or improved.
Modifies the mandatory subjects of bargaining. Provides that economic compensation is "such as the manner and rate of payments." Deletes rules and procedures regarding payments, work rules, and reimbursements. Also deletes certification procedures.
Specifies that, if a language access provider provides written authorization or the collective bargaining agreement includes a union security provision, the state must require through its contracts with third parties that: (1) dues be deducted from payments to language access providers and transmitted to the bargaining representative's treasurer; and (2) records showing that dues have been deducted be provided to the state. Makes this provision applicable only if the state does not make payments directly to providers.
Restores language specifying that bilingual services are provided through contracts with local agencies or other community resources (as well as language access providers).
Deletes the requirement that the Department of Social and Health Services certify providers in a manner consistent with any collective bargaining agreement.
Makes a technical correction.


    That’s it for now. Call Tuesday for the next message but this may be updated sooner as events warrant.

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