Greetings,

Below are the top stories of the week from Capitol Hill.  To view this on the AFSCME website, click here. 

AFSCME LEGISLATIVE REPORT

October 23, 2009

In this issue:

v     House Close to Finalizing Health Care Reform Bill; Senate Discussions Continue

v     Insurance Industry Antitrust Exemption Repeal Approved

v     Extended Unemployment Benefits Bill Stalled in the Senate

v     Child Support Enforcement Funding Restoration Bill Introduced in the Senate

v     Hate Crimes Legislation Headed to President's Desk

v     Chemical and Water Safety Bills Approved by House Committee

v     NLRB Nominees Move Forward

House Close to Finalizing Health Care Reform Bill; Senate Discussions Continue 

It appears that House leaders plan to finalize the House health care reform bill and release it early next week.  While details are not yet final, we do know that the bill will not tax health benefits and will include a strong employer responsibility provision.  The House bill will include a public health insurance option, but it is not yet clear what it will look like.  It is also not yet clear how much states will be asked to contribute to the financing of an expansion of the Medicaid program.  These last two issues are related.  The stronger the public option, the more savings it creates.  The savings from the public option would reduce the need to push more Medicaid costs onto states.

In the Senate, it appears that we are making modest progress on reducing the tax on health plans.  It appears more likely that the Senate bill will include some version of a public health insurance option, although it will not be as strong as we would like.  The Senate negotiations are expected to continue next week. 

(Barbara Coufal- bcoufal@afscme.org)

Insurance Industry Antitrust Exemption Repeal Approved

A House committee approved the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009 (H.R. 3596), a bill that would partially repeal the exemption health insurers currently have from antitrust laws. If passed, insurers would be prosecuted if they engage in price fixing, bid rigging or market allocations. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) committed to include a provision to remove insurers' antitrust exemption in the health care bill she expects to bring to the floor next month.

(Andrea Zuniga DiBitetto- adibitetto@afscme.org)

Extended Unemployment Benefits Bill Stalled in the Senate 

Concerned about Senate Republican actions that have delayed Senate consideration of legislation to provide additional weeks of unemployment benefits, a group of 14 Democratic Senators this week called on them to stop playing politics and immediately help pass the legislation.  Republican Senators have filed six amendments to the legislation, most of which have nothing to do with the substance of the bill.   

Democratic leaders had hoped to move the legislation through the Senate floor without objection several weeks ago.  Approximately 7,000 workers now are running out of unemployment benefits each week that Congress fails to act.  The pending legislation would provide workers in all states with an additional 14 weeks of benefits, and 20 weeks to workers in states with unemployment rates above 8.5%. 

(Nanine Meiklejohn- nmeiklejohn@afscme.org)

Child Support Enforcement Funding Restoration Bill Introduced in the Senate

This week, Senator John Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced bipartisan legislation (S. 1859) to reinstate federal matching funds for states' child support enforcement programs, funding which was cut in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.  Specifically, it would again allow states to receive a federal match for state spending of child support incentive payments.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act temporarily restored this funding to states, but it will end in October 2010 absent full restoration.  Original co-sponsors include Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). 

(Fran Bernstein- fbernstein@afscme.org)  

Hate Crimes Legislation Headed to President's Desk

After more than a decade of debate and failed attempts to get federal hate crimes legislation approved, both the House and Senate have approved a bill that is headed for President Obama's signature.  On October 22, the Senate approved the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr.  Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.  The legislation was included in the Senate's 2010 Department of Defense (DOD) authorization bill conference report.  The House approved the conference report earlier this month.

The hate crimes legislation would strengthen existing hate crimes laws by including crimes committed against individuals because of their gender, disability or sexual orientation.  In addition, the legislation removes obstacles like requiring that victims be engaged in federally protected activities or that the crime was committed on federal property.  The legislation would empower federal prosecutors to work with local police while providing funding to assist in investigations.  

(Cynthia Bradley- cbradley@afscme.org)

Chemical and Water Safety Bills Approved by House Committee

This week, a House committee approved two bills aimed at making chemical facilities and public water systems safer.  The first, a chemical plant safety bill (H.R. 2868), would require the use of safer technologies in chemical facilities.  It seeks to prevent terrorist attacks by strengthening current safety standards.  The committee rejected eight Republican amendments that would have weakened the bill and it was approved by a party line vote of 29-18.

The second is a water safety bill (H.R. 3258) which would increase security and promote safer technologies at public water systems.  It provides $315 million for fiscal year 2010 to help public water systems develop and implement anti-terrorism plans.  It also allows public water systems employees to have a voice in creating safety standards.  The committee again rejected several Republican amendments that would have limited the bill's scope.  It was approved by voice vote. 

(Cynthia Bradley- cbradley@afscme.org)  

NLRB Nominees Move Forward

A Senate committee approved the nominations of Harold Craig Becker, Mark Gaston Pearce and Brian E. Hayes to be members of the National Labor Relations Board. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) objected to moving the nominees forward together and demanded a separate roll call vote for Becker, a dedicated union lawyer and academic. Even though the committee approved Becker by a vote of 15 to 8, McCain vowed to put a hold on his nomination and prevent it from reaching the Senate floor for final approval.

AFSCME disapproves of McCain's delay tactics. We applaud the nominations of Becker and Pearce and support moving all three nominations forward in tandem. 

(Andrea Zuniga DiBitetto- adibitetto@afscme.org)

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