Greetings,

Legislative Update #12, April 1, 2009

No Fooling - Legislature to Leave Town

State legislators are preparing to leave town amidst a few issues of untidiness.  It is not their fault that revenues did not hold up their end of the bargain.  But, this could make for some problems when they return for the veto session.  First Adjournment is nearly here and we expect them to do very little if anything Friday, then go home for the break..

Raise the Wagers achieved a victory by advancing the Minimum Wage bill through the troubled waters of the Kansas Legislature.  A final vote should hold up since a vote in both Houses was overwhelming and probably will occur this time with a landslide vote.  The Conference Committee report is completed and the vote should happen quickly. 

Work Comp has yet to move and as reported previously, time is running out on us there very quickly.  Some negative legislation surfaced in another bill, but the Coalition for Workplace Safety is working to get that language out of another almost unrelated bill.

Unemployment legislation that takes advantage of stimulus dollars is being channeled to the Kansas Department of Labor.  But, the caveat is that the state must comply with certain requirements to be eligible.  The (3) requirements to get some $68 million may not be approved all at once.   It was a bit too much for the legislature to swallow all at once.  But, meeting one requirement before for First Adjournment appears doable.  We see a vote tommorow on this and that will pull in about $27 million.  The bill is HB 2374 if you want track it.

The Energy bill is expected to be tee'd up for a vote in the House first, then the Senate.  Expect no surprises here, as the real test will again be after the veto and in the Veto session.

Misclassification continues to be an issue but attempts to both strengthen and remove parts of the the law making it enforcable failed.  We of course wanted to protect the current law and strengthen where possible.  An amendment by Representative Annie Tietze that would strengthen the law fell short 51-75 just yesterday.  We commend her for her work on behalf of working families.

Federal

Federal Budget -  Ask Congress to support the budget currently before them.  We are told such approval could happen as early as this week (late tomorrow or early Friday).  Ask them to pass it and don't delay! 

The Employee Free Choice Act continues to be a priority for the AFL-CIO in Congress.  At the state level we also need to do our part to help achieve success at the national level.  I encourage everyone to write letters to the editor, hold events to meet with their Congressional Representatives and Senators.  Finally, you know that we are being substantially outspent by "Business".  A media fund has been established by the National AFL-CIO.  We encourage everyone to do their part.  We will have more information to follow, but you can contact us on how to help with the media fund 785-267-0100.