AFL-CIO
Legislative Update
April 12, 2010
In this issue
1. News Highlights
2. State Capitol Update
3. Hero & Villain of the Week
News Highlights
AZ AFL-CIO Sends Letter to Gov.
Brewer Urging Her to Stop Lawsuit
On
Monday, Rebekah Friend, Executive
Director of the Arizona AFL-CIO, urged Governor Brewer to resist pressure to
sue the federal government on the recently enacted health care reform law.
Wrote Friend, “[These lawsuits] are likely to cost the citizens of their states
enormous sums of money at a time when few states can afford a waste of precious
resources.” Friend called upon Brewer to "reject and oppose politically
motivated efforts” to force the suit.
More Missed Warnings of Coal Mine’s Danger
Revealed
Red
flags continue to rise on the safety of the Massey Energy Co.’s Upper Big
Branch mine in West Virginia.
Last week, the death toll of a coal mine explosion climbed to 29.
The Washington Post reported that of the mine’s 129 violations of federal law
this year,
32 were related to “dust, ventilation or combustible materials,” problems that
may have contributed to the recent blast.
Recent news
articles have also highlighted that union mines
have a better safety record than non-union coal mines like Upper Big Branch.
United Mine Workers of America International President Cecil Roberts mourned
the loss of the 29 workers, and called for swift action from Congress. Read
more.
AZ Politicians Hold Forums on Health
Care Reform
Representative
Gabrielle Giffords isn’t shying away from discussing health care after the
contentious reform bill passed Congress last month. On April 7th, Rep.
Giffords of Southern Arizona held a community
forum in Sahuarita to discuss how the legislation
would be implemented. Notably absent were large, raucous protests by
conservative tea party activists like those at town halls last
summer, although Giffords’ office was recently vandalized. Kyrsten Sinema, the
Assistant Minority Leader in the Arizona House, also held a forum in Tucson.
Sinema was a member of the White House Health Care Reform Task Force, a small
group assembled to share best practices on health policy from across the United
States. Read more on Giffords
and Sinema.
State Capitol Update
Officially, last week was the final chance for bills
to be heard in committee, one of the earliest hurdles in the legislative
process. Unsurprisingly, there was a torrent of activity
at the state capitol:
Union-backed motion picture bill
prevails in Senate: SB1409, the bill to revise and extend tax incentives for motion
picture production, passed after reconsideration by the Senate. Those who
switched their votes noted the economic boost the bill would bring. The AZ
AFL-CIO supports SB1409. Read
the bill summary.
Bill to Protect Payday Loans Stopped: Although a bill to
reauthorize the hated payday
loan industry previously failed a committee vote, supporters of payday loans
were set
to try again last week. Nevertheless, facing a lack of support from
legislators, the strike everything amendment to HB2035 was pulled from the
Senate Finance Committee agenda. The AZ AFL-CIO was opposed. Read
the bill summary.
Clean Elections Saved (For Now): Arizona’s
campaign public financing system was the target of several bills this session.
Yet, each was withdrawn from committee agendas when it became clear that
supporters could not garner enough votes. SCR1009 and SCR1043 would have
referred to voters misleading language banning the use of “taxpayer money”
in elections and redirecting the scant Clean Elections funds towards education,
respectively. The major backer of these bills was the Arizona Chamber of
Commerce;
the AZ AFL-CIO was opposed. Read summaries of SCR1009
and SCR1043.
Anti-labor bill passes House committee: A bill creating new
regulations and fines on picketing passed out of the House Commerce Committee
by a party-line vote. SB1242
faces only a few more votes before reaching the governor’s desk. The AZ AFL-CIO
is strongly opposed. Read
the bill summary.
Drastic, budget-busting tax cut bill passes: Not long after the legislature passed
devastating cuts to children’s health care, the Senate Finance Committee passed
“Arizona’s Job Recovery Act” HB2250. With its steep tax cuts for business
taxpayers, the bill puts more
of the tax burden on homeowners and ultimately amounts to corporate welfare.
The
AZ AFL-CIO is opposed. Read the Arizona Budget Coalition fact
sheet on this bill.
TAKE ACTION NOW!
Call your Senator and ask them
to oppose “Arizona’s
Job Recovery Act”!
·
There is NO guarantee that
any jobs will be created by this bill.
·
Working Arizonans should not
have to suffer tax hikes while corporations get handouts.
·
This bill will undoubtedly
lead to more cuts to schools and state services.
Find your Senator here.
And their contact information here.
It only takes a second to
make your voice heard -----
TAKE ACTION NOW!
Hero and Villain of the Week
Hero of the Week: Dana Naimark of the Arizona
Budget Coalition
Villain of the Week: Speaker of the House Kirk Adams (R-Mesa)
At the Monday
Senate Finance Committee hearing for the so-called “Job Recovery Act,” Dana Naimark of the Arizona Budget
Coalition was a strong voice scrutinizing this misguided,
expensive bill. As big business lobbyists salivated over the tax cuts, Naimark
pointed out that “Ninety-eight percent of this bill is broad-based giveaways to
corporations, regardless of whether they create any jobs.” Read more about ABC.
Speaker of the House Kirk Adams,
our Villain of the Week, claimed “Without this bill, unemployed Arizonans will
have to wait several years longer for significant economic growth and high-wage
jobs to return to our state.” Yet, in an apparent acknowledgement of the bill’s
huge cost to Arizona’s
budget, a Senate amendment will delay the enactment of much of the business tax
cuts for several years. As a result, even if these corporate tax breaks were
able to create jobs, they would take effect perhaps years after the recession
ends. The end of this phony, expensive, and ineffective “Job Recovery
Act," on the other hand, can’t come too soon.
Contact Us
All are invited to join the weekly lobbyist meeting
to plan efforts and collaborate on tactics.
Meetings are held Fridays @ 12:00 at 5808
N. 7th Street. Please RSVP to intern@azaflcio.org.
Find the Arizona
AFL-CIO on Facebook and Twitter
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=30350411298&ref=ts
http://twitter.com/ArizonaAFLCIO
