AFL-CIO Legislative Update

April 19, 2010

In this issue

1. News Highlights

2. State Capitol Update

3. Hero & Villain of the Week

News Highlights

Amidst Goldman Sachs Fraud, Financial Regulation Moving Forward

        Since President Obama signed the health care reform bill, Congress is now focused squarely on financial reform targeting the big banks that drove the country into recession. As early as this week, the Senate could be voting on a financial reform bill that creates new protections for consumers and regulations to end the need for more bailouts.  Read more on reform. 

            The need to reign in big banks is underscored by the recent accusations of fraud by the investment firm Goldman Sachs, known for its excessive executive pay. The federal government launched the investigation, which targets a mortgage deal that allowed the company to profit off the decline in the housing market at the cost of its own clients. Read more about the Goldman Sachs fraud.

        The AFL-CIO recently spotlighted in its Executive Paywatch report the nearly $10 million salary that Goldman Sachs CEO earned last year. Read the Executive Paywatch report.

Short-Term Jobless Aid Breaks Republican Stranglehold, Obama Signs

By Mike Hall, From the AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

After a nearly month long tantrum by Republican senators that cost hundreds of thousand of workers their unemployment insurance (UI), the U.S. House and Senate finally approved legislation to extend UI benefits through June 2 and President Obama immediately signed it.

But with unemployment still remaining at an official 9.7 percent and more than two in every five unemployed workers out of work for more than six months and more than five jobless workers for each job opening, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says Congress must pass a yearlong extension “so working families don’t face Republican obstruction and uncertainty every single month.” Read more about unemployment benefits. 

State Capitol Update

Senseless Immigration Enforcement Bill Passes House: SB1070 would require law enforcement officials to check the status of suspected undocumented immigrants and practically require the enforcement of federal immigration law— a recipe for racial profiling of Hispanics and less safe communities. The bill now heads to a final vote in the Senate today and then to the Governor’s desk. The Arizona AFL-CIO is strongly opposed. Read more from The Arizona Republic.

Drastic, budget-busting tax cut bill passes: Not long after the legislature passed devastating cuts to children’s health care, last Monday the Senate Finance Committee passed “Arizona’s Job Recovery Act” HB2250. With its steep tax cuts for big business without nearly any requirement that they create new jobs, 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.

Bill Attacking Teachers on Governor’s Desk: HB2227 reenacts punitive policies hitting teachers that are now the subject of a lawsuit against the state. Among other things, the bill would prohibit school districts from making employee retention decisions based on tenure or seniority; furthermore, districts are authorized to make salary reductions “in any manner and at any time,” according to the AEA. The AZ AFL-CIO is opposed. 

TAKE ACTION

Contact the Governor to ask her to VETO these bad bills.

Phone: (602) 542-4331 Email: azgov@az.gov

 VETOES from Governor Brewer are the final chance

to stop corporate tax cuts and attacks on teachers and immigrants.

Hero and Villain of the Week

Hero of the Week: Attorney General Terry Goddard

            Last week Attorney General Goddard took to Washington, D.C. to promote the state’s opportunities for economic development and, in particular, touted Luke Air Force Base as a potential training base for the new F-35 fighter jet. "As the first such public-private effort in the more than a decade, we showed a strong, bipartisan, cooperative spirit," said Goddard. Luke Air Force base is an economic engine for the West Valley, supporting jobs in the area and billions in economic activity. Goddard has previously sued the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors for allowing reckless development to infringe on the base’s ability to host the F-35 training effort. Read more about Goddard's efforts.

Villains of the Week: Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl

            This past week, Arizona’s two senators turned their backs on millions of Americans out of work and in need of help. Senators McCain and Kyl voted against a long-delayed extension of jobless benefits and COBRA health insurance assistance. Senate Democrats were ultimately able to break through Republican obstruction, passing the bill, which was signed by President Obama a short time later.

            Sen. McCain faces a bruising primary election with former Congressman J.D. Hayworth. By the latest poll by Rasmussen, McCain and Hayworth are nearly neck and neck at 47% - 42%. McCain's campaign war chest, however, is still significantly larger. 

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.