AFL-CIO Legislative Update

April 26, 2010

In this issue...

1. News Highlights
2. State Capitol Update
3. Hero & Villain of the Week
4. Upcoming Events

News Highlights
Brewer signs immigration bill despite uproar: What comes next?
        As the nation watched, Governor Jan Brewer put her signature to the nation's most strict immigration enforcement law on Friday. Among the bill's provisions, which take effect 90 days after the legislative session ends, is a requirement that officers check the immigration status of a person where "reasonable suspicion" exists. That language has opponents of the bill concerned about racial profiling against Hispanics. 
        "Immigration reform must occur, but it needs to occur starting with the federal level and not at the expense of civil rights of American citizens," said State Senator Richard Miranda. According to State Representative Kyrsten Sinema, many groups plan on filing lawsuits over SB1070. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon will also ask the Phoenix City Council to support a suit, and even President Obama is said to have requested the U.S. Department of Justice to examine the bill. 
        The Arizona AFL-CIO is opposed to SB1070, especially as it erodes trust between police officers and their communities and places yet another unfunded mandate on local law enforcement.

Richard Trumka and Rebekah Friend Demand Wall Street Be Held Accountable
        Wall Street banks need to regain our trust by helping to rebuild the good jobs they destroyed. That’s the message from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Arizona AFL-CIO Executive Director Rebekah Friend in an opinion piece published in the East Valley Tribune.
        “Unbelievably, after $700 billion in taxpayer bailout dollars, the big banks are back to business as usual. They are still not lending in their communities, and credit remains tight” wrote Trumka and Friend. The two called on Wall Street to stop fighting common sense financial reforms and help pay for job creation efforts in Arizona, which has lost nearly 300,000 jobs since the recession started. Read the opinion piece. TAKE ACTION.
  
State Capitol Update
Although SB1070 was rightfully in the spotlight last week, there are more bills moving through the Arizona State Legislature worth keeping an eye on.

New push to end Clean Elections: Arizona corporations are now targeting the state’s campaign public financing system head on. SCR1009 will ask voters in November to repeal Clean Elections, which was itself enacted by voter initiative in 1998. SCR1009 as amended passed the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday with a strike everything amendment that removes the deceitful language of previous bills but is substantively similar. The AZ AFL-CIO supports Clean Elections because the system helps participating candidates stay accountable to voters in their districts. Read more from the Arizona Daily Star.

KidsCare gets a second chance: Following the passage of health care reform through Congress, new requirements on states are forcing Arizona lawmakers to repeal the drastic, misguided cuts they made to health insurance for children. On Wednesday, SB1043 passed the House Health and Human Services Committee unanimously. The AZ AFL-CIO supports the bill so far as it restores the funding cuts and makes the state eligible for nearly $8 billion in federal Medicaid funds. However, we also call on legislators to take steps to end the enrollment cap that will cause more and more children to go without health insurance in coming years. Read more on the bill at the East Valley Tribune.

Punitive education policies signed by governor: HB2227 reenacts the changes made to education policy last year and puts job security for teachers and school employees further at risk. The AZ AFL-CIO was opposed. Read the HB2227 fact sheet.

Republicans Spar Over Corporate Tax Cut Bill: The “Arizona Jobs Recovery Act” pushed by the Republican leadership in the House is now facing opposition from Governor Brewer. Speaker of the House Kirk Adams’ bill HB2250 would enact dramatic tax cuts for corporations, shift the property tax burden on to homeowners, and put a $650 million dollar hole in the state’s budget when fully implemented. Gov. Brewer, who is backing the Proposition 100 temporary sales tax, is said to be uncomfortable enacting business tax cuts at nearly the same time. She has proposed an alternative “Arizona Jobs Package” that may be debated in the legislature in the coming weeks. The Arizona AFL-CIO is opposed to giveaways to corporations as the Republican-controlled legislature smacks state workers with furloughs and layoffs. Read more about Brewer and Adams’ proposals.

Hero & Villain of the Week

Heroes of the Week: Voices Against SB1070

Villain of the Week: Sen. Russell Pearce (R-Mesa)

        Although Governor Brewer ultimately signed SB1070, Arizonans quickly mobilized against the bill earlier in the week. By last Monday, the Governor’s office received more than ten times as many calls or email against the bill than for it. Thousands more took to the State Capitol to protest. The countless individuals, elected officials and organizations that spoke out against SB1070 are the Arizona AFL-CIO’s Heroes of the Week.
        Unsurprisingly, our Villain of the Week is the bill’s sponsor, Senator Russell Pearce of Mesa. While former Governor Napolitano vetoed many of Pearce’s senseless immigration bills, SB1070’s passage is now Pearce’s signature “accomplishment”— to the detriment of the rest of Arizona. As protestors of many stripes rallied at the State Capitol, Pearce derided them as “anarchists.”
        The Arizona AFL-CIO heartily disagrees, and believes this bill will have a grave impact on the ability of police to fight crime. Under SB1070, cities can no longer choose to prioritize the pursuit of dangerous criminals over the arrest of undocumented immigrants who may have committed no other crimes. This unfunded mandate to enforce federal immigration law will further drain the resources of police agencies and allow more dangerous criminals to roam our communities. This law “could eat up a lot of manpower and cost a lot of money,” according to Brian Soller, President of the Mesa Fraternal Order of Police.

Upcoming Events

The Association of Flight Attendants, Council 66 (CWA, AFL-CIO) needs your participation at their rally & picket event on Wednesday, April 28, 2010. This is an important & crucial date for this demonstration, as it coincides with US Airways’ annual media day event. Media from around the country will be present, and they need their message to be heard loud and clear!

WEDNESDAY
APRIL 28, 2010
8:00 AM TO 2:00 PM
TEMPE TOWN LAKE PARK ENTRANCE
CORNER OF MILL & RIO SALADO
ACROSS FROM US AIRWAYS CHQ

Click here to RSVP via Facebook and learn more.

 
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.