AFSCME LEGISLATIVE REPORT June 29, 2007

[Omaha Steve]

Below are the top stories of the week from Capitol Hill.

AFSCME LEGISLATIVE REPORT
June 29, 2007

In this issue:

* Senate GOP Leaders Block the Employee Free Choice Act
* Comprehensive Immigration Reform Deal Collapses in Senate
* House Schedules Major Spending Bill for Floor Action
* Hearings Spotlight Insurance Companies' Efforts to Fleece Medicare Beneficiaries and Undermine the Solvency of Medicare
* House Committee Passes Bill to Reverse U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Pay Discrimination
* Alternative Minimum Tax Hearing Held by Senate Finance Committee
* Senate Panel Approves Health Information Technology Bill
* Congressman Waxman Raises Alarm on Excessive Federal Contracting
* House Committee Approves "Green Jobs"
* Senate Committee Clears New Process to Approve Generic Biotech Drugs
* FAA Reauthorization and Labor Disputes

Senate GOP Leaders Block Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)
On Tuesday, Senate GOP leaders used a filibuster to block the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800) legislation that would limit the ability of employers to stop their workers from choosing to organize. While the Senate voted 51 to 48 in favor of EFCA, it was not enough to end the filibuster, which requires 60 votes. Sen. Arlen Specter (PA) was the lone Republican to join Democrats in support of the bill. Every Democrat voted for EFCA except for Sen. Tim Johnson (SD) who has been absent while recovering from a stroke. While the Senate failed to approve EFCA, the vote was a milestone on the road to achieving labor law reform. Knowing that a vote with majority support would add to the momentum for reform, the business community had lobbied furiously to keep support for the bill below the 50 vote threshold. The House passed H.R. 800 on March 1 by a vote of 241-185.
(Marge Allen- [e-mail])

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Deal Collapses in Senate
For the second time this month, the Senate failed to garner the 60 votes needed to limit debate on comprehensive immigration legislation (S. 1639), which in all likelihood means that the bill is dead for the rest of this Congress. In a major defeat for President Bush, only 46 Senators voted for the measure, 12 of which were Republicans. The Senate's draft bill included beefed-up border security and enforcement, a long road to earned citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and a large guest worker program without a path to citizenship. As the bill moved through the Senate, it catered increasingly to the interests of employers at the expense of both immigrant and U.S.-born workers, as more and more anti-family and anti-worker provisions were adopted.
(Fran Bernstein- [e-mail])

House Schedules Major Spending Bill for Floor Action
The House bill that sets spending levels for programs in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education will be debated on the floor of the House on July 17. After six years of neglecting domestic priorities, the Congress is making new investments in programs that serve ordinary Americans and fund AFSCME jobs in state and local government. AFSCME is strongly supportive of the legislation.

However, the President has threatened to veto this domestic spending bill even as his Administration continues to spend billions on the war in Iraq. The President and GOP congressional leaders are pressuring House members to oppose this important bill. It is critical that House members, especially moderates, hear from constituents about the need to fund critical domestic services.
(Barbara Coufal- [e-mail])

Call Your Representative Toll Free Today at 1-888-460-0813!

Urge your Representative to vote for the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill. Tell him/her to invest in the vital services on which ordinary Americans rely. Tell your Representative that it is time to invest in America's priorities.

Hearings Spotlight Insurance Companies' Efforts to Fleece Medicare Beneficiaries and Undermine the Solvency of Medicare
The House held two hearings this week focusing on private Medicare Advantage plans. In response to lobbying by the insurance industry, Congress enacted legislation in 2003 to provide substantial subsidies for these private Medicare Advantage plans, which are not Medicare supplemental plans but a private alternative to Medicare.

Because the private plans are guaranteed extra payments to cover Medicare beneficiaries, insurance companies have waged aggressive marketing campaigns to sign up seniors. Witnesses told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the abusive, misleading, and fraudulent sales tactics used by insurance companies to lure Medicare beneficiaries out of the tried and true Medicare program. Advocates for seniors testified that beneficiaries are told "Medicare is going private" or that they will lose their Medicare or Medicaid unless they sign up for a particular plan. The Committee heard from beneficiaries who did not realize that under the private plans they would be forced to pay higher out-of-pocket costs for physician visits, home health care and hospitalization.

At the House Budget Committee hearing, the Congressional Budget Office and the independent Medicare Payment Advisory Commission testified that the private plans are paid on average 12 percent more to cover a beneficiary than it costs traditional Medicare to cover the same beneficiary. Recalibrating the overpayments would save taxpayers and Medicare substantially, $150 billion over 10 years. Overpayments to private plans are costing all Medicare beneficiaries an extra $24 a year in Medicare Part B premiums. The continual increase in guaranteed overpayments threatens the solvency and security of the Medicare program.

The testimony provided at the two hearings contributes to the evidence that the attempt to privatize Medicare is not in the best interests of beneficiaries and Congress must act to secure Medicare and protect Medicare beneficiaries by reining in the runaway overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans.

The battle to fight against the privatization of Medicare will continue in July when House and Senate committees will develop and consider legislation to reduce the excess payments and to use some of the savings to reduce cost sharing for low-income Medicare beneficiaries and tend to other needs.
(Linda Bennett- [e-mail])

House Committee Passes Bill to Reverse U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Pay Discrimination
By a vote of 25-20, the House Education and Labor Committee passed legislation this week that would rectify the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear, which made it more difficult for workers to pursue pay discrimination claims. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007 (H.R. 2831) would clarify that every paycheck that is a result of an earlier pay decision constitutes a new violation of the Civil Rights Act, giving a worker 180 days from the last discriminatory paycheck to file timely discrimination charges. And, the legislation would make it clear that employees who are victims of discrimination are entitled to up to two years of back pay, as already provided in the Civil Rights Act. The legislation would apply to discrimination based on race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, or disability. In Ledbetter's case, the Court ruled that she had waited too long to sue for pay discrimination because she had not filed her charge within 180 days of the employer's decision to pay her less, even though she filed shortly after she was alerted to the pay discrimination.
(Fran Bernstein- [e-mail])

Alternative Minimum Tax Hearing Held by Senate Finance Committee
Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) said at a hearing on the alternative minimum tax (AMT) that the Senate will likely pass another temporary adjustment this year to prevent the middle class from becoming subject to the tax. But, members of the House Ways and Means Committee said they will continue moving ahead with their permanent repeal package, which is expected to be offset by tax increases on top earners.

The AMT was enacted to ensure that the nation's wealthiest taxpayers could not use legal deductions and credits to escape paying some minimum tax. But since the tax has never been indexed for inflation, more and more middle-income taxpayers have become subject to the tax. Congress has passed a series of temporary "patches" that limit its reach, but without further action, about 23 million taxpayers will be required to pay the tax for 2007. One key issue in the debate is how to pay for any changes, since the 11-year cost of repealing the AMT is estimated at more than $870 billion. Finance Committee ranking minority member Charles Grassley (R-IA) says he will re-introduce legislation to repeal the tax without specifying another source of revenue to replace it. But Baucus made it clear he intends to pursue another temporary "patch" at a cost of about $50 billion for one year. He is looking for ways to offset the cost since the new "pay-go" rules require that the lost revenue be paid for with new revenues or spending cuts.
(Ed Jayne- [e-mail])

Senate Panel Approves Health Information Technology Bill
On Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) approved the Wired for Health Care Quality Act (S. 1693), a bill that is aimed at encouraging the development of a national interoperable health information technology (HIT) system. Such a system would allow patient care records to be shared electronically among health care providers in order to better coordinate care between providers and reduce medical errors. At AFSCME's urging, providers receiving technology grants or loans under the bill would be required to get the input of health care workers and take it into account when developing their systems. AFSCME is also working with consumer organizations to strengthen the privacy protections in the bill.
(Barbara Coufal- [e-mail])

Congressman Waxman Raises Alarm on Excessive Federal Contracting
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, this week released a report showing that annual spending on federal government contracts has exceeded $400 billion for the first time, with more than half of that amount awarded without full competition. The report also placed the value of wasteful contracts at over $1 trillion.
(Nanine Meiklejohn- [e-mail])

House Committee Approves "Green Jobs"
The HELP Committee this week approved "green jobs" legislation that will become part of the House energy bill. The legislation is designed to make federal funds available for labor management partnerships to train workers in emerging alternative energy occupations. The legislation also includes funding for state employment service and unemployment compensation agencies to develop and provide labor market information on emerging jobs in alternative energy industries and to refer and counsel job seekers interested in careers in this sector. The funds would be awarded by competitive grants so not all states would qualify if the legislation is enacted. Similar legislation has been approved by the Senate.
(Nanine Meiklejohn- [e-mail])

Senate Committee Clears New Process to Approve Generic Biotech Drugs
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved a bill (S. 1695) this week to give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to approve generic versions of biotech drugs. Biotech drugs or "biologics" are products made from biological substances. Examples include insulin for diabetes treatment, many hormones and the anemia drug Epogen. Under the bill, the FDA would have to determine that a generic biotech drug was safe and effective and presented no greater clinical risk than the original product. The relevant House committee plans to consider similar legislation in the fall.
(Linda Bennett- [e-mail])

FAA Reauthorization and Labor Disputes
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill (H.R. 2881), which includes language that would provide for binding arbitration in labor impasses between FAA and its unions.

The committee adopted, 53-16, an amendment, offered by Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Jerry F. Costello (D-IL), that would establish a binding arbitration process for contract disputes. Committee Republicans fought Costello's amendment, which the Bush Administration also opposes. The Senate FAA reauthorization bill also includes a provision for binding arbitration.
(Jayne Clancy- [e-mail])

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