Funnel Week
It has been an exciting first few weeks at the Capitol. This week is funnel week. This is the point in the legislative session where, if a bill has been passed out of committee, it can be funneled to the House floor for a vote. At the beginning of the session both parties stood and made a very clear statement that their focus would be to rebuild the State from a devastating year of natural disasters and help over 80,000 unemployed Iowans get back to work. We will see if the majority party will help deliver on that promise, or if they will to continue getting distracted with legislation that does nothing to put unemployed Iowans back to work.
We have seen an overwhelming amount of people contacting us about a wide range of issues such as various labor bills, the bill that would strip Iowa of its electoral votes, the bicycle laws, or all the insurance mandates. I want to encourage all of you to be involved and do not be afraid to voice your concerns about these pressing issues. The decisions made here on a daily basis affect all of our lives.
Fair Share
This week HF 555 was read in and assigned to the Labor Committee. This bill is commonly known as “Fair Share” by the people who introduced it. Many feel this would repeal Iowa’s Right-to-Work law. Right-to-Work laws guarantee that no person can be compelled, as a condition of employment, to join or not to join, nor to pay dues to a labor union. In 1947, the Taft-Hartley amendments to the 1935 National Labor Relations Act affirmed States’ rights to pass Right-to-Work laws. Iowa has been a Right-to-Work state since 1947, just after the Taft-Hartley amendments were enacted.
HF 555, which was introduced this week, would repeal the Right to Work provisions afforded to Iowa’s public employees and force fair share fees upon public non-union employees. The “fair share fee” would be the amount charged to an employee (covered by a bargaining unit) who is not a member of a union to cover the costs incurred (by the union). HF 555 also amends the Right-to-Work protections against forced payment of union dues and fees for public employees (section 20.8) by notwithstanding current law to require payment of the fair share fees for non-union employees of a group covered by a bargaining unit. Additionally, HF 555 requires that negotiations include whether a fair share fee shall be charged to nonmembers of the union.
Public Safety
Many communities in Iowa rely solely on the brave persons who serve their EMS or fire department on a volunteer basis. HF 82 is aimed at ensuring the safety of their employment when they miss work due to their duties as volunteer service providers. The legislation would protect an employee from being terminated for joining a volunteer service organization. It would also protect an employee from being terminated because they miss work while fulfilling the employee’s duties as a volunteer service provider. With nearly 20,000 Iowans serving as volunteer service providers, this issue affects many individuals and employers. While the bill is aimed at protecting volunteer service providers, the concerns of those in the business community were addressed as well. First, an employee will have to notify their employer when they join a volunteer emergency service organization. This will protect employers by notifying them of those employees who may miss work due to their duties and who will be protected under this legislation. When an employee misses work while they are responding to an emergency, an employer can deduct that missed time from their wages. Additionally, if an employee is currently at work and wants to respond to an emergency, they will have to make a reasonable effort to notify their supervisor before leaving. The employer will then have discretion over whether that employee may leave work at that time. With HF 82, volunteer firefighters and EMS will have a clear policy that protects their employment when they join and participate in a volunteer service organization. Employers will also have a clear policy as to their rights when handling employees who miss time while fulfilling their duties as volunteer service providers.
State Budget
On March 20th, the REC (Revenue Estimating Conference) will meet to review the estimates for FY 2009 and FY 2010 general fund revenue. Unless revenue increases in the next two weeks, the REC could decrease FY 2009 by $100 million or more. Even if the REC keeps the FY 2010 estimate at its current mark (-0.4 percent), FY 2010 will be decreased by the FY 2009 amount because base revenue will decrease. (Meaning that the “new” -0.4 percent would be $100 million less that the “old” -0.4 percent.) That would mean the FY 2009 budget would again be out of balance and the FY 2010 budget recommendations by the Governor and budget targets by the Democrats would be meaningless.
Electoral College
I was happy to hear that Governor Culver and Secretary of State, Michael Mauro, parted ways from the Democrat leaders Senator Mike Gronstal and Senator Staci Appel. In my previous newsletter I explained how Iowa could become irrelevant with the passage of SF 1128. We still need you to stay involved. This issue is far from dead.