Category Archives: Politics

6-10-13 AFT-NH Legislative Update By President Laura Hainey. Included SB100, HB1 and HB2, and More

  By New Hampshire Labor News | June 10, 2013 - 10:12 am | ,
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aft sqaureLET THE GAMES BEGIN

This past Thursday the State Senate attached SB 100: AN ACT authorizing electronic payment of payroll to HB 357: AN ACT prohibiting an employer from using credit history in employment decisions and authorizing electronic payment of payroll. HB 357 has strong support from labor, working families and the unemployed.

It seems that SB 100 is a priority of Senator Bradley and it is a shame he would jeopardize a much needed and supported bill.

Keep in mind that SB 100 will affect all public employees in New Hampshire. This bill will do the following:

  • Deletes the requirement that an employer who pays wages by electronic fund transfer offer employees the option of being paid by check.
  • Permits an employer to pay wages with a payroll card after offering employees the option of being paid by direct deposit.

We understand that many employees do receive their paycheck by direct deposit but there are many who prefer the paper check and they should still have this option. What is most shameful is that if this passes it can be imposed on employees, thus taking away their voice at the work place.

Now that the bill has been amended and the House is not in session until June 26th this will be sent to a committee of conference.  We ask the committee make the recommendation to pass HB 357 without the amendment of SB 100.

BUDGET UPDATE

There will be a presentation on June 11th at 1 p.m. in LOB 210, by the LBA regarding Senate changes to HB 1 and HB 2, followed by a presentation by the House Ways and Means Committee, on revised revenue estimates.

As I stated last week there is good and bad in this budget and AFT-NH will monitor this presentation and the Committee of Conference. To review all the documents on the proposed budget click here.

HB 142 RELATIVE TO TEACHER EVALUATION SYSTEMS.

The first Committee of Conference on HB 142 has been scheduled for June 11th at 10 a.m. in LOB 207. The house appointed Representatives Anne Grassie, Mary Gile, Mary Gorman, and Rick Ladd, while the senate appointed Senators Nancy Stiles, John Reagan, and Molly Kelly.

AFT-NH is opposed to this bill as amended. It does include the involvement of teachers but it left out “Nothing in this paragraph shall supersede collective bargaining rights under RSA 273-A”.  We ask that the committee reinstate this language back into the bill.

2013 HOUSE COMMITTEE OF CONFERENCE PROCEDURES
(This section was taken from House Calendar Volume 5, Number 44, date June 7, 2013).

The Chairmen of the policy committees will receive bills amended by the Senate and should check with their committees to determine whether to recommend that the House concur, non-concur, or non-concur and request a Committee of Conference.

When a committee requests that the bill be sent to a Committee of Conference, the Chairman will recommend members for appointment. If the bill has gone to more than one committee, the members may come from the different committees as determined by the Speaker. Chairmen should recommend only those members from their policy committees. The Speaker shall make the final decision of Conference committee members, and the committee choices are generally limited to those who support the House position.

The first named House member shall serve as Chairman of the House Conferees. For House bills in Committee of Conference, the House Conferee Chairman shall set the time and place of the first meeting with the Clerk’s Office and shall chair each meeting of the Committee of Conference. Each meeting shall be posted in the Clerk’s Office and outside the committee room at least 24 hours in advance. [House Rule 43 (c)]. If a Committee of Conference meeting recesses, the reconvening time shall be posted in the Clerk’s office and outside the committee room.

The House and Senate Conferees on a bill shall meet jointly but vote separately while in conference.

The Committee of Conference may not change the title of the bill. The Committee also may not add amendments that are not germane to the subject matter of the bill or contain subject matter that has been indefinitely postponed. A non-germane amendment is one in which the subject matter is not contained in either the House or Senate version of the bill. [House Rule 49 (g)]

The sponsor of a bill that is in Committee of Conference shall, upon request, be provided an opportunity to be heard.

A unanimous vote of both the House and Senate Conferees, voting separately, is necessary for an agreed upon report to be sent to the House and Senate.

Reports of all Committees of Conference must be filed with the Office of Legislative Services by the June 20, 2013 deadline adopted by the House. All Committee of Conference members must sign their reports in the Office of Legislative Services by June 20, 2013 by 4:00 p.m.

The first-named House member on all bills in Committee of Conference must prepare an analysis of the report. This “blurb” should contain a complete explanation of all changes made to the bill since it was passed by the House and must be submitted to the House Clerk for printing in the calendar.

All Committee of Conference reports shall be distributed in seat pockets to be acted on some subsequent day. [House Rule 49 (f)].

See House Rule 49 for more information.

If you have any questions or concerns please email me at lhainey@aft-nh.org.

In Solidarity,
Laura Hainey
AFT-NH President

NH Senate Play Parliamentary Politics With Your Paycheck

  By New Hampshire Labor News | June 7, 2013 - 8:39 am | , ,
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NH House

Last week we reported on how the NH House killed two bills (SB 100, SB 153) that were directly targeted at the NH Public Workers.   In a sneaky parliamentary trick the Senate added both these bills as amendments.

“The Senate voted on 13-11 party line votes to add to these measures bills that would let employers issue payroll cards – not a paper check – to their employees, and to require all union bargaining contracts to get a vote of approval from the Legislative Fiscal Committee.”
(Kevin Landrigan — Nashua Telegraph)

SB 100 is a bill that would remove the option for workers to receive a paper paycheck and in turn would deliver your paycheck on a rechargeable debit card.  The problem with this is that the debit card has fees associated with it. This means that you are going to have to pay to collect your own money.

“SB 100 would have been purposefully harmful to employees, creating additional fees and expenses for them to collect and use their paycheck, and specifically avoiding sharing that information upfront”
(Zandra Rice-Hawkins — Granite State Progress)

Last week the House killed SB 100 in a 253-93 vote.  The language of SB 100 has been added “to a House bill barring employers from using credit histories in hiring decisions”

SB 153 is the even more contentious anti-union legislation.  This bill would allow the budget oversight committee to either approve or deny any union contract with state employees.  This was an attempt by the Senate President to insert the legislature into the collective bargaining process.

State Rep. Linda DiSilvestro (D-Manchester) said, “the proposed committee will politicize the negotiation process.”

Sb 153 was also killed by the House in a 191-135 vote. SB 153 was added “to a House bill barring businesses from demanding employees’ social media account passwords”

Neither of these bills have any support in the House. However the GOP led Senate believe these bills are important enough to resurrect them and attach them to a bill that must pass.  This is dirty politics.  This attempt to pass legislation that has already been killed by the House means it has no chance of actually sticking to the budget after the bill is reviewed by the ‘committee of conference’.

This partisan attack on workers by the Senate has not gone unnoticed and will not be tolerated.

Right Wingers Attack Senator Shaheen Over The ACA

  By Matt Murray | June 6, 2013 - 6:45 pm | , ,
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Image from Senator Shaheen's Website

With nearly a year and a half to go until the next major election, the mud is already flying.  This week, Citizens for a Strong New Hampshire went on the offensive against Senator Jeanne Shaheen.   Their $110,000 ad buy is focused on Senator Shaheen’s vote for the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare).

The Citizens for a Strong New Hampshire is a well know conservative group focused on blocking any and all parts of the ACA.  The have also been all around the state opposing the Medicaid Expansion.  Both the ACA and the proposed Medicaid expansion (which failed to pass the NH Senate today as I am writing this) is about helping those people who do not have insurance.

The ACA extends healthcare to millions of Americans who have no other choice. Millions of Americans are turn away from insurance providers because they have pre-existing conditions. These chronic diseases allow insurance companies to deny coverage to these people in their time of need.  The ACA expressly prohibits this type of activity.

According to the Nashua Telegraph the ad says:

“Now, employers may cut your weekly work hours from 40 to 29 to avoid the new taxes and penalties. Fewer hours. Less money. Tougher times. Tell Sen. Shaheen you can’t afford ObamaCare,” a narrator says.

Here is the truth, corporations have been doing this long before the ACA was even proposed.  Healthcare is one of the biggest costs to a company. This example that Citizens for a Strong NH is using is a corporate trend.  It is another example of distorting the truth.  New Hampshire is more of a small business state.  Over 90% of NH small businesses already provide healthcare to their employees.

The ACA is actually saving the government money and the new healthcare exchanges are showing direct savings to workers. Recently reports started to surface that the ACA has added two years to the Medicare trust fund. By closing the Medicare prescription drug loophole Medicare has saved over $20 million dollars alone. In New Hampshire that saved seniors an average of $660 per year.

People in California are excited because the cost of healthcare under the ACA exchange is coming in lower than anyone ever expected.

“The most affordable silver-level plan is charging $276-a-month. The second-most affordable plan is charging $294. And all this is before subsidies. Someone making twice the poverty line, say, will only pay $104-a-month.”

Specifically New Hampshire have seen numerous benefits from the ACA already.  Over 100,000 Granite Staters have already qualified for tax credits to purchase healthcare they could not afford before. Countless thousands have been protected from lifetime limiting bans. Even more have received preventative care at no charge from their private insurance companies.

Yet with all of these positives conservative groups like this are determined to derail the program before it is fully implemented.  It seems that politics have become dirtier and dirtier with every passing election. Now we do not even have to be in an election season for right-wing   groups to begin their smear campaigns against one of New Hampshire’s most beloved politicians.

Brace Yourself This May Hurt: NH Senate Moved Forward With Job Killing Budget

  By Matt Murray | June 6, 2013 - 6:00 pm | , , , ,
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NH House-2

Yesterday labor leaders from throughout New Hampshire stood in the Legislative Office Building urging NH Senators to restore the proposed cuts to the NH Budget.

Well as you have probably already heard the NH Senate passed their budget with millions in cuts.   Yesterday at the press conference NH AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie stated:

“They are attacking New Hampshire middle class families by cutting jobs, cutting critical services and following an extreme agenda that comes from the same out of state special interests that fueled last session’s tea party behavior.”

Diana Lacey, President of the NH State Employees Association (SEIU 1984) really hit home in her explanation of these cuts.

“The Senate budget makes across-the-board cuts at DHHS and directs the Governor to reduce personnel costs by $50 million over the biennium. This means the elimination of as many as 700 jobs.  These workers provide critical services, pay taxes and contribute to the state’s economy. They are real people that will go on the unemployment line and go from self-sustaining to potentially needing public assistance instead of providing vital services for the state.”

If you remember that the last budget under Bill O’Brien cost New Hampshire over 1000 jobs. This budget would add another 700 to that.

Labor is not the only ones who are loosing as a result of this budget vote.  The Senate voted along party lines to reject the Medicaid expansion as part of the Affordable Care Act.  Their vote rejects the $2.5 Billion over the next seven years, to cover the cost of expanding the Medicaid program.  So much for the state helping those needy families or the new jobs that would be created.

One other area that was noted at yesterdays press conference was the issue of Voter ID.  You may not think this is a budget issue but it is.  The State of New Hampshire will have to come up with over $11 million dollars to cover the costs of implementing phase two of the Voter ID law as passed last term.  Jessica Clark from America Votes told the crowd:

“They are willing to cut jobs and harm critical programs in our state, but waste taxpayer money on needless Voter ID legislation, which is project to cost up to $11 million over the next four years. Senate Republicans need to turn away from their misguided budget priorities that will harm New Hampshire families and voters.”

After today’s vote Governor Hassan had these stern words for the Senate:

“While there are clearly areas of agreement around critical priorities such as higher education, mental health funding, and economic development, the budget passed by the Senate still falls short in a number of areas that are imperative to moving our state forward. The across-the-board cuts to Health and Human Services and employees will impact critical services and cause hundreds of layoffs, and the rejection of $2.5 billion in federal funds for Medicaid expansion undermines efforts to strengthen our economy and improve the health and financial wellbeing of New Hampshire’s working families.

“As the process moves forward, legislators will need to take a bipartisan approach, set ideology aside, and listen to the people of New Hampshire in order to reach a final a balanced budget that reinvests in the priorities needed to build a more innovative economic future.”

The Senate Democratic Leader, Sylvia Larsen released this statement after the vote:

“This budget will cost hundreds of jobs and eliminate critical services for Granite Staters by sweeping, across-the-board cuts. The Senate Republican Budget forces the Health and Human Services Commissioner to cut millions of dollars threatening  funding for the developmental disability waitlist, the CHINS program, mental health care, community health centers, and family planning.”

“Although, I have serious concerns about this budget, I hope that by the end of the budget committee of conference, we in New Hampshire can rise above ideology and move forward with common sense solutions that meet the needs of our citizens.”

The budget process is far from over.  Now that the Senate passed their version of the budget a ‘committee of conference’ will be created to work out the differences between the two budgets.  This is where you can expect some serious fireworks and horse trading. The committee should be working to strengthen NH, not increasing our unemployment.

NH Senate Says NO to Medicaid Expansion

  By Arnie Alpert | June 6, 2013 - 2:07 pm | , ,
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NH Senate Medicaid Vote 6-6-13 Inzane Times

 

NH Senate Medicaid Vote 6-6-13 Inzane TimesVoting strictly along party lines, the GOP controlled New Hampshire Senate today voted 13 to 11 to reject the expansion of Medicaid under the terms of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).  The vote sets up a conflict in a House-Senate Committee of Conference that could start as early as next wSenate Budget Vote 6-6-13 030eek.   

Expanded Medicaid would provide insurance coverage to an estimated 58,000 New Hampshire residents, paid for 100% by federal dollars for the first three years.  

The Senate also approved a budget that makes $50 million in unspecified personnel cuts that could lead to hundreds of layoffs.   This, too, could be altered by the conference committee.  

On their way into today’s session, the Senators had to wade through dozens of pro-worker and pro-Medicaid activists to get into their chamber.  NH Voices for Health, which brings togSenate Budget Vote 6-6-13 001ether health care providers and advocates, has been working hard to rally support for expanded Medicaid.  The State Employees  Association will lead efforts to stop the personnel cuts, which would not only hurt workers and their families but also reduce the quality of services offered to state residents.

The effort will escalate over the next few weeks as Representatives and Senators continue the budget debate, perhaps right up to the June 30 end of the fiscal year.   

 

Republished from InZane Times by Arnie Alpert

Unions Prevail In Fight To Keep ‘Knives Off Planes’

  By Matt Murray | June 6, 2013 - 8:17 am | ,
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Knife

One of the biggest reasons workers join unions is to improve the safety of their working conditions.  In some cases, the union stands up to oppose changes that would reduce the already safe conditions of their workers.  This was the case after the Department of Homeland Security changed their policy to allow knives on commercial flights.

This policy change brought outrage from many of the organizations who represent workers in the aviation industry.

On May 6, The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) was one of nine organizations representing over 400,000 aviation professionals, passengers and law enforcement officers that filed a legal petition with Transportation Security Administrator John Pistole and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, urging them to rescind the policy change and keep the knife ban in place.

“I commend Secretary Napolitano and Administrator Pistole for listening to our concerns and having the wisdom to withdraw this proposal in light of the grave safety and security risks to our members at TSA, to the flying public and aviation employees,” Cox said.

After today’s announcement to rescind the policy  the Transportation Worker Union President James C. Little released this statement:

Three months ago, on March 5, and every day since, our union and others concerned about passenger safety urged that a policy shift that would allow sticks, knives and clubs on planes be reversed.  The leadership of TSA listened and they should be commended for taking the advice of flight attendants and other workers at commercial airlines charged with passenger safety.

This is a very important issue to The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) who is the exclusive representative for the more than 45,000 Transportation Security Officers. TSO’s screen all commercial airline passengers, baggage and cargo.

AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr. released this statement after today’s announcement:

“This decision is the right one for the safety and security of every Transportation Security Officer, airline passenger and aviation employee.”

“In addition to the lessons learned on 9/11 about the threat of terrorists armed with knives, our concern is for our members who are assaulted far too often by irate passengers. Keeping the knife ban will help keep those confrontations from escalating,” Cox said.  

 

AFL-CIO President Trumka On Currency Exchange Reform Act

  By New Hampshire Labor News | June 5, 2013 - 3:42 pm | , , ,
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Richard_Trumka

Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2013

The Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2013 sends an important message that this nation will no longer tolerate currency manipulation by other governments. This wrongful and unfair practice distorts the global economy and disadvantages countries like the United States that follow international trade rules. The growth of these illegal actions has cost far too many jobs over the past several years. We call on the House and Senate to take action on this issue without delay.

Working people are proud of the leadership from Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Richard Burr (R-NC), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Bob Casey (D-PA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Susan Collins (R-ME) to introduce this important the bipartisan legislation.

In addition to supporting this bill, the AFL-CIO supports companion legislation in the House, The Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act of 2013 (H.R. 1276). Considering the continuing job-destroying impacts of currency manipulation, there should be strong bi-partisan support in both the House and Senate.

When foreign governments manipulate currency, they give producers in their country an unfair advantage.  When a country’s currency is devalued by 25 percent, that means US exports are 25 percent overpriced by comparison, while our imports from that country are underpriced by the same amount. Not only does this unfair practice severely damage the US manufacturing sector, it also means that workers in those countries suffer from reduced purchasing power themselves.  The result on the U.S. trade deficit has been devastating—last year, the U.S. ran a trade deficit of more $315 billion dollar in trade in goods with China alone.

Congress must stand up for American manufacturing and put an end to the trade war being waged against the working families and communities. Our country needs to create millions of good jobs now. We can no longer afford to be passive in the face of these illegal job-killing practices.

Do Not Let The Senate Steal Your Voice In The Workplace

  By Matt Murray | June 5, 2013 - 12:59 pm | , ,
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National_Labor_Relations_Board_logo_-_color8

NLRB 1With all the trumped up scandals in Washington right now it is hard to keep track of what is going on.  The GOP are furious about Benghazi, even after Hillary Clinton stated she requested additional security funding.  Now there is an issue with the IRS.  Yes it is wrong to target political groups for extra scrutiny but none of the groups were actually hard either.  As the politicos in Washington battle over these issues some of the other important issues are going unnoticed.

Did you know that in less than two months the entire National Labor Relation Board could be effectively closed. The NLRB is where workers go to make their case when their rights have been violated by their employer. Without a functioning NLRB, workers would have no place to go to have their grievances heard and employers will continue to trample the rights of their employees.

Currently the NLRB has only three of its five members. Two seats are vacant. When Board Chairman Mark Pearce’s term expires in August, the Board will be down to two members, which is not enough to form the quorum the Board needs to make decisions.  The US Senate is set to take up the five new appointments by President Obama sometime this summer.  The Senate Republicans are well-known for being obstructionists who oppose anything that is being proposed by President Obama.  First we must overcome this obstruction before we can even begin to discuss filling the board with new members.

As previously stated the NLRB key in protecting the rights of working people. They ensure that workers have the right to free speech without fear of termination.  Time and time again the NLRB has ruled in favor of workers who are exercising their freedom of speech online.

Aside from all the advocacy groups pushing their agendas, social media is based on people talking about what is going on in their lives.  For some this is pictures of the fancy dinner they are eating or their daughters dance recital.  For others it is a chance for people to vent to the world about something that happened to them at work.  These rants about their employers have led to the termination of some employees.  This is why we need the NLRB.  The NLRB has ruled that employees were unjustly fired for speaking out against their employer, if they were speaking out in order to improve their situation at work.

The Communication Workers of America highlight three excellent examples of how the NLRB is protecting your voice in the workplace.

  • Social Media Policies: When T-Mobile USA revamped its social networking policy, it made anonymous comments on social media websites an offense that could result in termination. It was the company’s latest attempt to silence workers who had been articulating workplace issues and discussing joining the Communications Workers of America (CWA) on worker forums, Facebook and Twitter. CWA filed an unfair labor practice charge, asserting that this was a violation of employees’ “protected concerted activity” under the NLRA. But before the case went to trial, T-Mobile USA agreed to a settlement. The company was required to inform all of its employees that they may discuss work-related issues on Facebook and similar websites without fear of reprisal.More recently, because of another CWA charge, a NLRB judge ordered DISH Network to change its social media policy that prevented workers from making “disparaging or defamatory” comments about the company. The policy infringed on employees’ rights, as workers could “reasonably construe” this rule to mean they can’t criticize their employer’s labor practices.
  • Talking about your boss: At Bettie Page, a woman’s clothing store in San Francisco, a group of employees had lodged a number of complaints with the store owners about their manager’s unprofessional behavior. Frustrated with being ignored, employees finally took to Facebook. Holli Thomas posted, “needs a new job. I’m physically and mentally sickened.” Vanessa Morris responded that the manager is “as immature a person can be” and Brittany Johnson agreed that “bettie page would roll over in her grave.” Thomas, Morris and Johnson were fired on trumped up charges. But they filed a complaint, and a NLRB judge found that they lost their jobs as a direct result of their Facebook activity. Bettie Page had clearly violated the worker’s “protected concerted activity” rights under the NLRA, and the judge ordered that it reinstate the three clerks with compensation for any loss of earnings and benefits.
  • Discussing Work Conditions: At Hispanics United of Buffalo, a nonprofit social services provider in New York, Mariana Cole-Rivera started a Facebook thread, asking, “Lydia Cruz, a coworker feels that we don’t help our clients enough at HUB. I about had it! My fellow coworkers how do you feel?” Her colleagues immediately voiced their support, writing, “Try doing my job. I have five programs” and “What the hell, we don’t have a life as is.” Cole-Rivera and four caseworkers who responded to her lost their jobs. But the NLRB found that their posts were the type of “concerted activity” for “mutual aid” that is expressly protected by the NLRA, since it involved a conversation among coworkers about their terms and conditions of employment, including their job performance and staffing levels. The judge ordered that the fired workers be fully reinstated to their jobs with back pay.

These examples highlight the need for workers to have a place to go where their issues can be heard.  The NLRB is already overloaded due to the two vacant seats and this means that workers who are awaiting a hearing are waiting months to have their termination potentially overturned.  This puts an enormous financial strain on those people forced to wait for a hearing.  If the Senate does not take action before August the entire NLRB would effectively closed down, essentially silencing workers voices.

We need to protect our freedoms and our rights at work. To do this we need and NLRB that works.  We need the Senate to take quick action to approve the Presidential appointees.
In a related note, CWA President Larry Cohen went on the Ed Show explaining the importance of the National Labor Relations Board and what must be done to ensure that all 5 members are confirmed by the Senate.

What Will The NH Senate Do About Medicaid Expansion???

  By Matt Murray | June 5, 2013 - 12:05 pm | , , ,
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Medicaid Expanison Rally

Medicaid Expanison RallyNew Hampshire is at what is unfortunately shaping up to be an ideological crossroad. Do we as a state expand Medicaid or not.

Both the left and the right agree that expanding Medicaid would help tens of thousands of Granite Staters.  They quibble over the number of people who are uninsured versus the number of under-insured who would leave private insurance for Medicaid.  Obviously having Medicaid (which has no cost to the resident) is better that paying a premium for private health insurance.  Then again you have to be living at the poverty level already to qualify for Medicaid.

There are other disagreements in this debate.  One of the main reasons that people are opposed to expanding Medicaid is because they do not pay healthcare providers as much as private insurance.  Hospitals say that the difference between Medicaid payments and private insurance is a loss. Yet even with those losses the NH Hospital Association is pushing for the expansion.  Why, because a lower payment for care, is better than no payment for care.

The Affordable Care Act marketplaces (or exchanges) do not provide subsidies to everyone.  Medicaid is also a very restrictive program when it comes to who qualifies. Expanding Medicaid will bring the two programs closer together.  These are the very poor. These are the people who could not afford to buy healthcare even if they had the option.  They are children, pregnant women,  seniors, and people with disabilities.

Here is where the ideology comes into play.  The Medicaid expansion is part of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare).  With the expansion comes large amounts of federal funding. In fact the federal government has agreed in the law to pay 100% of the  costs for expanding Medicaid for three years. Then they will pay 90% from then on.

The opponents of the Medicaid expansion want you to believe that the federal government will not uphold their end of the deal.  They say that they will not pay the 100% as they say they would.  Here is the deal, this is a federal law.  There is no question about whether or not they are going to pay for it, they have to.  The only way out of it, is to change the law. After 37 attempts to repeal it, the law is not going away.

Every day there is news about how the new ACA marketplaces are going to save middle to low-income families vast amounts of money in their healthcare costs.

Opposing the expansion means that NH will lose out on $250-$300 million dollars in federal funding. Once again the opponents are attempting to detour the expansion by using the federal deficit. They are trying to say that expanding Medicaid is the reason we have a deficit problem.  This is an ideological fight that neither side can win.  The right wants austere cuts to social programs to reduce the budget, while the left wants to cut defense spending and re-invest in America.  The opponents of the ACA seem to be overlooking that even before the ACA is fully implemented it is already saving the federal government hundreds of millions dollars.

Here is the best part of the Medicaid expansion. If for some reason the federal government does not fund the program at 100% like they say, NH can immediately go back to the previous levels.  They can back out of the expansion at any time. The US Supreme Court already ruled that Medicaid expansion was not mandatory under the ACA. The means the expansion is voluntary, and NH can walk away at any if the program fails for any reason.

I implore the NH Senate to listen to the people of New Hampshire who need your help.  Listen to the over 25,000 low wage workers who would benefit from this expansion. They need you to vote to expand Medicaid.  Listen to the hospitals who in favor of the expansion, because some reimbursement is better than no reimbursement.  Do not leave 22,000 needy families without healthcare another day.

Iron Workers Call on Congress to Break Gridlock on Infrastructure

  By New Hampshire Labor News | June 4, 2013 - 8:30 pm | , , ,
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IronWorkers International Logo

Washington, D.C. – Iron Workers’s General President Walter Wise issued a call Friday for Congress to address the problem of America’s crumbling infrastructure.  “The collapse of the Skagit River Bridge in Washington serves as a reminder that this can’t wait until after the next election,” said Wise, adding that “infrastructure maintenance and improvement is not a partisan issue.”

President Wise points to years of poor reports on the state of the country’s infrastructure to make the case that action on this issue is long overdue.  The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the country’s bridges a grade of D+ this year.  The Washington bridge collapse and the 2007 collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minnesota illustrate the pressing safety threat posed by substandard bridges.

The Ironworkers have also called for high standards in bridge construction.  They point to the San Francisco Area Bay Bridge, which has been built using substandard Chinese steel and fabrication. To date, the bridge has suffered numerous failures and delays related to its materials and construction.  Amid continuing reports of these setbacks, the federal government has begun an investigation and California Governor Jerry Brown has called for a review of the California Department of Transportation.

Unfortunately, none of these problems can be addressed without congressional action.  Senate gridlock resulting from an unprecedented 360 filibusters from the Republican minority has destroyed even the bi-partisanship normally associated with infrastructure investment and safety.  “Unemployed construction workers and at-risk commuters are all waiting on Congress to do what’s right for the American people.” Wise concludes, “How much longer will they have to wait?”

About the Iron Workers: The International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Union, AFL-CIO, currently represents 120,000 ironworkers in North America who work on bridges, structural steel, ornamental, architectural, and miscellaneous metals, rebar, and in shops.