Tag Archives: Senate

Educators to Urge Congress to Approve Immigration Reform

  By New Hampshire Labor News | June 11, 2013 - 5:45 pm | , ,
Comments
AFT Logo

WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers members and leaders from seven states will be on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, urging their members of Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform, including the DREAM Act.

The educators will be attending a 10 a.m. briefing at the AFL-CIO with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, then meeting at 11:45 a.m. with U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Xavier Becerra, (D-Calif.) in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 562. Finally, they will head to meetings with U.S. Senate and House staff.

They will be asking the congressional members to support and vote for comprehensive immigration reform—the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act—that provides a reasonable roadmap to earned legalization for 11 million people, strengthens worker protections and keeps families together. They also will be advocating for a stronger DREAM Act to give hardworking students, who came to the United States by no fault of their own, an opportunity to pursue a college degree or enter the military and be eligible for financial aid or student loans.

Reporters, including those from California, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin, are welcome to join the educators or otherwise talk with them about their congressional meetings. Meetings that have been confirmed are listed.

  • Jose Cabrera, executive board member, San Jose (Calif.) Evergreen Faculty Association.
  • Julita Lizardo and Aileen Mercade, Baltimore, Md., teachers.
  • Meeting with staff of Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) at 11:30 a.m.
  • Jonathan Saiz, an Albuquerque, N.M., teacher.
  • Meeting with staff of Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) at 11 a.m.
  • Meeting with staff of Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) at 2 p.m.
  • Melanie Pores, New York State United Teachers immigration specialist.
  • Meeting with staff of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) at 11:30 a.m.
  • Montserrat Garibay, vice president, Education Austin; Louis Malfaro, secretary-treasurer, Texas AFT; and George Rangel, executive vice president, Alliance AFT (Dallas). Joining them will be Garibay’s sister, Julieta, who is a registered nurse but cannot practice because of her immigration status.
  • Meeting with staff of Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) at 2:30 p.m.
  • Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director, Voces de la Frontera; and Mike Rose, president Milwaukee Area Technical College.
  • Meeting with staff of Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) at 1:30 p.m.
  • Ryan Frankenberry, AFT West Virginia political director.

MY Letter To Editor On Medicaid Expansion

  By Matt Murray | May 1, 2013 - 1:30 pm | ,
Comments
Matt Murray

Originally published in the Nashua Telegraph.

Recently there has been a lot of discussion over whether or not New Hampshire should push forward with the Medicaid Expansion. This is currently being considered in the NH Senate. I hope that my State Senator Peter Bragdon is listening. We need to include Medicaid Expansion in the State budget.

Medicaid Expansion will be good for New Hampshire and especially the low-income working families who cannot afford healthcare right now. The expansion will provide quality healthcare including preventative care for more than 50,000 Granite Staters.

Senator Bragdon is well known for being a fiscal conservative and the Medicaid Expansion bill makes good fiscal sense as well. The expansion will create hundreds of new jobs in the healthcare industry. The expansion will bring billions of dollars into the state and that will help to strengthen the New Hampshire economy.

As a resident of Merrimack, I implore Senator Bragdon to support Medicaid Expansion. I encourage his constituents in Amherst, Merrimack, Milford, and Wilton to do so as well. He can be reached at 603-271-8472.

Who cares about hungry families? Maybe not the Senate – but your letter carrier does

  By Liz Iacobucci | April 26, 2013 - 10:20 am | , ,
Comments
2013_Stamp_Out_Hunger

Congress is getting really good at pulling together just-after-the-last-minute political deals.

The latest deal passed the Senate unanimously last night.  (What? No filibuster?)  Apparently everybody agreed it would be a good idea to give the Federal Aviation Administration a special exemption to Sequestration.

“Just days after forced unpaid leaves for controllers began, delaying thousands of flights — 876 flights were delayed on Wednesday alone” the Senate decided that maybe Sequestration wasn’t such a good idea after all – at least not when it starts to affect the traveling public.  Read more here.

The bill is expected to pass the House today.  FAA furloughs should be a thing of the past before the Senate goes on vacation next week.

Wow. That was fast. But it’s a real shame that the Senate doesn’t care as much about hungry families as it cares about flight delays.

Take the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program (WIC), for example.  Even while Congress was debating Sequestration, “a number of state and local WIC agencies took steps to reduce their costs.  For example, some clinics laid off staff…  Some states closed or consolidated clinics… Some clinics reduced service hours…  making it harder for low-income women to apply for benefits, especially working women.”  (Read more here.)  And when the dust finally settled on this year’s budget, Congress had appropriated 7% less funding for the WIC program than it received last year.

Sequestration cut federal funding to food pantries, even though the number of people relying on food pantries is still rising.  Some pantries are hoping local benefactors will fill in the gap.  Other pantries are just closing.

Around the nation, Meals on Wheels programs are feeling the cuts.  One program in North Carolina – which has 200 people on its waiting list – is losing funding equivalent to 12,000 meals.  In Maryland, another Meals on Wheels program may be forced to cut its service from five days a week to only four.

The Sequester has hit Federal unemployment benefits, too.  About 15% of unemployed workers now receive extended unemployment benefits that are funded by the federal government.  The Sequester means those benefits will be cut by about 11% for the rest of the fiscal year.  Families’ choices about food versus housing, and which overdue bill to pay this week, are about to get a lot harder.

None of these programs are even on the radar screen, as the Senate prepares to leave town for vacation.  But flight delays?  That got solved by the Senate in record time – unanimously, to boot.

Wow.  What does that say about the priorities of our Congress?  (Read “The Republicans Make an Offer on Sequestration” here.)

Now, look at the priorities of the National Association of Letter Carriers.  Going door-to-door every day, postal carriers know the hunger problem in America all too well.

For more than two decades, the NALC has held a one-day food drive to help restock food pantries across the country.  This effort “is the country’s largest one-day food-collection effort. Last year, we picked up more than 70 million pounds of non-perishable food donations, which brought our grand total from more than two decades of collections to 1.2 billion pounds.”

2013_Stamp_Out_HungerThis year’s NALC “Stamp out Hunger” food drive will be held Saturday, May 11th (the day before Mothers Day).  Don’t forget to leave your sack of non-perishables out by your mailbox.  Want more details?  Click here.

AFL-CIO President Trumka Comments On NLRB Nominations

  By New Hampshire Labor News | April 9, 2013 - 7:30 pm | , ,
Comments
Richard_Trumka

President Obama, with the nominations announced today, has taken an important step toward restoring stability to our system of labor-management relations, which has been in disarray since the DC Circuit’s decision in the Noel Canning case.   For America’s workers, businesses and the promotion of healthy commerce, putting forward a full, bi-partisan package of nominees to the NLRB is the right thing to do.

The package includes individuals who have challenged recent actions by the NLRB and who have views on labor relations matters that we do not agree with. But working people need and deserve a functioning NLRB, and confirmation of a full package will provide that stability. The labor movement understands that when the NLRB is not at full strength and cannot enforce its orders, America’s economy falls out of balance, as it is today with record inequality and a shrinking middle class. We urge members of the Senate to act quickly and confirm the President’s full slate of nominees.

Senate committee votes 3-2 against HB 370, voucher repeal (ANHPE)

  By Advancing New Hampshire Public Education | April 9, 2013 - 5:00 pm | , ,
Comments
Bill Duncan

Senators Peggy Gilmour (D, Hollis) and Molly Kelly (D, Keene) were eloquent at the Senate Health, Education and Human Services Committee today, making the case that the voucher tax credit lacks oversight and accountability, takes money from public schools to send it to private schools that do not promise a better education and is bad tax policy.  But their arguments fell on deaf Republican ears.  After a 16 minute debate, captured below by Granite State Progress (thank you!), the committee voted 3-2 along party lines to recommend Inexpedient to Legislate on HB 370.

Sen. Gilmour recommended that the scholarship organization, Network for Educational Opportunity, put its energy into raising scholarship funds in the normal way, without a large tax credit subsidy.  She was impressed with a private school student who testified but wondered why the family was waiting for the state voucher program while not applying for the school’s own scholarship program.  She went on to point out that the Senate had just passed a one page expansion of the R&D tax credit while the education tax credit required 9 convoluted pages of legislation.  Sen. Gilmour compared the lack of oversight and accountability in the voucher program with the very successful Community Development Tax Credit, with its lower (75%) tax credit and high level of oversight, accountability and credibility.

Sen. Kelley was especially animated about the erroneous implication that the private schools the kids would attend were better than New Hampshire’s own public schools.  There’s are always many ways to improve, she said, but that’s where we should be putting our attention and money, not into private schools.  In her statement on the vote, Sen. Kelly said, ”This bill repeals a private school voucher program that diverts public funds away from our public schools and directs private, non-profit corporations to allocate taxpayer dollars with no oversight or accountability…”  She went on to say:

“The Voucher Program became law last year when the super-majority Republican Legislature overrode then-Governor Lynch’s veto of SB372. It was a misguided venture then and the same is true today. I voted against this bill last year and I will be consistent and vote for the repeal this year. A bad policy is bad policy, no matter if it’s law or not.”

 Ensuring a quality education for all of our students must be a legislative priority. I will not vote to undermine the education of the nearly 200,000 students that attend NH public schools in favor of the few who will have the opportunity to attend private and/or religious schools. At a time when the legislature has levied record budget cuts to our public colleges and universities — including Keene State — it is irresponsible to appropriate and direct millions in public money to private schools.”

Sen. Reagan (R, Deerfield) made the point he frequently does about how bad New Hampshire, and all American, public schools are…falling in the world rankings, etc. (a frequently repeated myth, discussed here and here).  He used another of his speaking opportunities to make the point that the businesses donating scholarships are obviously successful because they have taxes to pay and, as such, are well qualified to allocate some of the State’s $11 million dollar budget.  (Don’t believe me?  Go to minute 11:30 in the video.)

Sen. Sanborn (R, Bedford) offered the non-sequitur that the businesses have the right to make their own choices about where to contribute money, possibly making the implicit assumption that the businesses also have  the right to an almost dollar-for-dollar tax-payer subsidy for those choices.

The chair, Sen. Stiles (R, Hampton), moderated the meeting and voted with the Republican majority.

The bill will probably be brought to the Senate floor when the Senate returns to session on April18.

 

Originally Posted at ANHPE

Rep. Mary Stuart Gile’s Senate testimony on her voucher repeal bill, HB 370

  By Advancing New Hampshire Public Education | March 24, 2013 - 2:30 pm | ,
Comments
NH House

“Good afternoon. For the record, I am Mary Stuart Gile and I represent Merrimack District 27, which includes Concord Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, & 7. I am the prime sponsor of HB 370-FN, an act repealing the education tax credit program. There are multiple reasons for doing so. Mine are as follows:

1. Constitutionality, The NH Constitution (Part I-Art 6 and Part II-Article 83) specifically prohibits public funds from going to religious schools. The Education Tax Credit program as enacted is dependent on revenue intended for the general fund as Business Profit Tax (BPT) or Business Enterprise Tax, (BET) and diverting it through an intermediary, non-profit, scholarship organization, to be used as tuition to private schools, out-of-district public schools and possibly religious schools. Currently, the constitutionality of the education tax credit/voucher is before the Superior Court with a decision anticipated in mid-April.

2. Fiscal impact – 3.4 million this year; 5.1 in 2014 and up to 135 million in a decade, given our current fiscal constraints, can NH communities afford this? And the $2500/student scholarship may sound tempting to parents but it falls far short of tuition for secular schools, which range from $5000/student to $25,000/student in NH.

 

3. Research – Studies over twenty years show no statistical difference in student achievement between students attending private school on vouchers and those in public schools. In fact public school students in Milwaukee, Cleveland and Washington, DC outperformed students with vouchers when test scores were weighted to reflect socioeconomic level, race and disability. Further, in a 2011 audit report on Milwaukee‘s parental choice program, which is the nation’s oldest, established in 1990, little difference was found in the achievement scores between students in the City‘s private school voucher program and a matched sample attending Milwaukee‘s public schools. But the voucher program cost more per pupil.,

4. Accountability -Prior to the Education Tax Credit/voucher legislation, the BPT and BET went into the State Education Trust Fund and General Fund and were accountable to NH tax payers. There is absolutely no educational or fiscal accountability plan in the 2012 Education tax credit statute for any of this money to anyone!

5. History: The education tax credit is risky education policy and a poorly conceived piece of legislation that was initiated in 2011 by the Network for Educational Opportunity, (NEO), formerly known as the ‘Alliance for the Separation of Schools and State.’

The Alliance or NEO was incorporated in California in 2000 as a non-profit organization and its current board of directors all reside outside of NH. NEO’s stated purpose is ‘provide and support a variety of educational programs and promulgate publications designed to increase public understanding and acceptance of school systems independent of government funding and control.’ Many of the Proclaimations asserted by NEO or the Alliance are particularly inflammatory regarding our Nation’s public schools. The legislation creating NH’s education tax credit was crafted in collaboration with NEO and introduced and passed in both the House and the Senate in 2012 .

After the legislation passed, NEO registered as a non-profit in NH in August, 2012 and is the only non-profit scholarship organization that has applied so far. Beyond their stated purpose, NEO’s goals are to discredit and preferably dismantle public education. In their literature, this is because public schools are controlled by the government and subject to all the ills of government bureaucracy and power, including the ‘use of force to secure their audience,’ (their language, not mine).

Obviously, NEO was unfamiliar with the fact that NH is a local control state, that while local, state and federal funds provide support for educational programs, decisions about accepting such funds, curriculum, teacher evaluation, student activities etc are all made by local school boards made up of community folks who dedicate their time to ensure that their students have the best education possible. Often at the same town meetings that have just been held around NH. Hardly big government

NEO/ Alliance promotes parent choice. NH parents already have choices…publicly funded charter schools, including the Virtual learning Academy School which is a model for the country, home schooling , open enrollment schools, public schools and any combination of these. All of these opportunities are inclusive to students of all income levels, and learning styles and abilities. Public schools unlike private schools are not selective

NEO may also have been under the impression that NH students are behind others in the nation which is far from the truth. NH students in the most recent NAEP tests scored in the top ten in the country in mathematics and reading. NH is not a Mississippi, or Alabama or even a Louisiana.

Of Course there’s always room for improvement, but 20 years of research and data do not support vouchers or education tax credits as the way to improve student learning.

The education tax credit legislation was created by an organization from California that knew nothing about our education system, How it was funded or how it worked. They proposed a plan that disregards our commitment to funding an adequate education for every NH child and includes targeted funds for children receiving free and reduced lunch, and that students who meet specific criteria receive the support that they need.

And the irony in all of this is, as a non-profit organization registered in NH, there is nothing to stop NEO from raising funds and establishing a foundation to provide scholarships to anyone. It would take more time and the scholarships might be much smaller in amount, but they could do it, without taking money from NH’s general fund and Education Trust Fund. There would be no limitations on how the scholarships were distributed and many of the religious schools could benefit.

In closing, I have served in this House for 17 years. In December, 2012, I was appointed chair of the House Education Committee, which tells you that my primary concern is Education Policy in NH. I have been an educator for over 45 years, including 17 years in the classroom, preK-college, (all income groups); 16 years as a consultant with the NH Dept of Education in ECE and Title 1,ESEA; ( state-wide responsibilities and parent involvement); 6 years as VP for Education and Development for the AAS (gifted and talented)and chair and professor of Early Childhood Education at NHTI, Concord’s Community College. I have three degrees including a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Vanderbilt University. I am also a Mother of 4 adult children and 2 adult grandchildren, (all graduates of Concord’s public schools, with some private school and home schooling as well). I am a parent, an educator and an advocate for public education. History has proven that with all its challenges, our Nation’s commitment to public education is what has made America, the greatest Nation in the World.

Lastly, our primary responsibility as legislators is to ensure that our public schools and the students who attend them are receiving the best education that we can provide and the financial assistance as required by current law, which includes adequacy funding, catastrophic aid, vocational education tuition, transportation and building aid. These are our priorities. It does not make sense to continue a program where we voluntarily decrease state revenue collection in business taxes. We cannot ask our local communities to absorb any more loss of funding and we should not continue a program that so far has proven of no educational value.

Madam Chair, and Honorable Senate Colleagues, the education tax credit is bad legislation that we simply cannot afford. I hope you will support the House of Representatives majority vote of OTP on HB 370. Thank you

Reposted from ANHPE

There are more statements on the ANHPE site

1. http://wp.me/p2OKqy-BA

2. http://wp.me/p2OKqy-Br

3. http://wp.me/p2OKqy-Bm

United Steelworkers Union & Sen Sanders Want Congress To ‘Keep Social Security Promise’

  By New Hampshire Labor News | March 10, 2013 - 12:21 pm | ,
Comments
Sen Bernie Sanders

USW Announces Support of ‘Keep Social Security Promises Act’

U.S. Sen. Sanders, Rep. Peter DeFazio introduce bills to strengthen benefits

Leo W. Gerard, President of the United Steelworkers (USW) today released a letter supporting today’s introduction of legislation by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) cosponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to strengthen Social Security by making the wealthiest Americans pay the same payroll tax that nearly everyone else already pays.

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) introduced the companion bill in the House. The legislation is titled: ‘Keeping Our Social Security Promises Act of 2013.’

“The United Steelworkers is proud to stand with you and support this vital legislation to protect the integrity and longevity of our nation’s retirement system,” Gerard wrote. “Your bill will make Social Security fully solvent for the next 75 years and do so without having to take the damaging actions some have so callously called for; such as raising the retirement age, or cutting modest benefits that often are the difference between a retirement lived in dignity, or one lived in fear and poverty.”

Sen. Sanders announced the bill at a press event in the U.S. Capitol, saying: “Social Security is the most successful government program in our nation’s history. Through good times and bad, Social Security has paid out every benefit owed to every eligible American.” He added: “The most effective way to strengthen Social Security for the future is to eliminate the cap on the payroll tax on income above $250,000 so millionaires and billionaires pay the same share as everyone else.”

Reid said of Sen. Sanders’ legislation: “His legislation should make people think twice before assuming that the only way to strengthen Social Security is to take away benefits that seniors have earned, or raise taxes on the middle class.”

Under their legislation, those with yearly incomes of $250,000 or more would pay the same 6.2 percent payroll tax already assessed on those who earn up to $113,700 a year. Applying the Social Security payroll tax on income above $250,000 would only affect the wealthiest 1.3 percent of Americans, according to theCenter for Economic and Policy Research.

Since it was signed into law 77 years ago, Social Security has kept millions of senior citizens, widows, widowers, orphans, and the disabled out of poverty.  According to Sen. Sanders, it is the most successful government program in our nation’s history and has not contributed to the federal deficit. Read the full billHERE. For a fact sheet, CLICK HERE. To read the USW support letter, CLICK HERE.

A legislative update from Laura Hainey and AFT-NH

  By New Hampshire Labor News | March 3, 2013 - 2:17 pm | , , ,
Comments

Like many of us, the Senate had this past week off, so the pace slowed considerably at the State House. The House also canceled its session on Wednesday due to weather so they will be catching up on full House votes this coming Wednesday (click here to read more). The full Senate will also convene this coming week on Thursday to take up votes (click here to read more).

The House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee recommended against passing HB 609: relative to possession of a firearm on school property, by a vote of 18 to 0. AFT-NH supports this recommendation to the House. This committee also made the recommendation of ‘Inexpedient To Legislate’ (defeat) HB 381: relative to citizen complaints against a police officer. AFT-NH supports this recommendation and urges all representatives to support the committee’s recommendations and vote to kill both bills when the full House votes.

On another front, the House Education Committee recommended ‘Inexpedient To Legislate’ on CACR 6 and CARC 7 relating to education. Both of these proposed constitutional amendments concern funding public education and leave full discretion in the hands of the elected representatives at the State House. These proposals are almost carbon-copies of CACR 12 from 2012, which was defeated. Keep in mind we have come a long way since the Claremont Decision. We cherish public education in NH, but we also know that in a difficult budgetary environment, one of the most tempting areas to make spending cuts is in State support of education, thereby downshifting costs onto localities.

CALLING ALL RETIREES OR SOON TO BE RETIREES –IT’S TIME FOR ACTION!

The New Hampshire House Finance Committee is hosting public meetings on Governor Hassan’s proposed budget, and we must take this opportunity to make our case publicly and vocally for the restoration of Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) for New Hampshire retirees.

We are requesting that every one of you turn out on Thursday, March 7, at Representatives Hall in the State House in Concord. The budget hearing runs from 4pm to 7pm.

Turnout is key. Our goal is to have as many members as possible – both active and retired – to project a unified voice that COLAs are necessary, deserved, and overdue. This event will not succeed without everyone’s support.

Please plan to arrive well before 4 pm. Other community members will be turning out, and we want to guarantee there are seats for you.

We will be providing brief talking points for you to use for your public testimony, and encourage you to tell your personal stories about how the lack of a COLA has personally affected you and your family.

Once again, we cannot succeed without your help. This is a critical opportunity for your voice to be heard.

STILL LOOKING FOR INPUT

The full Senate will be voting on SB 82, with a committee recommendation of ‘Ought To Pass.’ This bill establishes a commission for the purpose of identifying strategies for developing and implementing a competency-based public education. AFT-NH is staying neutral on this bill. We understand that moving to a competency-based system will take much time and consideration. AFT-NH hopes that the final report will recognize the complexities of such changes and include recommendations for adequate time and staff development for the educators charged with implementing this new system.

If you are currently moving forward in implementing a competency-based system and you have concerns, suggestions and recommendations please send them to LHainey@aft-nh.org. This way we can makes sure they are passed along to legislators.

As always, if you have any questions please email me at lhainey@aft-nh.org.

In Solidarity
Laura Hainey
AFT-NH President

UPCOMING HEARINGS FOR NEXT WEEK
Note the ones in red are priority bills for AFT-NH

MONDAY, MARCH 4

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND ADMINISTRATION, Room 306, LOB
10:00 a.m. Subcommittee work session on
HB 342-FN, relative to part-time employment of retired members of the retirement system,

HB 627-FN, requiring unused vacation and sick leave to be converted to service time for purposes of calculating retirement system benefits,

HB 364, requiring New Hampshire retirement system employers to notify prospective part-time employees who are retired members of the limitations on part-time employment,

HB 473-FN, relative to retirement system status for members of the university system police force.

TUESDAY, MARCH 5

CHILDREN AND FAMILY LAW, Room 206, LOB
9:30 a.m. Subcommittee work session on
HB 551, establishing a commission to study the establishment of a paid family leave insurance program, contingent on the availability of federal funds to be administered through the department of employment security and supported by a payroll deduction or other revenue source.
10:00 a.m. Executive session on
HB 433, relative to procedures for juvenile delinquency petitions filed by a school district or school official and establishing a committee to study the children in need of services (CHINS) program,
HB 551, establishing a commission to study the establishment of a paid family leave insurance program, contingent on the availability of federal funds to be administered through the department of employment security and supported by a payroll deduction or other revenue source,
HB 572, establishing a commission to study public/private partnerships for the treatment of abused and neglected children,
HB 578, relative to the determination of parental rights based on the best interest of the child.

EDUCATION, Room 207, LOB
10:00 a.m. Executive session on
HB 300, requiring postsecondary education institutions to compile and submit reports on remedial education courses,

HB 317-FN, relative to verification of school district membership data,

HB 474, relative to eligibility for in-state tuition rates at the university system of New Hampshire,

HB 533, relative to the mathematics requirement for high school graduation,

HB 603-FN, relative to the administration of the university system of New
Hampshire,

HB 624-FN, waiving the residency requirement for in-state tuition rates for veterans attending the university system of New Hampshire,

HB 629-FN, relative to designation as a high performance school for the purpose of qualifying for additional school building aid grants,

HB 631-FN-L, requiring school boards to establish a policy allowing parents to send their children to an out-of-district school,

HB 643-FN, establishing a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics scholars program,

HB 679, relative to renovations to the vocational technical center at Alvirne high school,

HB 680, relative to attending a public school or public academy outside of the school district in which the pupil resides.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND ADMINISTRATION, Room 306, LOB
1:00 p.m. Continued executive session on
HB 124-FN, relative to the determination of gainful occupation for a group II member receiving an accidental disability retirement allowance from the retirement system,

HB 342-FN, relative to part-time employment of retired members of the retirement system,

HB 364, requiring New Hampshire retirement system employers to notify prospective part-time employees who are retired members of the limitations on part-time employment,

HB 455, establishing a committee to study the use of a cash balance retirement plan for new state employees,

HB 620-FN-L, relative to the adjustment of member and employer contribution rates in the retirement system,

HB 627-FN, requiring unused vacation and sick leave to be converted to service time for purposes of calculating retirement system benefits.

FINANCE – (DIVISION II), Room 209, LOB
1:00 p.m. Work session on HB 344-FN-L, relative to aid to school districts for the cost of special education.

HEALTH, HUMAN SERVICES AND ELDERLY AFFAIRS, Room 205, LOB
10:00 a.m. Continued executive session on
HB 494, relative to the administration of glucagon injections for pupils.

LABOR, INDUSTRIAL AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, Room 307, LOB
1:00 p.m. Executive session on,
HB 178-FN-L, relative to binding arbitration in public labor relations disputes.

RULES COMMITTEE, Room 303, LOB
2:00 p.m. Regular meeting.
Executive session to follow.

THURSDAY, MARCH 7

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND ADMINISTRATION, Room 306, LOB
10:00 a.m. Continued executive session from March 5, if needed.

FINANCE, Representatives Hall
4:00 p.m. Public hearing on Governor’s proposed budget.

FINANCE – (DIVISION I), Room 212, LOB
Budget Work Sessions:
9:30 a.m. Public Employee Labor Relations Board.
10:00 a.m. Department of Labor.

FINANCE – (DIVISION II), Room 209, LOB
Budget Presentations:
1:00 p.m. Department of Education.

Capital budget presentations on the Governor’s Capital Budget:
3:00 p.m. Department of Education.

MONDAY, MARCH 11

FINANCE, White Mountains Regional High School, 127 Regional Road, Whitefield.
5:00 p.m. Public hearing on Governor’s recommended budget.

NH Community Technical College, 505 Amherst Street, Nashua.
5:00 p.m. Public hearing on Governor’s recommended budget.

MONDAY, MARCH 18

FINANCE, Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center, 111 South Street Claremont.
5:00 p.m. Public hearing on Governor’s recommended budget.

Rochester Community Center, 150 Wakefield Street, Rochester.
5:00 p.m. Public hearing on Governor’s recommended budget.

“Fighting For Our Future”
www.aft-nh.org

Think you have union rights? What Happens if there’s no NLRB?

  By Liz Iacobucci | January 25, 2013 - 5:13 pm | ,
Comments
Got Union Rights?

Got Union Rights?Earlier today, a federal appeals court ruled that President Obama improperly appointed three members of the National Labor Relations Board in January 2012.  The Court ruled that the Senate was “in session” rather than “in recess” when President Obama made the appointments, because the Senate held “pro forma sessions” – some lasting less than a minute – during their 20-day holiday break.

The Justice Department had reviewed the issue a year ago and determined that the recess appointments were constitutional.  Similar cases are pending elsewhere in the country — and other appeals courts could rule differently.

NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce announced today that the Board “will continue to perform our statutory duties and issue decisions” until the question is finally resolved, most likely by the Supreme Court.

That’s probably not the short-term outcome expected by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and the 41 other GOP Senators who were part of today’s lawsuit.

Probably, those GOP Senators expected to simply put the NLRB out of business.  Here’s how:

  1. In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the Board must have at least three members to act – voiding almost 600 decisions that had been issued by the NLRB during the 27 months it had only two members.
  2. The Senate GOP has used the filibuster to block President Obama’s nominations to the NLRB, both before and after that Supreme Court decision.
  3. If today’s appeals court ruling is upheld, then the NLRB will be left with only one Senate-confirmed member — and therefore without any authority to act.  (That would also overturn the hundreds of NLRB decisions made since last January.)

What does that mean to the country, if the NLRB has no authority to act?  Here’s how the Washington Post described this scenario, a year ago:

Workers illegally fired for union organizing won’t be reinstated with back pay. Employers will be able to get away with interfering with union elections. Perhaps most important, employers won’t have to recognize unions despite a majority vote by workers. Without the board to enforce labor law, most companies will not voluntarily deal with unions.

One more time: the NLRB can’t act unless it has at least three members.  The GOP Senators in today’s lawsuit are trying to invalidate three of the current four members, reducing Board to only one member.  And at last report, “GOP senators, including Graham and McConnell, had vowed to block confirmation of any new NLRB nominees.”

Think you’ve got union rights? 

Read more about the GOP’s assault on labor rights in The Hill here.

Take Action Today To Fix The Senate And End The Silent Filibuster

  By New Hampshire Labor News | January 17, 2013 - 8:00 am | ,
Comments
Fix the senate

If you’re like me, you are fed up with what’s been happening in Congress lately.

Important legislation that addresses the tough issues that we are facing never reaches the Senate floor.

The reason? Misuse of the filibuster.

The filibuster used to be an important tool that gave the minority a real voice in the Senate. But today Senators regularly hold “silent” filibusters, stopping important legislation without ever having to stand on the floor of the Senate to explain why.

We have a rare chance to fight back against business as usual in Washington. But we must act now, before the Senate votes on the rules for the new session of Congress.

Call your Senators at 1-866-937-5062 to demand change.

What do the DREAM Act, the Paycheck Fairness Act, the Employee Free Choice Act and DISCLOSE campaign finance reform have in common? All four bills passed the House of Representatives and gained majority support in the Senate. But they did not become law because of the silent filibuster.1

Many Senators are as frustrated as we are with this lack of progress. Senators Jeff Merkley and Tom Udall have introduced Senate Resolution 4 to fix the problem. Resolution 4 replaces the silent filibuster with the “talking” filibuster, to ensure that Senators who oppose a bill have to speak on the Senate floor to explain their objections.

It’s clear that in order to move our agenda forward we must fix the filibuster. Ask your Senators to co-sponsor Senate Resolution 4 today.

1The Washington Post, 17 bills that likely would have passed the Senate if it didn’t have the filibuster, December 5, 2012.