TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12 (PDF
version)
Peeking Behind the
Curtain
A Look at Legislation Affecting Working
Families
Don't forget
this week's WSLC Legislative Conference at the Olympia Red Lion. The
event is on Thursday, February 14th and starts at 8:30 a.m. Featured speakers
include our own President Rick Bender, Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown,
Speaker of the House Frank Chopp, Labor & Industries Director Judy Schurke,
Employment Secruity Commissioner Karen Lee and more.
This is a great
chance to explore the issues and understand why and how your state labor
council is working for you and all the working families in Washington State.
You will be briefed on the issues and then given the opportunity to join other
union members to visit directly with your legislators. This is your
chance to let them know why your heart is in it for working families
--and remind them why theirs should be too!
Visit www.wslc.org for
more information and to download an agenda.
Unintended
Consequences
Unemployment Insurance
legislation passed in 2003 now presents a roadblock for apprentices who apply
for UI benefits when they enter a Commissioner Approved Training program
(CAT). Two companion bills have been introduced to fix the unintended
consequences – HB 2967 and SB 6751.
Prior to the 2003 legislation
the Commissioner of ESD and his/her designees had broad discretion to make
decisions around UI benefits and voluntary quits. Historically, if the
apprentice candidate was not already working in the field, but was working in
a different type of employment they would give their employer notice that they
were leaving work to enter an apprenticeship program. They would then go to
the old job service center and file for UI benefits. The benefits were
approved case by case based on the history whether the worker met all the
requirements to receive unemployment insurance benefits and whether the
training was CAT. The net effect was that our apprentices received their UI
benefits while in training without there being a disqualifying voluntary quit
decision
After the 2003 legislation was
passed, and in particular, January 4, 2004 our apprentices more likely than
not got tagged with a disqualifying voluntary quit when they left their
previous job. Historical precedent was not longer considered. About 75
apprentices a year get caught under the new law and are disqualified from
receiving benefits even though they have the qualifying hours and are
participating in training that is otherwise considered CAT.
It is time to fix this unintended consequence
of the 2003 law change. We want to be encouraging young people and people of
color to be joining our apprenticeship programs not putting up roadblocks in
their way. Please support HB 2967 and SB 6751.
Highjacking
Doctors' Prescription Pads
Goliath is swinging
heavy punches toward David in the fight to create comprehensive, affordable
health care for all Washingtonians. This week’s battle is over HB 2664 &
SB 6241, the Prescription Privacy legislation.
The Healthy WA Coalition (David
in metaphorical terms) is fighting to protect the privacy and trust of the
doctor/patient relationship. They are advocating for both health care
providers and patients who overwhelmingly want to stop the pharmaceutical
companies from using data mining – that is the practice of purchasing
doctors’ prescribing records and using that information to market more
expensive (ie: non generic) drugs. It is disturbing to think that big drug
companies can manipulate the doctors through such intimate information.
Goliath, or Big PhRMA and their
allies, wants to keep making profits from their marketing strategies. The data
mining companies want to keep making their money from selling the prescribing
records. The American Medical Association wants to keep making their $20
million a year from selling the names of prescribing providers despite the
fact that the vast majority of doctors in WA are not members nor supporters of
the A.M.A.
So the battle is on: on one
side is the right to privacy, the integrity of the patient/doctor
relationship, and the efforts to drive down the costs of prescription drugs.
The other side is the desperate attempt by drug companies to keep their
profits by purchasing the prescribing records of doctors. Stay tuned to see
which side the legislature is on.
More
Health Care Legislation
Insurance Rate Accountability
bill: SB 5261, which will restore the
regulatory authority on the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, is heading
to the floor of the House for a vote. When this bill passes, the incredible
increases in premiums by the health care insurance carriers will once again be
regulated ensuring any increases reflect actual costs and not the desire to
maximize profits. This bill, which received the active lobbying support of the
Healthy Washington Coalition, has a decent chance of passing out of the House
next week and getting to the Governor's desk well before the end of the
session.
Envisioning the Future of
Health Care in Washington: HB 2536
& SB 6333, create a Citizens Working Group to analyze various health care
reform proposals and to initiate a robust discussion with all Washingtonians
about the need for quality affordable health care for all Washingtonians. They
have been voted out of their respective policy committees and are now to be
considered by fiscal committees. This legislation will create the foundation
for a future proposal, hopefully in the 2009 legislative session, that will
provide quality affordable health care for all. Stay tuned...this is a
biggie!!!
Injured
Worker Benefits
Benefits on Appeal: HB 3139
& SB 6750 provide injured workers their time loss and medical benefits
when an employer appeals a decision favorable to workers to the Board of
Industrial Insurance Appeals. We have been trying to achieve this fundamental
fairness for injured workers since 1989. This year, the bills have received
favorable votes from the policy committees and are moving through the process.
Stay tuned...we may need all of you to weigh in with your legislators on this
important workers comp. legislation.
"Specialized
Foster Parents" Deserve Rights
In 2006, state foster parents
affiliated with Washington Federation of State Employees /AFSCME. In 2007, a
task force proposed that foster parents, who care for children needing a
higher level of attention, specifically medically fragile and behaviorally
challenged children, needed a special classification of their own.
Now WFSE /AFSCME Council 28 is urging passage
of legislation extending collective bargaining rights to this new class of
specialized foster parents. The bill, SHB 3145, would affect about 2,000
foster parents and needs to clear the House Appropriations Committee by Feb.
12. We support their efforts.
Whistleblower
Protection
The Washington Federation of
State Employees/AFSCME Council 28 has initiated legislation to expand the
ability of state employees to report management impropriety through the state
Whistleblower Program.
SSB 6776 and HB 3193 would also
protect state employees from retaliation for expressing scientific opinions
that may differ from the official opinion of their agency. This provision
applies generally to three state agencies whose mission is based on science:
Ecology, Fish and Wildlife, and Natural Resources.
The State Employee Scientific
Integrity/Whistleblower Bill is supported by state Auditor’s Office and the
Government Accountability Project.
SSB 6776 is now in the Senate
Ways and Means Committee; it needs to clear that panel by Feb. 12. HB 3193 is
in the House Rules Committee; it must be scheduled for a House vote and pass
by Feb. 19.
Upcoming
Dates to Remember
TUESDAY, Feb 12 - Fiscal
Cut Off - Bills not out of House Approps or Senate Ways & Means
are dead.
FEBRUARY 13-19 floor action - lots
of lobbying to get our bills to the floor & passed-Policy&Fiscal bills
alive.
TUESDAY, Feb 19 5:00 - House of
Origin Bill Cut Off - Bills not
passed by their Houses of Origin are dead.
WEDNESDAY, Feb 20 - Begining
2nd round - Opposite house policy
committees consider bills pulled from other house
FRIDAY, Feb 29 - Cut
off for bills in policy committees
MONDAY, March 3 - Cut off for fiscal/policy
bills out of House Approps/Senate Ways & Means