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The Washington State
Labor Council's
weekly report on the
2004 legislative session
FRIDAY, JANUARY 16 (download and print a PDF version)
R&D needs Reporting & DisclosureFor the 2004 Legislature, one of the first major items of business is the first major item for business.
There will be hearings Monday and Tuesday (see Call to Action below) on renewing the research-and-development tax break for high-tech companies. The price tag is $59-93 million this biennium, depending on who you ask, and more than $250 million in the next biennium, when forecasters are already projecting a $1 billion revenue shortfall.
What do we get for that investment? Promises.
Unlike the new tax breaks approved in this state since the U.S. economy tanked in 2001 -- like the Boeing 7E7 and WaferTech incentives -- the R&D exemption is not contingent on actually creating the promised jobs. Nor are the recipients asked to report whether this public subsidy helped them create or maintain jobs.
In fact, we taxpayers are not even allowed to know who gets the money. Call the Department of Revenue to ask which companies are taking advantage of the R&D break and you'll be told that's "proprietary information."
OK, let's review. The state is letting private companies -- including Redmond-based ones with $50 billion in cash reserves -- anonymously receive millions of dollars in public subsidies without asking for so much as a piece of paper describing what they are doing with the money. And this is happening at a time our state has imposed dramatic cuts in health care for the working poor, frozen pay for state employees and teachers, denied home-care workers a fair contract, cut funds to reduce school class sizes and suspended French chef-catered lunches for legislators during the Capitol Building's renovation. Sacre bleu!
Now you know why sponsors of reauthorizing R&D aim to push this through quickly. The business community would like to move this leap-of-faith expenditure off the table long before we begin discussing the supplemental budget priorities (with precious few dollars to spend). In fact, they'd like to dispose of this little housekeeping item before there's too much unsavory scrutiny from the press or public.
CALL TO ACTION: We need to deliver a strong message to our elected officials that we want accountability and disclosure in any new -- or renewed -- business tax breaks. There are two good ways you can deliver this message:
Attend an R&D tax break hearing. The House Finance Committee will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a public hearing on the R&D tax breaks Monday night at 6 p.m. (Dr. King fought for the kind of social services that were cut last year because tax breaks like this were extended.) The Senate Ways and Means Committee will have a hearing on R&D tax breaks Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Please come and show your support for accountability and tax fairness. Taxpayers with concerns are encouraged to testify, as well.
Make your first 2004 call to the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000. Leave a message for your Senator, your Representatives and the Governor: "No more tax breaks without full disclosure and accountability."
Workers' compensation: Give peace a chance
When last you received one of these updates, the 2003 double-overtime legislative session was concluding with a resounding thud. Unemployment insurance "reform" -- that began slashing benefits and eligibility Jan. 1 (and raising employer UI taxes 12%) -- had just passed. All session long, labor had bargained in good faith over UI with the business community, giving up so much ground with its proposal that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer editorialized, "(Labor) should give no more."
But as it turned out labor -- and those negotiations -- were never taken seriously.
So you might imagine why WSLC President Rick Bender was skeptical when the governor called again this year to set up a new panel of labor and business leaders to negotiate reforms in the workers' compensation system.
But Bender agreed to serve on this panel anyway, alongside Don Brunell, President of the Association of Washington Business. Why? Because Governor Locke made a commitment not to sign workers' compensation legislation in 2004 unless both business and labor agree to it. That way the important work of the business-labor panel won't be undermined by the legislative agenda of one side or the other.
Even so, we're told some business lobbying groups plan to go ahead and do just that -- pursue their own legislative agenda on workers’ compensation and ignore the panel. Look for those proposals to be cloaked in more vacuous "job-killer" rhetoric and proclamations of how bad Washington sucks as a place to do business.
We are asking state legislators to reject their contentious partisan election-year politics, and foster the spirit of compromise established by Governor Locke on the workers' compensation issue.
Health Care for Washington's Workers
People who work should get affordable health care.
But skyrocketing health insurance costs have created an incredible drag on our economy. Washington workers are forgoing wage increases and paying higher out-of-pocket expenses because our employers can’t afford the double-digit premium increases every year. Meanwhile, the 750,000-and-counting uninsured people in this state must seek care in emergency rooms -- care for which hospitals aren’t compensated. The cost of that care is then passed on to the rest of us, further driving up premiums.
But some large wealthy corporations like Wal-Mart make the problem worse -- for all of us -- by not offering affordable health benefits. Instead, they encourage employees to seek coverage in taxpayer-funded health programs for the working poor. That isn’t fair to us as taxpayers, and that isn’t fair to employers who provide health benefits but must compete with the likes of Wal-Mart.
The Health Care for Washington Workers bill would change that. It would require large businesses that don’t offer affordable health care to pay a fee-per-employee to help fund the state’s Basic Health Plan. It also would provide small businesses with premium assistance and other ways to help them afford health benefits for their employees.
A hearing on this measure is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 6 p.m. in the House Health Care Committee. Please plan to attend and support this important legislation.
Fund the scaled-back home care contract
Some 26,000 home care workers help the elderly and disabled in Washington state live with dignity in their own homes, and save the state millions by keeping them out of more expensive nursing homes. But home care workers earn only $8.43 an hour with no benefits. Turnover is high, and the quality of care suffers.
Last year, the legislature rejected funding the home care contract. Some legislators argued that we can't afford it -- even as they continued to approve hundreds of millions of dollars in business tax breaks. They ignored the fact that improving home care quality will save them money on costly nursing home care. But other legislators cited specific contract provisions that led to their opposition.
So the home care workers went back to the bargaining table with the Home Care Quality Authority and renegotiated their union contract. The cost has been cut in half and concerns raised by critics have been addressed. As a result, unlike last year, full funding of the contract is included in the governor's supplemental budget proposal.
It's time to stop making excuses and stop forcing tens of thousands of caregivers to live in dire poverty because they care for the most vulnerable people in our society. The Washington State Labor Council calls on all legislators to move quickly in honoring and fully funding the renegotiated home care union contract. You can urge your legislators to do the same by calling 1-800-562-6000.
Save the dates!
The Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council plans a major labor rally and march for Friday, January 30. And the Washington State Labor Council will hold its 2004 Legislative Conference on Friday, February 20. Visit the WSLC's Coming Events page for more information.
Hearings next week
MONDAY -- House Commerce and Labor hears HB 2399 on family leave insurance and HB 2351 regulating foreign call centers so you have the right-to-know who you are talking to and where they are; House Education hears HB 2299 authorizing charter schools; and House Capital Budget hears HB 1171 on a green-building program.
TUESDAY -- House Health Care hears HB 2469 authorizing certain drug purchases from Canada; House State Government hears bills related to the primary election; and Senate Government Operations hears the BIAW bill requiring the State Auditor to contract out annual audits of the industrial insurance system.
WEDNESDAY -- House Commerce and Labor hears HB 2352 prohibiting employers from requiring employees to train their successors and HB 2439 on apprenticeship utilization; and House Education continues Monday's hearing on HB 2299 authorizing charter schools.
THURSDAY -- Senate Commerce and Trade hears a multitude of business-backed workers' compensation bills that fundamentally undermine the system and harm injured workers; House Health Care hears HB 2414 placing a registered nurse on the Nursing Commission (who'd a thunk it?); and House Children and Family Services hears HB 2360 establishing a wage ladder for child-care workers.
FRIDAY -- Senate Commerce and Trade continues to hear the aforementioned business-backed workers' compensation bills.
Copyright © 2004 Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO