August 2008 Edition
In this edition of the MCOFU Legislative Bulletin we would like to inform you of
what has been happening at the State House over the first half of the year that
is of importance to MCOFU and the individual membership. We have had a very busy
year at the State House, and below is a few highlights of MCOFU’s activities and
accomplishments.
2009 State Budget – State Employee Health Insurance
As is the case with most years, the debate of the FY 2009 state budget by the House
and Senate dominated most of the first half of 2008. This year’s deliberations have
taken on even greater significance in light of the fact that Governor Patrick’s
original budget proposal sought to raise upwards of $50 Million by increasing the
contribution paid by state employees towards their health insurance. Officers share
of your premium would be raised from 15% to 20%, and for those hired after June
30, 2003 it would go from 20% to 25%, which would translate to hundreds of dollars
per member. We had seen this identical proposal from Governor Romney in the past,
and had always successfully defeated it. However, the chances of it successfully
becoming law this year were significantly increased not only because a Democratic
Governor was the one proposing it, but also because the Speaker of the House seemed
to embrace it early on as a necessary way to help bridge the multi-billion dollar
state deficit.
Immediately upon learning of Governor Patrick’s plan in January we began our lobbying
efforts to defeat it. We met and spoke with almost every member of both the House
and Senate, including the Senate President, House Speaker, and both the Senate and
House Chairmen of the Ways and Means Committees to voice our displeasure with the
Governor’s proposal to unfairly balance the state budget on the backs of state employees.
When the House released its’ version of the state budget in April it followed the
Governor’s lead and included the state employee health insurance increase. As has
been the case in the past, Rep. Martin Walsh (D-Dorchester) took the lead in the
House to oppose this proposal. He sought the support of his fellow House members
and filed an amendment to the budget with over 100 co-sponsors which would strike
the increase and restore the contribution rates to their existing levels. With Speaker
Sal DiMasi’s full support this amendment was overwhelmingly adopted by the House
on May 2nd.
Following the House’s budget debate the Senate took its turn and released its own
budget proposal. As had been assured to us in individual meetings with the Senate
President, the Senate did not include the Governor’s health insurance increase.
This action, coupled with the earlier successful adoption of the House budget amendment,
meant we could declare total victory on the issue for this year!
I would like to thank all members who contacted their state representatives and
senators to voice their opposition to Governor Patrick’s health insurance proposal.
The end result shows what kind of positive impact our lobbying can have on issues
that would directly affect each and every member, including those that would mean
less money for you and your families. I would also like to thank all of our friends
in the House and Senate that stood up to the Governor on our behalf, and in particular,
Rep. Walsh for his leadership.
Legislation
While the issue of state employee health insurance dominated much of the past few
months, we continue to aggressively lobby in support of bills of interest to the
members, as well as oppose those that would be detrimental to the job. Below are
some of the highlights:
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- SB 1341 – Assault and Battery By Means of Bodily Fluids Upon Correction Officers. This bill was given a favorable recommendation by the Public Safety Committee on November 7th, and was passed by the Massachusetts State Senate on June 24, 2008 by a vote of 33 to 1. We are currently lobbying the House for passage by that branch as well.
- HB 1638 – CO Bill of Rights. This bill originally received a hearing from the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, and in March, Steve Kenneway, Joe Guarino and our lobbyists met with the Committee Chairman to personally request his support. Despite testimony from opponents,the bill received a favorable committee recommendation on June 30, 2008 . This is the first time that this bill has received such a favorable recommendation.
- HB 2691 – Legislation closing a current loophole in the retirement law by mandating that an employee must work at least a majority of his or her 20 years in a Group 4 title in order to be eligible to receive the 20/50 retirement benefit. The bill was given a favorable recommendation by the Public Service Committee and referred to the House Ways and Means Committee. We personally met with Ways and Means on April 3rd to lobby for their support. While we remain optimistic, we do know that unions that represent the individuals taking advantage of the loophole are working equally as hard against the bill.
- HB 2552 – An Act Establishing Binding Arbitration. This bill was placed into a study by the Public Service Committee. The Committee is concerned that other law enforcement groups are seeking the same legislation and this bill could open the floodgates for others. We intend to refile this bill in 2009 and continue to make it a legislative priority of MCOFU.
- Filed and had signed into law various sick leave banks on behalf of members facing serious illnesses.
- Supported legislation signed into law that extends the effective date of the law that compensates public employees who have been called into active military service since 9/11.
In addition to lobbying for bills we have either filed ourselves, or support, we
also have been working against those that we are opposed to. For instance, we have
testified against legislation creating a DOC Citizens Review Board and are optimistic
that we have once again killed it for this legislative session. We have also successfully
lobbied against a bill placing CPOs and other administrators into Group 4.
Elections
As you know, 2008 is an election year. In addition to continuing to support legislators
that have been friends to MCOFU, we already know there will be many open seats up
for grabs. While we will miss many of those that are retiring, we also view it as
an opportunity to cultivate new relationships with those that are sincerely concerned
about the issues facing you every day on the job. When, and if, it is appropriate
we will provide PAC support and union endorsements in order to continue to build
our political strength so that we can live up to the Boston Globe’s description
of MCOFU as “one of the toughest public unions” in the state.
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