The Fight Before Us

Did you know that the bonding bill got passed but the GOP didn't "actually" support it? In the Senate, Republicans were south of the votes needed for a simple majority - only 18 of their 37 members voted for it. In the House, 39 of the 71 Republicans present voted for the bill, leaving them well shy of their three-fifths share. That meant DFLers needed to compensate for significant gaps in GOP support to get the bill passed. They did so with unanimous DFL support in the House, despite gripes from several of them about the bill’s contents. Twenty-seven of 30 Senate DFLers voted for the bill. The ironic thing about that is that the Democrats didn't think the bonding bill lived up to their standards. Many of the Democrats voting for the bill lamented the fact that the Southwest rail corridor was left out....which will cost Minnesota a lot of Federal matching funds....and the construction jobs that would go with a major project like that. Watch the GOP take credit for all of it. You know it's going to happen. If it was up to the Republicans, this session would have simply been an absolute do-nothing session (not even the Vikings)....but just watch - leading up to November elections, you are going to hear a lot about how the bonding bill will be a GOP talking point.

Did you know the DFL is just four winnable seats away from the majority in the Minnesota Senate and six in the House. Getting those majorities back will make all the difference. The stakes in this election have never been higher - for our state and our nation. Your contribution could be the difference between a government that works for all of us and one that serves only wealthy, special interests. Together, we can make sure that when the Legislature reconvenes in 2013, we’re not fighting the same battles we did over the last three months.

Did you know that George W. Bush has officially endorsed Mitt Romney, and the feeling is mutual. Despite what he wants everyone to believe, Romney's been endorsing Bush's policies since he started running for president. In fact, the whole Romney campaign is starting to look a lot like a Bush 43 reunion. No matter what you've heard, the entire premise of Mitt Romney's campaign is taking us back to the Bush administration. President Bush may have endorsed Governor Romney today, but Romney has already endorsed a return to Bush-era policies: massive tax cuts weighted towards the wealthiest costing $5 trillion, zero accountability for Wall Street, and a reckless foreign policy that would keep our troops in Afghanistan indefinitely.

Did you know that with the Bush tax cuts scheduled to expire on Jan. 1, 2013, tax fairness is likely to be a prominent topic throughout the presidential campaign. Did you also know that the decline in capital gains taxes that took effect in 1997 also contributed to lowering the tax rates of higher-income households - as the bulk of capital gains are realized by this group.

A Look at the 2012 Health and Human Services Bill!

The 2012 Health and Human Services Bill (HF2294), signed into law by Governor Dayton April 28, restores $18 million in funding for some of the essential HHS services that were cut as a part of the 2011 budget compromise. The Minnesota Budget Project brings us this look into the bill:

“Many breathed a sigh of relief when the February forecast showed Minnesota had no new deficit in the current biennium. The positive fiscal news means there is no need for policymakers to consider yet another round of deep spending cuts to critical services. In fact, the House and Senate did not issue any official “targets” calling for finance committees to cut their budgets.

Instead, Governor Dayton and the Legislature have advanced budget proposals for health and human services recommending mostly small changes, primarily fixing some unintended consequences from budgets approved in previous years and reforming service delivery.”

Key aspects of the bill include:

· Some Emergency Medical Assistance coverage restored;
· Personal care attendant cut delayed;
· Continuing care payment rate cut delayed;
· Employed persons with disabilities allowed to work longer, keep more assets;
· Child care absent days increased for students; and
· Funding for Family Assets for Independence in Minnesota (FAIM) grants reinstated

Read more details and analysis on the bill, Legislature approves some fixes to health and human services.

Thank Governor Dayton! So far this legislative session, Gov. Mark Dayton has vetoed 10 bills that were written or inspired by the corporate front group ALEC--the same organization now facing national scrutiny for its shady tactics and misguided model legislation. Instead of bowing to corporate pressure, Gov. Dayton stood tall and vetoed ALEC legislation that would have had Minnesota follow Florida's lead on its "Shoot First" law, made it harder for consumers to hold corporations accountable if their products contained dangerous chemicals, and crippled our state's budget. When politicians stand up for us, we need to let them know we're behind them. Sign our thank you card to Gov. Dayton for standing up to ALEC in Minnesota.

If you're curious about the 10 ALEC bills Gov. Dayton has vetoed, check out the list below:

1. SF 1047: This legislation includes a number of ALEC Budget Reform Toolkit Recommendations, including an across-the-board state workforce reduction, zero-based budgeting, a gainsharing program, a Sunset Commission, and undermining collective bargaining.

2. SF 509: This legislation is modeled after ALEC's Voter ID Act. Requiring eligible voters to produce photo identification at the polls is an unnecessary hurdle to law-abiding citizens exercising their right to vote. It is a costly bill that has a number of unintended consequences, the most significant of which is that it could prevent many Minnesota seniors, students, the disabled and veterans from voting.

3. HF 264: The Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act, or Cheeseburger Bill, would limit the ability of Minnesotans to hold food and beverage companies accountable when their products cause consumers to suffer from adverse health conditions due to weight gains. It is modeled after ALEC's Commonsense Consumption Act.

4. SF 149: This bill makes it more difficult for citizens to pursue class action lawsuits against corporations because it delays evidence gathering until all appeals about the legitimacy of the class have been exhausted. This process could go on for years, meaning witnesses might forget the details of their testimony. This bill is modeled on recommendations from ALEC's Tort Reform Boot Camp report.

5. SF 373: This bill reduces the statute of limitations for Minnesotans to file claims against corporations from six to four years. This bill means that victims of corporate wrongdoing would potentially need to hastily file their claim to stay within the four year timeframe, even if they aren't sure of the full extent of the harm they suffered. This bill is modeled on recommendations from ALEC's Tort Reform Boot Camp report.

6. SF 429: This bill would discourage Minnesotans from going to court when they have been wronged and attorneys from taking cases to hold corporations accountable. As Common Cause MN points out, the reason behind attorney fees is that the damages awarded are typically small, so the consumer can't afford an attorney and/or attorneys will only take cases in which they are compensated. This bill is modeled on recommendations from ALEC's Tort Reform Boot Camp report.

7. SF 530: This bill limits corporate liability by regulating interest rates owed to consumers who win personal injury/wrongful death lawsuits. This bill would change the interest rate to 4%, which is much lower and would make corporations more likely to continue in court rather than pay awards. This bill is modeled on recommendations from ALEC's Tort Reform Boot Camp report.

8. HF 1467: This bill--Minnesota's proposed "Castle Doctrine", or "Shoot First" bill--would have been even worse than the Florida law that recently received national attention for its role in Trayvon Martin's death. It would mean no duty to retreat in a person's home, and a great many other places such as your porch or garage. It is modeled after multiple ALEC bills, including the Emergency Powers Firearm Owner Protection Act, the Concealed Carry True Reciprocity Act and the Castle Doctrine Act.

9. SF 1236: This bill would have limited the legal liability of a company that buys or merges with another company that in any way dealt with asbestos. The legislation in Minnesota benefits only one corporation--Crown Cork and Seal. It has a vested interest in the legislation because it acquired a small company that installed asbestos. It is modeled after ALEC's Successor Asbestos-Related Liability Fairness Act.

10. HF 1976: This legislation would require the state to run all newly hired employees through the E-Verify program, which checks work eligibility in the United States. E-Verify is a part of Arizona's controversial SB 1070 immigration bill, which became ALEC's No Sanctuary Cities for Illegal Immigrants Act.

Worst Legislature Ever! One state government shutdown. Two divisive constitutional amendments. Zero progress on things that matter most to working Minnesotans. We’re lucky the Republican-controlled legislature finally adjourned May 10th before they could do more damage. They wasted months attacking AFSCME and our right to organize and bargain for decent wages, affordable health insurance and safe working conditions. They tried – but failed – to put an unsafe, unfair and unnecessary “Right to Work” amendment on the ballot. They borrowed billions from our children’s schools to prevent the richest Minnesotans from paying their fair share. They jacked up our property taxes while they gave big breaks to big corporations that game the system. They voted against common-sense measures to support job creation at a time when our economy hangs in the balance. They’re extreme, out of touch, and unwilling to work on the priorities of Minnesota’s working families.

Starting today, let’s build a better legislature. Join the campaign at www.abetterlegislature.org.

Note: The State Legislature finalized three major bills—the tax bill, bonding bill, and the stadium bill—this week after long floor debates and dozens of amendments. Lawmakers ultimately put their stamp of approval on the three major bills which still need to be signed by Governor Dayton.

Help Wisconsin Dump Walker!

Wisconsin voters have chosen their candidate to defeat Scott Walker on June 5th. Tom Barrett, the Mayor of Milwaukee, won and now he needs all of us to stand with him in this historic recall election.

Whether you're a Wisconsinite or not, the stakes are too high to sit this election out. Scott Walker is the poster boy for the anti-union attacks we have faced from coast to coast – he has raised millions of dollars from some of the most anti-union people in the country, including billionaire right-wing extremist David Koch who recently said keeping Scott Walker in office was on his priority list. *Help defeat Scott Walker and David Koch. Recall elections take place June 5th against Scott Walker and five of his cronies who helped destroy collective bargaining for public workers in Wisconsin. Our brothers and sisters are asking us to help them finish the job. AFSCME is rallying around Tom Barrett now-and we hope you will too. Barrett has earned our support during his campaign. *He will do what it takes to restore collective bargaining rights for public sector workers in Wisconsin.* And he will bring Wisconsin together again and heal the wounds Scott Walker has inflicted on the state.

Here’s how you can help:

Door-knock in Hudson, La Crosse or Superior.
Make phone calls in Wisconsin or the Metro.
Volunteer for “get out the vote” efforts the week before the elections.
Donate, individually or as a local, to: We Are Wisconsin Inc., PO Box 2567, Madison, WI 53701.

To sign up, contact Council 5’s Jim Niland.

Untold Stories!

Culture & Class in Post-War Milwaukee
Wednesday, May 16, 7 pm
St. Anthony Park Branch Library, 2245 Como Avenue, Saint Paul
Untold Stories crosses the state border with Professor Eric Fure-Slocum, author of the forthcoming project Postwar Democracy: How Growth and Working-Class Politics Reshaped a 1940s City, with an examination of post-war Wisconsin.

Ghost Trails & Places: Looking for the lost Native American footprint in St Paul
Saturday, May 19, 2 pm
Rice Street Branch Library, 1011 Rice Street, Saint Paul
Labor historian Dave Riehle’s annual bus tour commemorates the 150th anniversary of the US-Dakota war. The earliest inhabitants that we know of in the area that is presently encompassed by St. Paul are the Dakota people, who were forcibly removed from the State of Minnesota after the US-Dakota War of 1862. Very little is recorded about the Dakota within the present confines of this city and county, but this tour will visit still identifiable sites, some buried beneath modern roads and landscapes, that can tell their story. Space is limited, so please call The Friends at 651-222-3242 to reserve your seat on the bus.

Counter Culture with Candacy Taylor
Monday, May 21, 7pm
Metropolitan State University Library, Ecolab Room, 645 E. Seventh St., Saint Paul
Celebrate National Waitress Day with a special multi-media lecture by Candacy Taylor, author of Counter Culture: The American Coffee Shop Waitress, which profiles waitresses aged 50 and older who have been working in neighborhood diners throughout the United States. Photographer, writer and former waitress, Taylor uses interview quotes, cultural criticism, documentary photography and oral histories to document an overlooked group of working women who have brought meaning and culture to the American roadside dining experience.

News Bites

Congressional Action

House Passes Draconian Spending Cuts Bill: This week, the House passed a spending cuts package (H.R. 5652) which would impose immediate deep cuts to critical domestic programs. The bill uses the excuse of deficit reduction to impose enormous hardships and drastic cuts on those who can least afford them rather than closing tax loopholes and increasing taxes on the wealthiest Americans and large corporations. And, it shifts the planned across-the-board cuts scheduled for January entirely away from the Pentagon and onto public services. This irresponsible budget plan would slash funding for state and local governments, further cut vital public services, cost millions of jobs, and send our economy into a downward tailspin. Just this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that sharp cuts already instituted by state and local governments are responsible for a full percentage point of unemployment, causing the rate to be 8.1% instead of 7.1%. The package passed largely along party lines would cut Medicaid by nearly $25 billion through changes in the provider tax, reductions in DSH payments to safety net hospitals, repeal of state maintenance of effort requirements and reductions in payments to territories. Unemployment benefits would be cut off until applicants are nearly broke. And, 5.5 million low-income children whose working parents do not have Social Security numbers would be denied the refundable child tax credit. The list of mean-spirited cuts goes on. H.R. 5652 would cut $33 billion from food stamps and cut off free school meals for 300,000 children at a time when food insecurity is peaking, yet it preserves farm subsidies when producers are reaping record profits. Another $79 billion would be cut from federal employee pensions on top of the previously enacted cuts of $75 billion.

AFSCME strongly opposes H.R. 5652. The President has stated that he would veto this bill, and it is dead on arrival in the Senate. While this package will not advance further, it is yet another reminder of the rising stakes leading up to critical decisions Congress must make this fall. At the end of this year the Bush tax cuts, funding for unemployment benefits, the alternative minimum tax (AMT) fix, the 2% reduction in Social Security payroll taxes and reimbursement rates for Medicare providers will expire. Also, FY 2013 funding will need to be finalized, across-the-board spending cuts are scheduled for January 2013, and the debt ceiling will need to be raised. In order to sustain critical public programs and promote job growth, revenues increases are imperative. We will keep you updated as these important issues are addressed.

GOP Leaders Block Vote to Prevent Doubling of Student Loan Rates: Coming on the heels of a House vote prior to recess, the Senate attempted to vote on a bill to stop the doubling of interest rates on federally-subsidized Stafford loans from 3.4% to 6.8% before the current rate expires on July 1, 2012. Unfortunately, all Senate Republicans blocked the vote. The Senate bill (S. 2343) is a responsible fix to the student loan problem. It would prevent 7.4 million students this year from paying higher interest rates by closing a tax loophole that only benefits wealthy individuals seeking to dodge their tax responsibilities. AFSCME strongly supports S. 2343. This is must-pass legislation, and we will keep you updated on its progress.

Rebuild America Act: Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Bruce Braley (D-IA) announced this week that they are introducing a House version of the Rebuild America Act (S. 2252), which Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) developed and introduced in the Senate in March. The Rebuild America Act is a comprehensive bill intended to strengthen and expand America's middle class. Among its provisions are funds to hire teachers, police, firefighters and other local government employees. These provisions are especially important in light of a growing awareness that the continued hemorrhaging of public sector jobs is holding back declines in local unemployment rates. The Rebuild America Act also includes funds to rebuild the nation's roads, bridges and other infrastructure, modernize schools, expand and improve child care opportunities, and expand job training in growing sectors of the economy. In addition, the legislation includes an increase in the minimum wage to $9.80 over three years, and strengthens overtime protections for white collar workers. It also would improve Social Security benefits and strengthen the private pension system. Finally, the Rebuild America Act restores fairness to the tax code by including, among other provisions, a Wall Street trading and speculators tax, the so-called "Buffett Rule" ensuring that the wealthiest taxpayers pay at least as much as middle-class families, and an increase in the capital gains tax rate.

We urge you to contact your Senators and Representative and ask them to co-sponsor this important legislation. To call them directly (toll free), call (866) 258-3330.

House Panel Adopts Flawed Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization: This week, the House Judiciary Committee passed its version of a five-year renewal of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). While the continuation of the VAWA historically has been uncontroversial since it was first enacted in 1994, GOP leaders on the committee added changes that would harm immigrants while rejecting amendments that would have strengthened protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims of abuse. The bill (H.R. 4970) passed on a largely party-line vote 17-15, with Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) the only GOP member joining the Democrats in opposing it.

H.R. 4970 could go to the House floor for a vote as early as next week. Last month, the Senate passed its VAWA reauthorization bill (S. 1925), which does not contain the harmful House provisions.

Affordable Care Act Helps Medicare Beneficiaries Save Over $3.2 Billion: Thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicare beneficiaries saved $3.2 billion on their prescription drugs from the enactment of the law in 2010 through March 2012. In the first three months of 2012 alone, nearly a quarter of a million people saved an average of $837 on their prescription medicines. The ACA provides a 50% discount on brand-name prescription drugs and this year a 14% discount on generics. In addition, from January through March this year, 8.9 million people in traditional Medicare received at least one preventative health service at no cost to them. This lifesaving help for Medicare beneficiaries would end if the changes to Medicare proposed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), and adopted by the House along party lines become law.

452 Million in Medicare Fraud Alleged: New enforcement tools in the Affordable Care Act led to a nationwide crackdown by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force which resulted in charges against 107 individuals in seven cities for their alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes involving approximately $452 million in false billing. This coordinated enforcement effort targeted the highest amount of false Medicare billings in a single takedown in Strike Force history.

"Show Up - Stand Up - Speak Up - the Future is in Your Hands!"

Urge the SEC to Force CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratio Disclosure

Romney Battled LGBT Anti-Bully Commission As Governor