The last full day of the session brought AFSCME some huge victories, while we continued to avoid some major pitfalls.

 

ARBITRATION

 

At about 1:30 a.m., with less than 11 hours left in the session, the Senate passed House Bill 15 (Speaker Lujan), guaranteeing state employees who are fighting disciplinary action or termination the right to have a neutral third-party arbitrator decide their cases.

 

The vote was 21-16, and unfortunately it looked like the state Republican Party instructed all of their members to vote against the bill on the floor. Five Republicans voted for the bill in committee, but with no new points being brought up during the floor debate, changed their votes.

 

All Democrats voted for us, except the very conservative and anti-union Tim Jennings and John Arthur Smith.

 

Special thanks to Mike Schneider of CWA and SPO Director Sandi Perez for getting out of bed and doing a terrific job of helping Sen. Eric Griego get the bill through.

 

Most importantly, the state negotiating team deserves all the credit for successfully negotiating this critical piece to protect our members' rights. 

 

Call 476-2200 and thank the Governor for supporting House Bill 15 and ask him to sign it.

 

PERA

 

House Bill 616 (Varela), which limits double dipping to two years for state and large city positions and five years for small towns, is also going to the Governor for signature. Sen. John Arthur Smith killed our amendments to include corrections officers as public safety (which gives extra years of double dipping), but we have the commitment of key legislators to change that during the interim.

 

House Bill 573, which gives us a year-long task force to work out ways to save PERA for current retirees and current workers while still ensuring a good benefit for future employees, should be heard early Saturday morning.

 

RHCA

 

House Bill 351 (Varela), which increases employer and employee contributions to RHCA starting in July 2010, also passed the Senate and goes to the Governor. This bill is important because without it, Retiree Health Care would be bankrupt by 2019. The Council E-Board supported this measure largely because the employers will pay an additional amount that is twice what employees will chip in. 

 

The employee portion will go from 0.65% to 1.00% over three years, while the employer portion will go from 1.30% to 2.00% during that same period. This is an incredibly important benefit, especially for our public safety members and others who retire relatively early.

 

The bill now goes straight to the Governor's desk.

 

CHILD CARE ORGANIZING

 

Keep the calls coming to the Governor at 476-2200 thanking him for supporting home-based child care providers and asking him to sign Senate Bill 402.

 

OTHER BILLS

 

It appears that all of the bills to limit the right of unions to participate in state politics are dead. Nothing is final until noon tomorrow, but tonight several such amendments were killed in the House.

 

We will do a thorough review of all bills sometime in April after all bills are signed, and of course will keep everyone apprised of any calls we need to Governor Richardson.

 

 

Carter Bundy

Political Action Representative

AFSCME International

1202 Pennsylvania St. NE

Albuquerque, NM 87110

(505) 266-2177 ext. 13 (work)

(505) 266-3155 (fax)