Submitted by: Tim Burga

Senate Republicans Continue to Play Politics with State Budget – 11/18/09

Unless you’re a Senate Republican the business of adopting a state budget is a serious matter. The Governor and the House of Representatives are taking the high road and putting the importance of balancing the state budget and continuing the vital services and programs that working families are entitled to ahead of politics. The House has adopted Governor Strickland’s recommendation to freeze the fifth and final year of a state income tax decrease, which in effect will not raise anyone’s taxes. This measure as contained in HB318 is the right approach to take and even business groups and Ohio’s major newspapers are supporting this approach.

On the day the Senate Republicans had marked to pass its version of a bill, not only did they not show conviction to do the right thing by supporting HB318, they couldn’t even come up with any agreed to proposal amongst themselves. So, what Ohioans are getting is more of the same blame game from Republicans and no leadership.

Senate Democrats, on the other hand have urged the Republicans to quit playing politics. Senate Minority Leader Capri Cafarro was very clear this week about what should happen in the Senate when she stated, “We remain united in support of HB318 as passed by the Ohio House of Representatives."

Senate Republicans are now saying they are going on Thanksgiving break and will take the issue up again sometime in December. On a matter such as this, where the right course of action is plain to see, Republicans in the Statehouse are going to have to accept the criticism they are getting for putting partisan politics ahead of the business of the people.

Township Firefighters Collective Bargaining Bill Clears Hurdle – 11/17/09

Rep. Kenny Yuko, Chairman of the House Commerce and Labor Committee presided over a packed hearing room as a bill (HB271) to fix a loophole in the collective bargaining law for Township Firefighters was successfully voted out. Representatives Matt Patten (D-Strongsville) and Dan Stewart (D-Columbus), the primary sponsors of the bill, along with Chairman Kenny Yuko (D-Richmond Heights), vowed to take action and move the bill to the full House before the end of the year.

Jim Carney, a full-time firefighter and paramedic with the Plain Township Fire Department and the director of government affairs for the Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters (OAPFF), testified in support of the legislation. Brother Carney pointed to a loophole in current law which defines townships as public employers only when the township has an unincorporated population of greater than 5,000 according to the last federal census. He said that presumably, it was intended to allow small townships to opt out of collective bargaining, but it is now being used to deny collective bargaining rights to "relatively large townships" across the state. HB271 would correct this problem by looking at population served rather than unincorporated of the township.

Several other firefighters testified in support of the bill including Brian Gatley, president of the Norwich Township Professional Firefighters Local 1723 in Hilliard, who stated, "We are simply asking for the same rights that the majority of our counterparts currently have."

Speaking in favor of the bill and voting yes were Reps. Kenny Yuko (D-Richmond Hts.), Matt Patten (D-Strongsville), Robert Hagan (D-Youngstown), Mark Schneider (D- Mentor), Dan Stewart (D-Columbus) and Edna Brown (D-Toledo). All of the Republicans on Committee voted no.

OAPFF President Mark Sanders offered special thanks to the Ohio AFL-CIO for their assistance and to Speaker Armond Budish and the Democratic caucus “for their continued support and for the first time passing out of Committee a stand alone pro firefighter collective bargaining bill.”

Committee Urges State to Use Project Labor Agreements – 11/17/09

House Resolution 58 sponsored by Kenny Yuko (D-Richmond Hts.) to encourage the state to use Project Labor Agreements on public building projects was successfully passed by the House Commerce and Labor Committee. A Project Labor Agreement (PLA) is a negotiated pre-hire contract for public or private sector construction projects. A PLA generally includes mutually agreed-to work and wage rules for the duration of the project, including deadlines, wages, costs, production incentives, and hiring.

The Ohio AFL-CIO detailed the advantages of using PLAs and urged support for the Resolution in a letter to the Committee that was included in the hearing record (link to letter). Rep. Mark Schneider (D-Mentor) moved to adopt the Resolution, which was seconded by Robert Hagan (D-Youngstown) and was supported by all six Democrats. All four of the Republicans on Committee voted against it and it’s worth noting that Rep. Lynn Wachtmann (R-Napoleon) who voted “no” on the measure said this in another” job killing, anti-business legislation.”

The Resolution is expected to go to the full House for a vote before the end of the year. The Ohio AFL-CIO would like to thank Chairman Yuko for sponsoring the measure and the Democrats on Committee who voted for it.

Senate Republicans Look at Privatizing the BWC – 11/17/09

Senator Fred Strahorn (D- Dayton) said all that needed to be said about a Republican Resolution (SR85) to create a Task Force to look at privatizing the Bureau of Workers Compensation when he said, “this is an answer looking for a problem.” The Senate Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee, chaired by Steve Buehrer (R-Delta) ignored the logic in Senator Strahorn’s remark and moved to pass the bill out of Committee. All four Democrats on Committee --- Joe Schiavoni (D- Youngstown), Fred Strahorn, Eric Kearney (D-Cincinnati) and Nina Turner (D- Cleveland) voted against the measure. Senator Jim Hughes (R- Columbus) was the lone Republican to vote against the measure. The Resolution passed 7-5 and is expected to head to the full Senate for a vote.

When looking at the facts it is clear that some Republicans are more interested in sticking it to organized labor and public workers at the expense of the injured worker system. The business community at large is not pressing this issue and study after study has reported the overwhelming advantage of having a state-run, non-profit bureau.

Results of the most recent study published in the October 2009 Insurance Journal found “state funds, typically operating in a single state and driven less by the need to show a profit, also are effective at preventing losses, improving safety and workplaces and contributing to economic development in their state. The report was issued by Conning Research and Consulting.

Steve Mindzak, testified on behalf of the United Auto Workers in opposition to the resolution. He said improvements are ongoing at the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, including permanent reductions in premiums, as opposed to the periodic rebates given out under previous administrations. He said BWC had just begun to work on implementing recommendations of the Deloitte study, and said what the Ohio AFL-CIO has been saying, that it makes no sense to launch into another study without first allowing this most recent major state study to be digested.