Join AFSCME
 About AFSCME
 The AFSCME Web
 Press Room
 Privatization
 Legislative Action
 Health & Safety
 AFSCME LaborLinks
 Publications
 What's New
 AFSCME en Español

Legislation Department
July 14, 2000

Agreement on Comprehensive Unemployment Insurance Reform Package Reached; Quick Congressional Action Sought

After over a year of negotiations, representatives of organized labor, business and the states have agreed on a comprehensive Unemployment Insurance/Employment Services (ES/UI) package which could be the subject of a congressional hearing as soon as the last week in July. AFSCME was one of the four labor participants in the negotiations process.

The historic agreement includes provisions of crucial importance to each of the "stakeholders." It substantially boosts funding for the ES/UI operations and makes the flow of funding more dependable; requires that states provide UI benefits to part-time workers who otherwise qualify; requires that states use the most recent quarter of earnings in determining benefit eligibility to help low-wage workers; lowers the unemployment rate that triggers the federal extended benefits program to make the program more responsive to economic downturns; and gives employers the FUTA surtax repeal they have sought for over a year.

The consensus reached by these stakeholders is a carefully crafted balance which could fall apart if any of the components are changed. However, in reaching a consensus, business, labor and the states have agreed to work together for enactment of the package before the end of the Congress and to resist any efforts to modify it.

Responding to unprecedented opposition to a child support proposal, Rep. Nancy Johnson's staff has signaled its intention to drop the controversial private collector provision in the Child Support Distribution Act (H.R. 4469). The provision, which would have allowed private collectors to have access to government child support data bases and intercept federal tax refunds and unemployment benefits, was extensively debated during a House subcommittee meeting on the bill several weeks ago. Although an amendment offered by Rep. Ben Cardin (D-MD) to remove the provision failed by one vote, a number of Republican members clearly were uncomfortable voting to support the provision, which was strenuously opposed by AFSCME and a broad range of organizations, including womens’ and mens’ organizations, and consumer and privacy groups. A full committee meeting on the bill is scheduled for the week of July 17 where it is expected that the provision will be replaced with a study. The decision to drop the provision represents a major anti-privatization victory for AFSCME.

On June 29, the Senate approved a sham patients' rights bill by a vote of 51-47. All Democrats present voted against the bill while all but four Republicans voted for it. The four Republicans who voted right were Sens. John McCain (AZ), Arlen Specter (PA), Lincoln Chafee (RI) and Peter Fitzgerald (IL). These same four recently voted for the Norwood/Dingell bill, the AFSCME-backed legislation approved by the House of Representatives last October. Sens. Patrick Leahy (VT) and Daniel Inouye (HI), two Democrats who have consistently supported meaningful patients' rights bills, were absent from the vote.

During the debate, Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND) offered an amendment calling for any patients' rights bill approved by the Senate to cover everyone in managed care plans, including public employees. The amendment failed by a vote of 51-47, with the same four Republicans voting with Democrats in favor of it.

These two votes demonstrate that only one more Republican is needed to break ranks with the GOP leadership and create a tie vote. A real patients' rights bill could then be passed in the Senate with the tie-breaking vote of the Senate President, Vice President Al Gore.

Right before the July 4th recess and by a razor-thin margin of 217-214, the House of Representatives passed the GOP prescription drug proposal, with 10 Republican members breaking rank with their leaders to vote against the bill. Under the plan, insurance companies would receive substantial subsidies to provide prescription drug coverage to seniors and the disabled. There are no defined benefits guaranteed under the bill, with a yearly deductible of $250 and monthly premiums of $40. The President immediately announced that he would veto the bill.

In the Senate, Sen. William Roth (R-DE) unveiled a proposal which would combine a new Medicare prescription drug proposal with broader program reforms. Under the plan, drug coverage would be available under the "enhanced option" with higher premiums and new copayments. The size of the monthly premium is yet to be determined. Roth, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, has promised action on this proposal before the August recess.

The Quality Health-Care Coalition Act (H.R. 1304), a bill that would allow private practice physicians to collectively bargain contracts with managed care organizations, was approved by the House of Representatives on June 30. The AFSCME-endorsed legislation, sponsored by Reps. Tom Campbell (R-CA) and John Conyers (D-MI), was passed by a vote of 276-136.

A number of amendments were offered during the debate on the bill, including a right-to-work amendment that emerged unexpectedly the night before the floor action. The amendment, offered by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA), was defeated by a vote of 201-214. (See attached)

Rep. Cass Ballenger (R-NC) and Sen. Jim Jeffords (R-VT) are planning to introduce their own needlestick bill next week, building on regulations under the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). AFSCME has been pressing hard to have language added to the legislation that would cover public employees who work in states where they are not covered by federal OSHA rules. Bipartisan legislation introduced last year by Reps. Pete Stark (D-CA) and Marge Roukema (R-NJ) in the House and by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Harry Reid (D-NV) in the Senate provides protections to public employees in non-OSHA states through a requirement for hospitals receiving Medicare funding.

The Senate voted 59-39 in support of legislation phasing-out the federal estate tax. Nine Democrats joined most Republicans in support of the bill which falls short of the two-thirds vote necessary to override President Clinton’s promised veto.

The House of Representatives, for a second time this year, approved legislation intended to provide tax relief for married couples. The House bill, approved by a vote of 269-159, would cut taxes for married couples by $182.3 billion over 10 years. The Senate is poised to approve similar, but even more costly legislation as part of House and Senate GOP plans to pass incremental tax relief for the wealthy. President Clinton has threatened to veto the tax bills saying they go far beyond marriage penalty relief, providing tax cuts to couples unaffected by the marriage penalty and to those who pay less because they are married. A Democratic alternative marriage penalty relief bill was defeated by the House.

On July 11, 2000, the House Judiciary Committee moved two bills that benefit corrections officers. By voice vote, the panel approved H.R. 4033, a bill to reauthorize the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant program through 2004. Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-IN) and Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) introduced the bill. The grants may also be used for the purchase of stab-proof vests for corrections officers, if the vests meet state standards. The bill doubles the program’s annual authorization to $50 million and guarantees that smaller jurisdictions receive their fair share.

H.R. 2059, the Public Safety Officers Educational Assistance Act, which was introduced by Reps. Peter King (R-NY) and Bart Stupak (D-MI) also passed without objection by a voice vote. This bill would expand an existing program to allow spouses or children of corrections officers who are killed or severely disabled to qualify for educational assistance funds.

The House Commerce Committee passed a rewrite of the Ryan White AIDS law, revising the grant allocation formula to base funding on the number of patients with HIV, rather than full-blown AIDS, as is now the case. The bill is expected to be considered by the full House before the August recess.

The question of whether the Senate will approve Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) for China is not in doubt. What does remain in doubt is when. Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) has indicated that due to the need to consider FY 2001 appropriations bills there may not be space on the Senate calendar to schedule the PNTR vote until September. This has displeased the business community who fear that election year politics and China's history of aggressive actions, could doom the measure if the vote is delayed until September. Further complicating the question of timing is the need to dispose of Sens. Fred Thompson’s (R-TN) and Robert Torricelli's (D-NJ) bill (S. 2645) that seeks to punish China for illicit arms proliferation. The Thompson-Torricelli bill would initiate an annual presidential review of China's record in supplying nuclear weapons and technology to nations unfriendly to the U.S. By week's end, the betting was for a July vote.

The House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on the District of Columbia approved its FY 2001 spending bill on July 13. As usual, the bill touched on several controversial issues in the form of over a dozen amendments. Most of the amendments were offered by Democrats in an attempt to prevent Congress from directing the District's activities. Amendments dealing with housing the homeless, contraceptives and commuter taxes highlighted the subcommittee meeting. In the end, the more controversial issues were held over for consideration by the full committee.

The overall bill would provide a federal payment of $414 million to the District of Columbia.

• AFSCME Weekly Report Archive