Week Ending March 16, 2018

Unions Are More Important Than Ever

In AFSCME’s ongoing meetings with members of Congress regarding the benefits of and threats to unions, we remind them that strong unions create even stronger communities. Members of Congress increasingly praise the contributions of working people and their unions. This week, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sat down with AFSCME President Lee Saunders to discuss the impact of Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 and the threat it poses to the freedoms of public service workers. Working people who belong to strong unions help level the economic playing field for everybody – not just union members – and make invaluable contributions to communities every day. Check out the video interview.

Senate Passes Bill Deregulating Large Banks

The Senate, by a vote of 67 to 31, approved a bill (S. 2155) that would make sweeping revisions to financial rules, significantly weakening current consumer protections that were part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. The new bill would deregulate 25 of America’s largest banks, reduce systemic risk protections guarding America’s broad economy and weaken protections for homebuyers and other consumers. The Dodd-Frank financial reform law Experts see the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, written in response to the 2008 financial crises and the resulting global recession, as a major success, providing important protections that have helped stabilize the economy in troubled times and aided working families. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported that, if passed into law, the new Senate bill would increase the chances that taxpayers will, once again, be forced to bail out the banks in any future financial crisis. The bill now goes to the House of Representatives for a vote.

House Approves School Safety Measure

The House overwhelmingly approved the STOP School Violence Act of 2018 (H.R. 4909), by a vote of 407 to 10. The bill would allow the Justice Department to issue grants to states and school districts to develop systems to protect students and schools.Essentially a renewal of the Secure Our Schools grant program created after the 1999 Columbine mass shooting, the bill would reauthorize the program at $75 million a year from fiscal year 2019 through 2028, and shift the program from the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The program was last authorized at $30 million a year through fiscal 2009, but no funds have been provided to the program in recent years. The new bill would require that at least $50 million of authorized funding be used to train law enforcement, school personnel and students; develop anonymous reporting systems; create threat assessment and intervention teams or coordinate with local law enforcement. The rest of the funding could be used for other initiatives, such as security assessments, the installation of metal detectors and technology for prompt notification of law enforcement during an emergency. The measure would allow sub-grants to be awarded to law enforcement agencies, schools, and nonprofits. The bill also includes a provision to prohibit funds from being used to purchase guns and train teachers in their use. The bill now moves to the Senate for further consideration and possible changes.

Federal Funding Deadline Fast Approaching 

Congressional leaders have been working to finalize funding for the 2018 fiscal year, hoping to pass one giant package, known as an omnibus, before the current temporary funding measure expires on March 23. In the budget agreement reached earlier this year, Congress added $63 billion to non-defense discretionary (NDD) spending levels, which should mean significant increases for some high-priority needs, such as addressing and preventing opioid abuse, investing in child care, supporting student aid and more. However, with time running short for getting a final agreement on the spending plan, an additional short-term funding measure may be required to prevent a government shutdown while negotiators attempt to complete action. They are still working to resolve disagreements over border-wall funding, immigration enforcement, family planning and other contentious measures. Congress also has been struggling for several years with efforts to add last-minute, unrelated policy “riders.” These ideology-driven provisions include efforts to impede the ability of unions to collectively bargain, and to overturn health and safety protections, weaken environmental protections and other measures that would threaten the well-being of working families. AFSCME strongly opposes such “poison pill” policy riders and urges Congress to finalize fiscal 2018 funding as soon as possible, so officials in state and local governments can plan their budgets knowing what resources they can depend on from the federal government for the current fiscal year, which started October 1, 2017.

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