| By
Otto Fajen
MNEA Legislative Director
Number
15
April 23, 2009
SUPPRESSION
OF UNION ORGANIZING EFFORTS
The House did not debate House Joint Resolution 37 (Mike
Cunningham) this week, but it is expected to be taken
up on Apr. 27. It is unclear whether the delay this
week was due to lack of confidence on the part of the
sponsor that there are currently enough votes to pass
the bill, or whether internal disputes within the majority
caucus on budget issues required the attention of leadership
and moved the focus away from HJR 37.
The
HJR is a proposal brought forward by the opponents of
House Bill 1409, the federal Employee Free Choice Act.
The EFCA is pending legislation before Congress that
allows designation of an exclusive bargaining representative
of a private sector bargaining unit after filing a petition
or signature cards indicating that a majority of the
members of a bargaining unit support the election of
the designated union. The EFCA is intended to reduce
employers’ ability to intimidate employees and
undermine union support in representation elections.
HJR 37 is a state-level effort to negate the effect
of the EFCA in Missouri.
Missouri
NEA strongly opposes HJR 37. The arguments for the resolution
ring hollow in Missouri, especially for public employees
who would not be affected by the federal EFCA, if it
passes, but who may be affected by HJR 37. For teachers
and other employees exempted under Chapter 105, RSMo,
the state law does not currently provide for a process
to fulfill their constitutional right to bargain collectively
through a representative of their own choosing. Rather
than passing this harmful, anti-union measure, the Association
urges the legislature to enact an effective bargaining
law that treats all public employees fairly.
HOUSE
COMMITTEE PASSES SENATE OMNIBUS EDUCATION BILL
On Apr. 22, the House Elementary and Secondary Education
Committee debated and voted on about 50 amendments and
approved a House Committee Substitute version of the
Senate’s omnibus education bill, Senate Substitute
for Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 291
(Charlie Shields). The original bill allows school districts
to offer virtual courses to resident students and count
the courses for formula aid purposes. The HCS includes
many other provisions affecting collective bargaining,
school funding, school governance and transition, retirement,
early childhood, teaching standards, four-day school
week, bullying policy, charges against school employees,
minimum teacher salaries, inclement weather make-up
days, school records, special education, charter schools,
open enrollment, A+ Schools expansion, college enrollment
of undocumented aliens, school facilities, school activities,
physical education, alternative certification for finance
teachers, criminal background checks, volunteering,
mentoring, performance pay schemes and many other provisions.
The
MNEA supported the original bill, including the school
funding provisions, teaching standards, school records,
dropout prevention, charter schools and continuity of
education for children in foster care. However, the
Association strongly opposes the HCS, particularly the
collective bargaining provisions that denies teachers
the right to bargain collectively through a representative
of their own choosing, the provisions that stigmatize
innocent employees wrongly accused of misconduct and
the performance pay mandate.
If
the bill continues to move, the MNEA will work to make
sure these concerns are addressed on the House floor
or to have the problematic provisions removed from the
bill in conference,. However, the planned vote on smaller
omnibus HCS versions of S.B. 55 (Rita Days) and S.B.
79 (Yvonne Wilson) indicates an awareness that S.B.
291 may have become too large to carry forward and that
those smaller, less controversial bills stand a more
realistic chance of passage. Moreover, the committee’s
willingness to add so many controversial amendments
onto the bill may indicate a choice to have S.B. 291
be the bill where legislators get to make statements,
while other bills become the ones that may ultimately
become law.
MSTA
ANTI-BARGAINING BILL
The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee
approved an amendment to Senate Substitute for Senate
Bill 291 (Charlie Shields) to add House Bill 805 (Kevin
Wilson). H.B. 805 is a rewrite of last year’s
MSTA anti-bargaining bill for teachers. The bill still
prevents K-12 teachers from having the same right as
other public employees to elect an exclusive bargaining
representative.
Amusingly,
on a voice vote, the committee rejected an amendment
offered by Rep. Sara Lampe to replace this problematic
portion of the bill with the plain language of the Missouri
Constitution that teachers have the right to organize
and bargain collectively through representatives of
their own choosing. The fact that amending in the clear,
relevant language from the Constitution would have significantly
altered the legislation should have been an obvious
indicator that the bill is currently unconstitutional,
but this fact was apparently lost on those committee
members who rejected the amendment.
The
MNEA strongly opposes H.B. 805 and the House Committee
Substitute version of S.B. 291 that contains H.B. 805.
An effective bargaining process must have a unified
employee voice. All school employees have a fundamental
right to choose their own bargaining representative,
not have it dictated for them or denied by the school
board. MNEA supports legislation that treats all public
employees fairly and is built on broad consensus among
public employee groups and public employers.
HOUSE
COMMITTEE CREATES NEW, SMALLER OMNIBUS BILL
The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee
met on Apr. 23 and voted out another omnibus bill, House
Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 55 (Rita Days).
This bill allows school districts to maintain permanent
records digitally or electronically. The committee had
previously voted the bill out as a consent bill but,
last week, the bill was purposely removed from consent
bill status and returned to the committee by the House
Rules Committee to allow it to be “loaded up”
as a new omnibus bill. The committee intended to create
an omnibus HCS version of S.B. 79 (Yvonne Wilson) but
ran out of time. S.B. 79 modifies the definition of
“bullying” as used in school district anti-bullying
policies to include cyberbullying and electronic communications.
The HCS for S.B. 79 will be bigger and contain more
controversial elements, while the HCS for S.B. 55 has
fewer and less controversial items. The MNEA supports
the HCS version of S.B. 55.
HCS/S.B.
55 includes a number of relatively non-controversial
items:
H.B. 73 – state teaching standards
S.B. 96 – Foster Student Bill of Rights
H.B. 509 – physical activity
H.B. 542 – Riverview Gardens formula fix
S.B. 543 – gifted education pupil weight and
remove five percent base pupil amount growth cap
S.B. 291 – virtual courses by school districts
H.B. 1115 – removes summer school state aid
penalty
H.B. 490 – A+ Schools definition technical cleanup
S.B. 79 – cyberbullying in bullying policy
H.B. 87 – fuel tax exemption
H.B. 373 – GED fund
H.B. 659 – lapsed districts governance transition
H.B. 289 – special education due process
H.B. 689 – background check transferability
H.B. 682 – permanent make-up day provisions
and a provision to allow students to keep computers
and other equipment provided in certain supplemental
education programs
SUBSTANTIVE
DUE PROCESS
Missouri NEA supports substantive due process for all
school employees. The House Special Standing Committee
on General Laws heard House Bill 1030 (Rick Stream)
on Apr. 21 and unanimously voted the bill “do
pass” on Apr. 22. The bill allows districts to
establish a policy granting substantive due process
for all tenured teachers in the district. Due process
ensures a fair hearing on an employee’s employment
status made by an impartial hearing officer. Real due
process protects education employees from potentially
arbitrary and capricious hiring and firing decisions.
The MNEA supports the bill as both an enhancement of
employee rights and a powerful school improvement tool.
HOUSE
BUDGET COMMITTEE PASSES STIMULUS, STABILIZATION BILLS
The House Budget Committee debated amendments to House
Bill 21 (Allen Icet) on Apr. 20 and voted the House
Committee Substitute version of the bill “do pass.”
The bill was filed last week and proposes to spend about
$2.2 billion in federal stimulus funds. About $800 million
will go to road projects, and other funds will go to
broadband technology, energy, wastewater treatment,
redevelopment of foreclosed homes, dislocated worker
training, child care and healthcare technology. The
bill also includes about $522 million in stimulus funding
for education, including $216 million in Title I funds
for school improvement and disadvantaged students and
$257 million in special education funding.
The
committee also voted out a HCS for H.B. 20 (Allen Icet).
This bill appropriates about $268 million in federal
stabilization funds. It includes an additional $3 million
for eMINTS, $500 thousand for St. Louis City dropout
recovery and $10 million for the Caring for Missourians
program at various public higher education institutions.
The
committee also voted out a HCS for H.B. 19 (Allen Icet).
This bill spends about $545 million in federal funds,
most of which are budget stabilization funds for capital
projects. The bill includes $135 million in stabilization
funds for capital projects at our public higher education
institutions. The only portion relating to K-12 education
is $519 thousand for construction design for the School
for the Blind.
INCOME
TAX CUT
The House gave first round approval (perfection vote)
to House Committee Substitute for House Bill 64 &
545 (Scott Lipke) on Apr. 22 and gave final approval
(Third Read vote) on Apr. 23. The original version of
H.B. 64 reduces the top bracket of Missouri’s
state income tax from six percent to five percent, reduces
or eliminates taxes on the lower income brackets and
increases the allowable deduction for federal income
taxes paid. The bill would have reduced state revenues
by over $1.2 billion per year. The HCS version reduces
the six percent rate only on income from $8,000 to $50,000
and leaves the rate above $50,000 at six percent. The
bill also increases the dependent deduction by $400
per child. The HCS version of the bill reduces state
revenues by about at least $200 million per year.
Missouri
NEA opposes the bill because it makes the state’s
tax policy less fair, less adequate and less sustainable.
In a session where the legislature is facing a difficult
budgeting process due to declining state revenues, this
bill would significantly compound the budget shortfall
and require even more permanent cuts to state services.
STANDARDS
FOR PETITION CIRCULATORS
The House gave first round approval (perfection vote)
to House Bill 228 (Mike Parson) on Apr. 21 and gave
the bill final approval (Third Reading vote) on Apr.
23. The bill contains additional standards for petition
circulators. It prohibits paying signature gatherers
by the signature, a practice that has been shown to
lead to fraudulent practices. It also requires signature
collectors to be Missouri residents and prohibits a
person who has committed forgery from collecting signatures.
The bill requires signature gatherers to register in
advance with the secretary of state and swear by affidavit
that they will comply with all requirements regarding
petition signature gathering. The bill also increases
penalties for signing false names on petitions.
Missouri
NEA supports this effort to reduce fraud in the signature-gathering
process for initiative petitions. These efforts will
help assure that the initiative process is truly reflective
of issues of concern to Missourians.
PROTECTING
MISSOURI’S FAIR AND IMPARTIAL COURTS
The Senate Governmental Affairs and Fiscal Oversight
committee heard House Joint Resolution 10 (Stanley Cox)
on Apr. 23 and voted the resolution “do pass”
by a vote of 4-3. The HJR revises Missouri’s Non-Partisan
Court Plan in a number of ways, including increasing
the number of governor-appointed members of the Appellate
Judicial Commission from three to four by removing the
Supreme Court member from the commission and substituting
an at-large gubernatorial appointee.
The
Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan is essential for the
state to select qualified judges in a way that limits
partisan politics in the selection process. This non-partisan
plan is so effective that a majority of states have
adopted some version of the “Missouri Plan.”
Fair and impartial courts are vital to democracy and
the preservation of our rights, including the fundamental
right of access to a great public school. The MNEA opposes
the Joint Resolution and urges the General Assembly
to refrain from any changes in the Missouri Non-Partisan
Court Plan.
SENATE
EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The Senate Education Committee met on Apr. 22 to hear
House Committee Substitute for House Bill 96 (Maynard
Wallace). The bill enacts numerous provisions regarding
school safety. This lengthy bill makes a number of changes
designed to increase employee liability protection,
improve school safety precautions and improve notice
and reporting of acts of school violence by students.
The MNEA supports the bill.
RETIREMENT
The Senate gave final approval (Third Reading vote)
to Senate Committee Substitute for House Bill 265 (Ward
Franz) on Apr. 21. The bill is similar to S.B. 327 (Jason
Crowell) and makes several changes regarding the Public
School Retirement System of Missouri and the Public
Education Employee Retirement System of Missouri. It
makes minor changes regarding investment of funds and
purchase of service credit. The bill specifies the order
in which benefits are paid to survivors after the death
of a member, prohibits additional nonprofit education
organizations from joining the systems and allows the
systems to indemnify their board members and employees.
The
bill contains several provisions regarding individuals
employed by school districts after retirement from the
system. The changes specify that an individual must
cease work for at least one month before returning to
part-time work in order to be deemed to have retired
and begin receiving a monthly benefit payment. The current
hourly limits will be applied on a pro-rata basis if
the employee retires during the middle of a school year.
If an employee is employed in a capacity that would
be eligible for membership in the system, the employee
shall not be considered to be retired.
TEACHER
LOAN FORGIVENESS
The House gave first round approval (perfection vote)
to House Committee Substitute for House Bill 631 (Tim
Jones) on Apr. 20 and gave final approval (Third Reading
vote) on Apr. 23. The bill expands the Missouri Teaching
Fellows Program to otherwise eligible college graduates.
Currently, the loan forgiveness program is only allowed
for high school graduates who meet certain criteria
and who agree to teach for five years in an unaccredited
school district following graduation in exchange for
loan forgiveness provided under the program. An amendment
offered by Rep. Rob Schaaf allows otherwise-qualified,
home-schooled students who score in the top 10 percent
on the GED, ACT or SAT test to participate in the program.
Rep
Sue Allen amended her H.B. 456 onto the bill. The amendment
requires that registered professional school nurses
be paid on the same pay scale as teachers in their district
with equivalent work history and working hours.
CAPITOL
ACTION DAYS
MNEA Capitol Action Days allow planned, face-to-face
contact with legislators throughout the legislative
session. Capitol Action Days continued on Apr. 22 when
35 members from Governance District 10 and MNEA-R visited
the Capitol.
Capitol
Action Days will generally be on Wednesdays and will
continue through the first week of May. Your MNEA calendar
includes the dates MNEA Board members selected for your
governance district. If you are not able to attend on
these designated days, feel free to contact MNEA Legislative
Director Otto Fajen at otto.fajen@mnea.org
to let him know when you can attend on another Capitol
Action Day. Typical Capitol Action Day agenda:
10:00
a.m. Meet for briefing, 2nd floor Capitol rotunda, Senate
side alcove under the grand staircase
10:15 a.m. Visit with your legislator/watch floor debate
12:00 noon Invite legislator to lunch
1:00-4:30 p.m. Committee hearings, floor debate, visiting
legislators
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