Florida AFL-CIO
Legislative Brief
A snapshot view of the Florida Legislature’s activities for the week of:
3/07/11 – 3/11/11
Week 1 – A really, really tough week
http://www.flaflcio.org / Florida AFL-CIO
Worker Gag Bill – The Florida Legislature has jumped on the national bandwagon in pushing forward with legislation designed to eliminate the voice of our public employee unions.
SB 830 by Sen. Thrasher and HB HB 1021 by Reps. Dorworth and Gaetz(M) would make the following changes to state law regarding how public employee unions operate.
· Dues Deductions – Florida Statute 447.303 currently grants public sector unions the right to have “dues and uniform assessments deducted and collected by the employer from the salaries of those employees who authorize the deduction.” Employees may rescind that deduction at any time through written request to both the employer and Union. These bills make it illegal for any public sector employer to deduct union dues or any other assessments.
· Political Deductions – These bills make it illegal for any employer to deduct COPE funds for “the purpose of political activity, including contributions to a candidate, political party, political committee, committee of continuous existence, electioneering communications organizations, or organizations exempt from taxation under s. 501(c) (4) or s. 527 of the Internal Revenue Code.” Unions will no longer be able to participate in politics through COPE deductions or any other type of voluntary assessment processed by employers.
· Political Participation – These bills create new and onerous requirements for any public employee union to use any money generated by dues for political purposes. Unions will have to get written authorization each year from the membership to use general funds for donations or expenditures for candidates, political committees or issue advocacy. There must also be a detailed account of all of these types of expenditures to the members and if any aspect of all this paperwork is found to be in error, refunds must be processed and sent to the membership.
SB 830 was up in the Senate Community Affairs Committee on Monday afternoon. Dozens of union members, leaders and students gathered outside the committee room, mouths taped shut, in silent protest of this bill that would gag workers across the state of Florida. The goal was to show the media what Florida politics would look like under a regime where the big business lobby was the only game in town. The protest was a great success and garnered good coverage in the media. (For video visit our YouTube site). The committee meeting ended before discussion could begin. It will be heard on Monday, March 14th at 10:15 am. HB 1021 was discussed in the House State Affairs Committee on Thursday, intentionally scheduled during a critical hearing on the state pension system on another floor. Over 60 activists attended the meeting where a small group of representatives from our coalition spoke about the bill. When the last speaker finished, all 60 filed out of the room leaving it empty with the exception of lobbyists from the Florida Chamber of Commerce and other business groups and a few, self-proclaimed “Tea Party” members. A press release regarding this action is available on our website. The measure passed with a 12-6 party-line vote. Its next stop is the House Appropriations Committee.
Teacher “Quality”: SB 736, what most have dubbed the “Son of SB6” passed the full Senate on Wednesday. Here is an account from our brothers and sisters at the Florida Education Association:
After about 2 hours of debate SB 736 – the anti-due process bill known by some as SB 6 Lite – was passed by the Senate by a vote of 26 to 12.
As senators glad-handed each other for what they claim to be a monumental achievement, on-lookers walked away shaking their heads amazed that on the third day of session, one of the most controversial education bills filed this session had traveled through the process at lightning speed. Sure, they gave the appearance of transparency and a deliberative process, but the outcome was a foregone conclusion. This bill was going to pass and it was going to pass early, fast and exactly as they had planned without meaningful changes… even if those changes were rationale and reasonable. As expected, they adopted none of the amendments that would have made the bill better.
We can agree with SB 736 proponents on this much: the current evaluation systems in most districts leave much to be desired, are not helpful to teachers and are basically meaningless. Current evaluations are little more than drive-by observations and a list of things to be checked-off by an administrator. These evaluations do nothing to help a teacher become their very best.
But SB 736 is only slightly better and very flawed. This bill is based on an evaluation system that has not been developed, never been tested, and based on a model that researchers say should only be used as a small part of a comprehensive evaluation – never 50 %! Most disturbing is that this proposed system will be the basis for all decisions about teacher pay and employment.
It is really not about helping struggling students. This bill is about a political agenda set long ago: elimination of due process for teachers. The bill fails to include that crucial element that would really make a difference to our students: timely data to help teachers make decisions to help students succeed, and the support and training for teachers to help them improve their craft.
But wait! That doesn’t matter… teachers will magically get better because Florida is going to pay great teachers far more (although they have no dedicated source of funds) and those horrible slacker teachers will be fired ASAP! Life will be good – kids will be learning, better looking, healthier and Florida will be able to compete in the global economy! Hurray! This bill will professionalize teaching according to Sen. Evelyn Lynn (R- Daytona Beach). Teachers will finally be respected when this bill becomes law!
“Young teachers will come to Florida because we can tell them: we will pay you more for your hard work,” Sen. Flores gushed during debate. What she didn’t mention was there is no new funding available to pay those fresh young faces more. In fact, education is facing huge budget cuts this year. Additionally, those teachers who are still on the ‘grandfathered schedule’ in 2014 will only get the scraps after those on the ‘performance schedule’ get their chunk of change.
Sen. Bill Montford (D-Tallahassee) warned senators “this will collapse upon itself, by its own weight, because of lack of funding.”
Supporters of the bill paint a far rosier picture, but those in the trenches working on the Race to the Top evaluation instruments are telling us there is trouble ahead – key elements of the evaluation process such as the value added model and final evaluation instruments have not been completed. There is no time to test the new system, no time to train administrators to use the system and no time to inform teachers as to how evaluated. The bottom line is: teachers are being asked to accept an untried untested system that will profoundly affect their pay and career on faith.
Voting for the bill: Alexander-R, Altman-R, Benacquisto-R, Bennett-R, Bogdanoff-R, Dean-R, Detert-R, Diaz de la Portilla-R, Evers-R, Fasano-R, Flores-R, Gaetz-R, Garcia-R, Gardiner-R, Hays-R, Latvala-R, Lynn-R, Negron-R, Norman-R, Oelrich-R, Simmons-R, Siplin-D, Storms-R, Thrasher-R, Wise, and Haridopols-R
Voting against the bill: Braynon-D, Dockery-R, Hill-D, Jones-R, Joyner-D, Margolis-D, Montford-D, Rich-D, Ring-D, Sachs-D, Smith-D and Sobel-D
At the same time SB 736 was being debated, members of the House Education Committee were discussing HB 7019 By Rep. Fresen (R-Miami) – the nearly identical House version of 736. HB 7019 passed the committee by a party-line vote with Republicans voting for the bill. It will be on the floor of the House next Tuesday, March 15 with a final vote by the House anticipated on Wednesday, March 16.
After hours of failed amendments presented by Democrats, Rep. Dwight Bullard (D-Miami) told the committee, “You say you want to reward the best teachers. Nothing in this bill does that.”
Unemployment Insurance: The House passed its first bill of the Session on Thursday. Unfortunately it was HB 7005, the disastrous legislation that gives big business another tax break by taking lifeline benefits away from the unemployed. The bill:
· Makes it easier to lay off or terminate workers without providing unemployment benefits
· Places additional hurdles in front of workers trying to get benefits
· Reduces the possible weeks of unemployment benefits from 26 to 20 weeks with the maximum being as low as 12 weeks in times of low unemployment
· Reduces the “Experience Rating” tax rate calculation for businesses by 10%
200 unemployed workers from around Florida converged on the Capitol in protest of the bill but the Republican majority pushed it through, after changing the rules and placing serious restrictions on debate. The measure passed with a party-line vote.
SB 728 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee with a unanimous vote on Wednesday. The Senate version is much better than the House. It still places additional burdens on the unemployed but does not reduce benefits. House leaders and the Governor are twisting arms in the Senate to adopt the House language but we are urging the Senators to hold firm. We do have commitments that they will but a call to your Senator urging them to stand their ground would be helpful. Senator Nancy Detert is carrying the Senate bill and should be thanked for her much more balanced approach.
Pensions: SB 1130, the pension bill dealing with the FRS passed the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee on Thursday, March 10th with a vote of 12-1. Sen. Gary Siplin cast the only “No” vote. Substantial amendments were added to the bill thanks to a well coordinated effort by our coalition of public sector unions. The amendments dramatically reduce the negative impacts of the legislation.
· Members of FRS making less than $40,000 per year will not be forced to make a contribution.
· Contribution for workers earning between $40,000 and $75,000 is capped at 2%
· Regular class pension fund members making more than that would have to contribute 2 percent of their first $75,000 in salary and 4 percent of what they make above that. Senior administrators and elected officials would simply pay 4 percent of their full salary if they make more than $75,000.
· The Defined Plan will still be open for new hires earning less than $75,000 per year, while those making more than that would be forced to take a 401 (k) style proposal without a defined benefit.
Republican Senators Latvala, Dean and Norman did much of the heavy lifting on these amendments. It is widely believed that at the bill’s next stop, the Senate Budget Committee that some of this will be removed by Budget Chair Sen. JD Alexander. The strong vote in committee however, gives us hope.
Rich Templin, Ph.D.
Legislative & Political Director
Florida AFL-CIO
(850) 224-6926 / (850) 566-4348 cell
Twitter:rtemplin
“Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless
means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.” – Paulo Freire
