Democrats, who control both houses of the Iowa Legislature, are again moving ahead with a labor-backed measure that failed last year. While it remains unclear if the proposal will fare any better in the current session, passage, in our view, poses threats to both the current recovery and to future economic development.

The House Labor Committee crafted and approved a new version of the so-called fair share legislation last week that would allow unions to collect a fee from workers in a bargaining unit who haven’t joined the union. Minority Republicans, joined by some moderate Democrats, mustered enough votes last year to block the measure.

“I wouldn’t want to speculate at this point because we really don’t know,” House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, told the Associated Press. “We haven’t reached a consensus yet.” Compared to a year ago, the fair share bill has been watered down to make it more palatable to Democrats whose opposition was key to the bill’s defeat during the last legislative session.The new fair share plan would apply only to the largest union representing state workers, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

“It’s a much smaller measure,” said Sen. Tom Courtney, D-Burlington, a backer of fair share.

Still, the Labor Committee had to work more than four hours this week before approving the fair share plan, and critics demanded a public hearing to vent their views that the proposal guts the state’s labor laws. That hearing will be this week.

Despite changes to the bills, they still face unanimous opposition by Republicans, and the moderate Democrats who rejected them last year don’t seem eager to change their stand.

Republicans are focusing plenty of attention on the measures, saying they would end Iowa’s status as a right-to-work state, where workers can’t be forced to join a union as a condition of employment.

“It’s absolutely a repeal of Iowa right to work, and it’s absolutely the wrong way to go,” said House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha.

First enacted in 1947 as an outgrowth of the Taft-Hartley Act that was enacted the same year over President Harry S. Truman’s veto, Iowa’s right to work statute has ensured that workers who choose not to join a union cannot be forced to do so as a condition of employment.

Paulsen argued that backers are desperate to find some way to get the measures to Gov. Chet Culver, who indicated last year he would sign such legislation.

Others accused Democrats of grandstanding on the labor issues to court organized labor in an election year.

“It’s political payback. We all know that,” said Rep. Lance Horbach, R-Tama, a leading critic of the fair share measure.

Approval of fair share legislation would, in our opinion, provide a compelling reason for companies to bypass Iowa and look elsewhere to build manufacturing plants, warehouses and corporate offices. This consideration is critical to western Iowa as both Nebraska and South Dakota have right to work laws.

(Source: Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil)

Iowa is one of 22 states with a Right to Work law. Right to Work (RTW) statutes prevent labor unions and employers from mandating that workers must belong to a union as a condition of their employment. The state‘s 62-year old law has had strong support from Iowans despite efforts by organized labor to weaken the statute.

Last week, House Study Bill 702, now HF 2420, cleared the funneling process and, if passed by both chambers and signed into law, would permit unions to collect mandatory fees from all public employees who work within the state‘s executive branch, including most state departments and Regents whether or not the employee had chosen to join the union. The proposed changes, while not as wide-sweeping as those proposed in 2009 and 2007, would crack open the door to moving Iowa from being a RTW state to an obligatory union fee state.

You can read the full White Paper here.

“House Republicans do not support stripping Iowans of their liberties and rights,” said House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha). “Under this proposal, not only will Iowans have to pay to keep their job, they’ll have to hire a lawyer too.”

The legislation forces non-union state government employees to pay up to 75% of union dues. If they do not pay the forced union fees, the union can sue them to collect the fee.

According to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency currently, the 12,000 union members pay $5.6 million to the union. Under this bill, the 18,000 non-union members would be forced to pay $5.3 million to the union.

“House Republicans will continue to stand up for Iowans’ freedoms and protect their right to work,” said Paulsen.

A public hearing will be held Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 from 5pm to 8pm in the House Chamber. Iowans can contact the Legislative Information Office at (515) 281-5129 to testify.

Last week in the House, the State Government committee worked on the reorganization bill (SF 2088). The bill in its current form saves a little over $70 million.

In order for the Governor’s budget to balance, he needs a minimum $391 million in “general fund” spending reductions. About $30 million of that is expected to come through early retirements. Another $90 million will be achieved through the Governor’s savings that he achieved internally for a total $120 million in savings.

This leaves $271 million that needs to be saved through additional legislative decisions.

While Republicans and Democrats in the House have been able to come together and work on an initial bill in a bi-partisan manner, I believe we have the ability to go further and find even more savings and waste in government.

The following 14 proposals were offered by House Republicans this last week. These ideas totaled an additional $290 million but were defeated on a straight party line vote in the State Government committee.

1. End all state benefits to illegal immigrant adults (savings $92.3 million)
2. Combine administrative functions at the Regents universities (savings $62 million)
3. Shift voluntary preschool responsibilities to Empowerment (savings $45 million)
4. Eliminate the Power Fund and the Office of Energy Independence, reassign responsibilities (savings $25 million)
5. Sell and completely privatize the state general purpose vehicle fleet (savings $18 million)
6. Sell or lease the Iowa Communications Network (savings $15 million)
7. Delay the implementation of K-12 core curriculum for one year (savings $10.5 million)
8. Cancel all Regents sabbaticals for Fiscal Year 2011 (savings $6 million)
9. Cut funding for office supplies, service contracts, equipment purchases (savings $5 million)
10. Eliminate taxpayer-funded lobbyists (savings $4 million)
11. Eliminate the Just Eliminate Lies (JEL) program (savings $2.25 million)
12. Eliminate funding for empty shelter care beds (savings $2 million)
13. Eliminate the family planning waiver (savings $2 million)
14. Eliminate the Rebuild Iowa Office, give responsibilities to Homeland Security (savings $1 million)

Last year, House Republicans offered amendments which totaled over $330 million in government savings which means, with the help of Iowans and their ideas, we dove into the budgets to find over $600 million in efficiencies over the past two years. Not only are Republicans serious about government reorganization, we are serious about a more efficient state government that costs taxpayers less.

Repeal of Right to Work

One additional thing I wanted to make you aware of – late last Thursday in the Labor committee, House Democrats assigned a bill which would gut Iowa’s right to work law (House Study Bill 702). This is yet another attempt by House Democrats to take away Iowans’ choice to join a union.

As many of you know, Iowa’s right to work law guarantees that no person can be compelled, as a condition of employment, to join, not join or pay any fees to a labor union. Iowa’s right to work law has been in place since 1947. This bill is a direct attack on hard-working Iowans’ liberties.

It is simply wrong to tell someone they must give their hard-earned dollars to an organization they have chosen not to be a member of. A union is not forced to represent non-members. Unions chose forced monopoly bargaining. Now they also want payment for providing those sometimes unwanted services.

Under the Democrats’ plan, public employees who are non-union would be forced to pay a fee to the union as a condition of their employment, thus completely gutting Iowa’s right to work law.

The assigned sub-committee members for this bill are:
Rep. Geri Huser (geri.huser@legis.state.ia.us), D-Altoona
Rep. Bruce Hunter (bruce.hunter@legis.state.ia.us), D-Des Moines
and Rep. Lance Horbach (lance.horbach@legis.state.ia.us), R-Tama

Feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions or concerns. You can call my office at (515) 281-3521 or email me at kraig.paulsen@legis.state.ia.us.

Iowa’s right to work law guarantees that no person can be compelled, as a condition of employment, to join, not join or pay any fees to a labor union. Iowa’s right to work law has been in place since 1947. This bill is a direct attack on hard-working Iowans’ liberties.

“It is simply wrong to tell someone they must give their hard-earned dollars to an organization they have chosen not to be a member of,” said House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha). “A union is not forced to represent non-members. They choose forced monopoly bargaining and now they want to force payment for providing those unwanted services.”

Under the Democrats’ plan, public employees who are non-union would be forced to pay a fee to the union as a condition of their employment, thus completely gutting Iowa’s right to work law.

Throwing taxpayer money at the problem didn’t work.

This year, Republicans have proposed a four-point plan for job growth.

• Create a favorable climate for job growth
• End the assault on employers
• Stop property tax increases headed for families and businesses
• Ensure tax credit reviews don’t result in tax increases

Last year, the Legislature convened an interim committee to find ways to save the state money. Republicans want to put the same effort into finding ways to help Iowa’s employers by eliminating and modifying regulations. Without spending a dollar, Iowa can create jobs by removing obstacles to job growth.

Recent media accounts have shown how installers of solar powered systems are struggling with government regulations. This has created an atmosphere which has ground the industry to a halt. We propose joint hearings of the Economic Growth Committees to investigate regulations that block business expansion and preservation.

Another piece of our plan is ending the assault on employers. Even the threat of increased taxes and government mandates keep employers from thriving and adding new jobs. Democrats must withdraw the following bills:

• Ending Iowa ’s Right to Work Law
• Open Scope Collective Bargaining
• Doctor Shopping
• Prevailing Wage

These bills not only fail to create jobs, the risk of their passage has already had a chilling effect on Iowa’s overall economy.

Bad budgeting led to the recent across the board budget cut. This haphazard budgeting results in increased property taxes on Iowa’s families and employers. Governor Culver and Legislative Democrats should stop passing their budgeting mistakes down to the local property taxpayer. Each time property taxes go up, fewer jobs are created. Government must stop spending more than the state collects and we need to cut back unsustainable spending plans Democrats have previously approved.

Finally, there has been a lot of talk about reviewing state tax credits. Republicans are supportive of the review, but the beneficiaries of any “savings” must be the taxpayers through broad based tax relief, NOT state coffers.

Iowans are dealing with job losses and employers are struggling to stay open, the last thing they need are higher tax bills. When a tax credit is capped or eliminated, someone’s taxes are going up. The only entity that benefits from higher taxes is government. Raising taxes is not the answer to Iowa’s budget problems.

House Republicans recognize these are just a few ideas to help kick-start our job market. Throughout the session and beyond, we will continue to develop new ideas for long term job creation in Iowa. Iowa’s best days are ahead of us. But we must have an environment that encourages employers to invest in our state and our workforce.

To see other Republican Solutions, visit the Real Solutions page.

In 2009, House Republicans offered the “Principal Plan” for state employees. The plan was modeled after the salary reductions implemented by the Principal Financial Group.

Those making under $40,000 per year would have their salary reduced by 2 percent, those making $40,000 to $49,999 would be reduced by 4 percent, those making $50,000 to $99,999 would be reduced by 7 percent and those making over $100,000 would have their salary reduced by 10 percent.

Fiscal Services estimated this would save the state’s general fund $72 million annually. Implementing the Principal Plan would significantly lesson the need for layoffs and furlough days.

On October 21, Governor Culver’s Chief of Staff John Frew said deepening budget problems likely are going to require the Governor to seek to reopen contract talks with state employee unions who negotiated incremental pay raises. Executive Branch employees not at the top of their pay ranges will receive a 4.5 percent raise in FY 2010 and a 5.5 percent raise in FY 2011.

“We are going to request concessions,” Culver chief of staff John Frew said. Frew said there have been several preliminary discussions with the state’s three employee bargaining units regarding the likelihood of large-scale layoffs and the procedures that must be followed to implement a workforce reduction over the next two months or so. (Cedar Rapids Gazette, October 22, 2009)

The unions have resisted salary reductions, stating that they prefer layoffs so the former employees can collect unemployment benefits. According to a statement from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, Council 61, “We want to reiterate our expectation that going forward, the state of Iowa should treat this current situation the same as it would a major plant closing, and provide all appropriate support to workers who are being laid off that is available to them.”

With unemployment at a 26-year high, House Republicans believe we shouldn’t make the unemployment rate higher by laying off state employees when salary reductions would allow most employees to keep their jobs and maintain services for Iowans.

In 2008, the Legislature approved HF 2645, a bill that dramatically changed Chapter 20, the public employee collective bargaining rules and 260C, which deals with teacher contracts and termination. The bill was rammed through undercover of darkness and approved by Democrats. By sneaking it through, Democrats avoided the deafening public outcry from both taxpayers and local government officials that followed.

The Governor vetoed HF 2645, stating that it was “a poorly written bill with sometimes-ambiguous language that raises troubling, unanswered questions and unresolved uncertainties for management, labor and taxpayers alike. At the heart of the ambiguities is the ‘open scope’ language of the bill, which does not define what is, and what is not, a part of the ‘other terms and conditions not already excluded,’ that could be made subject to mandatory bargaining…. all of which could be made subject to binding arbitration upon impasse and which could potentially result in untold and unintended obligations resulting in substantial tax increases.” (Governor’s Veto Message, May 15, 2008)

There is a fear among taxpayers and local government officials that since the Democrats were able to approve HF 2645 in an election year with smaller majorities in both chambers, a new version of the bill will likely come up again in 2010.

With unemployment at a 26-year high, House Republicans will continue to judge every bill next session with the question “Does this bill help grow Iowa’s economy?” Open scope bargaining will increase property taxes, which will hurt Iowa’s economy, and for that reason is opposed by House Republicans.

The good news is that Iowa was ranked #1 in the nation, getting an A-plus grade for its workers’ compensation system. This is more proof that we should not make radical changes to the state’s current workers comp laws, including the controversial employee doctor shopping (choice of doctor) bill.

WLDI’s State Report Cards are based on data from OSHA Form 300’s and 200’s, which cover all OSHA recordable injuries and illnesses and provide the basis for rating state-by-state workers’ compensation performance. The 2009 release adds four more years worth of data (2003-2006) to the rankings, which makes for a total of seven years of data since it includes statistics collected in the last publication, which was released in 2004.

Similar to past releases of this report, the 2009 State Report Cards provide five different outcome measures compared among the states for each year:

1. Incidence Rates,
2. Cases Missing Work,
3. Median Disability Durations,
4. Delayed Recovery Rate; and
5. Key Conditions: Low Back Strain.

An essential requirement for production of this report was the proprietary crosswalk program that has been developed by WLDI, which converts OSHA-reported data into an ICD9 code format. More details on the methodology used are located at http://www.odg-disability.com/pr_src_methods2009.htm.

Iowa performed the best of all the states for 2006 and Minnesota came in a close second. Both states received a grade of “A+” based on an average of their 2006 scores in the five categories above. Illinois came in last, with Wyoming, Rhode Island and New York very close to the bottom. In total, nine of the 43 states received a grade of “F” in 2006. A summary of each grade for all states is shown on a U.S. Map Showing Grades by State, located at http://www.odg-disability.com/pr_src2009_us.htm.

The Work Loss Data Institute is an independent database development company focused on workplace health and productivity based in Encinitas, California. The Official Disability Guidelines product line provides evidence-based medical treatment and disability duration guidelines to improve as well as benchmark outcomes in workers’ comp and non-occupational disability. ODG is available in Web-based, textbook and Systems Integration formats, used in all 50 states and worldwide. For more information, visit www.worklossdata.com or contact Work Loss Data Institute at 800-488-5548.

The Right to Work principle affirms the right of every American to work for a living without being forced to belong to a union. Compulsory unionism in any form–”union,” “closed,” or “agency” shop–is a contradiction of the Right to Work principle and the fundamental human right the principle represents.

As of January 1, 2006, 22 states have adopted Right-to-Work laws. (In 1995, Indiana adopted a Right-to-Work law only applicable to teachers).

Since 2007, the Democrats have sponsored several bills to completely overturn Iowa’s 60-year-old Right-to-Work law. Their attempts require non-union public and private employees to pay a “fair share” fee to the union. The so-called “fair share” fee can be as much as the full amount of union dues.

This alleged “fair share” fee forces non-union members to pay for the “representation” they get at the bargaining table by the collective bargaining unit. House File 555 violates the principle of Iowa’s right-to-work statutes (20.8 for public employees and 731.4 for private employees) and rewrites the statute to allow the opposite of current law.

Particularly, the most egregious portions of House File 555 are:

• Require non-union employees pay a fee to the certified employee organization (union), by automatic payroll deduction each month (employer is required to make the deduction)
• Provides a process so that a non-union employee may attempt to reduce their fee to something lower than full union dues (essentially, all employees will be forced to pay union dues unless the succeed in challenging the amount and lowering, but not eliminating it)
• Amends the “Contracts to Exclude” portion of the right-to-work law (section 731.3) to force those who refuse to join a union to pay dues as a condition of being able to enter into a contract. (This provision is the complete opposite of the intent of Chapter 731)
• Amends the “Union Dues as Prerequisite to Employment Prohibited” portion of the right-to-work law (section 731.4) to establish the total opposite of the intent of this law and require dues as a precondition to employment
• Establishes new code section 731.4A authorizing “fair share agreements” as a condition of continued employment for non-union employees. Requires non-union employees after 30 days of employment either to become a member of the union or pay the fair share fee.

Even if HF 555 was amended to remove private sector employees, it will still be a direct assault on the state’s Right to Work law. Putting the Right to Work law in the state Constitution would not prevent such attempts in the future, but would certainly make it more difficult for the Democrats and their union allies to gut the law with fair share bills or similar legislation.