2003 Legislative Positions

 The Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO supports fair treatment and non-discrimination in employment by public and private sector employers.  

A person should be judged on his/her merits and not on characteristics ascribed to a group.  When such discrimination occurs, Iowa laws should provide just causes of action and remedies.

We support the following changes to the Iowa Civil Rights law:

• Give complainants the direct right to sue without a waiting period in the administrative agency

• Allow class actions to be filed under the statute

• Add a state Equal Pay Act and Fair Pay Act

• Strengthen the disability in employment provisions

• Add sexual orientation and gender identity as an affected class

 The right of workers to choose to join unions is a fundamental right.  The law must ensure that workers who exercise their freedom to join a union have a meaningful right to bargain that results in a contract on fair terms.  Lawbreakers must be held accountable for their conduct, with remedies and penalties commensurate with the offense, so that labor law violations are dealt with as seriously as violation of employment discrimination, antitrust and environmental laws.

 Iowa’s economic development efforts need to focus on those economic activities that promote a better quality of life for Iowans through good jobs that provide decent wages and benefits. 

 Governments fund a variety of economic development programs, including property tax abatements, corporate income tax credits, enterprise zones, tax-free low-interest loans, Tax Increment Financing (TIF), infrastructure assistance, and training grants.  The purpose of these programs is to create good jobs by encouraging existing firms to expand in Iowa and enticing new businesses to start up or relocate to Iowa.

It is questionable whether the programs are achieving the goals that were intended.  For example, in spite of spending over $1 billion per year in grants and tax breaks, Iowa’s wages still rank 38^th in the country.  What is certain is that we do not have procedures in place to evaluate Iowa’s economic development efforts. 

In order to determine the effectiveness of any subsidy, credit or tax cut, Iowa should, on an annual basis, collect, analyze and publish the data necessary to evaluate whether these programs are working.  Such data should include, but not be limited to the following:

• Public funds received, business by business, for each economic development program.

• Tax credits, by business, by credit

• Property tax reductions and abatements

• Number of net jobs created and hourly wage

• Value of tax expenditures

Recipients of all economic development subsidies should be required to meet quality standards, such as jobs that pay at least twice the minimum wage and provide health care.  Firms with a record of labor law violations or union busting should be disqualified.

Venture capital initiatives should also require disclosure of data so that the quantity and quality of jobs created can be evaluated.

The Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, supports:

•  Spending limits on campaigns and public financing of campaigns.

•  Election Day registration to allow easier access to voting for all our citizens.

•  Continuation of the early voting program

 The Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO is opposed to deregulation of the electric utility industry unless there is full protection for utility workers’ jobs and wages and benefits, assurances of affordable, reliable and safe electric service for consumers and adequate protection for the environment.

The Federation supports enforcement of current equal pay laws and legislation to expand the notion of equal pay to include work of equal value.

 The Federation supports legislation that would allow Iowa private sector and public sector unions to negotiate “fair share” clauses into collectively bargained labor agreements. 

 Such a clause would require an employee covered by a union contract, as a condition of employment, to pay a “fair share” fee to cover the union’s representational activities.  A “fair share” clause would ensure that all workers covered by and benefiting from the contract would share in the cost of the service provided.

Employers with four or more employees, including the state and its subdivisions, should provide paid family and medical leave benefits for workers.

The Federation supports health care reform that extends access to affordable, quality health care to all Iowans.

The Federation supports:

• Expansion of health care coverage to all Iowa children from families with incomes less than 200% of the poverty level.

• Affordable Prescription Drugs for all Drugs for all Iowans.

• Safe staffing ratios in health care facilities and nursing homes to ensure that patients get the care they need.

• Limits on mandatory overtime for health care workers.  Increased workloads are leading to a critical shortage of health care workers.  Overworked employees compromise patient safety.

• Mental health parity.  Insurers should be required to cover mental illnesses, including alcoholism and substance abuse, in a manner equal to coverage for other illnesses.

 The Federation opposes:

• Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs).  These accounts will benefit primarily healthy, wealthy individuals and will neither control costs nor enhance the quality of care.  MSAs may provide an incentive to participants to postpone or deny themselves necessary health care and could drive up the cost of health insurance.

• Limits on medical malpractice lawsuits.  Medical negligence cannot be reduced by restricting consumers' legal rights.  In fact, the threat of lawsuit may force providers to act more responsibly.  Arbitrary limits tend to deny proper compensation for those who are harmed the most.

The Federation supports:

• Provision of positive learning and training experiences needed by welfare recipients to reach the goal of permanent, unsubsidized employment.  We encourage welfare agencies to assess the skills, interests and abilities of welfare recipients and to develop educational programs that will fit the needs of the employees.

• Funding for high-quality child care to make it more available and affordable for Iowa’s working families and also provide living wages for child care providers.

• Adequate funding for transportation needs.

• Health care coverage for low wageworkers.

• Affordable housing.  Iowa should dedicate real estate transfer tax revenue for local housing programs.  These funds would be controlled at the local level and used to meet the low- and moderate-income housing needs of that area.

• Increased funding for Iowa’s Emergency Assistance Program (EAP).  Iowa’s EAP provides a maximum grant of $500 once in any 12-month period to low-income families with children to pay for rent and/or utilities, essential home repair, or a mortgage payment.  This grant is inadequate.  Further, the EAP appropriation usually runs out within six months of when the funds become available.  Thus, the total appropriation is also inadequate.

• Adequate funding for Legal Services Programs.

• Workplace policies that apply equally to welfare recipients, including equal treatment with regard to wages, benefits and working conditions.  Welfare workers who are forced to “work off” their checks are often expected to do the same work as other employees, but for a fraction of their pay, with no sick leave, no vacations, no pensions or other benefits.  This is unacceptable.

 The Federation opposes replacement of regular employees or jobs, in whole or in part, by welfare recipients.

Some workers, who are, for all intents and purposes, employees, are treated as if they are independent contractors.  As a result, the employer is freed from the obligation to provide unemployment and workers’ compensation to them.  Legislation should be passed that reflects the distinction between employees and independent contractors and prohibits employer avoidance of their obligations.

The Federation opposes the use of prisoners to replace free workers.

The Federation encourages programs that educate and train inmates to re-enter society and become productive citizens.   Such programs must comply with prevailing wage requirements and have no adverse impact upon public or private sector workers.

The Federation opposes contracting out of public work. 

Private firms have little or no public accountability and are less responsive to citizen needs.  They are motivated to make profits rather than deliver high quality services. 

Contract employers traditionally pay poor wages and benefits, which are not sufficient to raise and support a family. Yet there is no evidence to indicate that privatization results in lower costs. That is because “savings” from lower employee costs simply accrue to the contractor. 

In addition, the state may have to provide assistance for such low-income workers, as well as suffer a decrease in tax revenue.

All wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment should be mandatory subjects of bargaining.

Every worker in the state of Iowa should be provided safe and healthy working conditions.  Employees should not suffer declining health, declining functional capacity or shorter life expectancy due to their work experience.  It is inexcusable that we are in the bottom tier of states in the ratio of safety and health inspectors to workers.  There are currently only enough OSHA inspectors to routinely inspect Iowa workplaces once every 164 years.  This lack of enforcement allows employers to violate accepted safety and health standards with little or no risk of being sanctioned.  We support Iowa OSHA, whose goals include reducing injuries and illnesses in the workplace.  To help reach those goals, the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO supports the following:

• The fulfillment by the State of Iowa of its obligation to provide staffing for enforcement personnel as well as providing adequate clerical, technical, supervisory and administrative staff at levels that will ensure the safety and well-being of Iowa workers.

• Minimum guarantees of staffing levels and patterns in prisons and jails, as well as adequate education and other effective strategies for reducing the risk of inmate assaults and violence within our corrections systems.

The Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO supports a re-write of the school foundation formula to address funding problems and inequities in the K-12 education system. A new school foundation formula should generate enough revenue to provide adequate funding for infrastructure and technology, as well as for salaries for teachers and other school employees.

We oppose local option funding schemes for school infrastructure.  We are also concerned about the cost effectiveness of allowing marginal school districts to continue to subsist if revenue is accrued automatically, or allowing affluent schools to qualify for revenue based on student population rather than need.  Eliminating school funding from the appropriations process by earmarking tax revenue is also ill-advised.

The Federation supports delivering education in a more efficient manner.  Specifically, Iowa should encourage school mergers, distance learning and sharing arrangements.

 The Federation is opposed to tax cuts when the budget is in crisis.  We support a tax increase so that the state will be able to adequately meet the legitimate needs of its citizenry.  In addition to generating needed revenue, any tax changes should make the system progressive.

A progressive system bases taxes on ability to pay.  That is, if one compares the total amount paid in income tax, sales tax and property tax as a percentage of income, the greater the income, the greater the percentage of that income that is paid in taxes.

Iowa families in the lowest income class pay more, in percentage terms, than do the richest Iowans.  This result is offensive to most civilized people in that the poor and middle class are forced to pay more than the rich.  It is also an ineffective revenue strategy in that those whose income and wealth have increased the most—the rich—pay less.

In 1992 when the state was short of money, the Legislature passed a one-cent increase in the sales tax.  Because of the regressive nature of the tax, proportionally more burden was put on low- and middle-income Iowans.  In 1997 when the state had a surplus, the Legislature passed a 10 percent across-the-board income tax cut.  The advantage of this cut accrued disproportionately to upper-income Iowans.  The net effect of the tax changes of the 1990s has been a tax cut for the richest 20 percent and a tax increase for the bottom 60 percent.

A number of changes could be made that would make Iowa taxes more progressive.  The Federation supports:

• Eliminating or limiting federal deductibility.  Current Iowa tax law allows a deduction of federal taxes paid in calculating Iowa income;

• Instituting income-based sales tax credits and/or property tax credits;

• Increasing the earned income tax credit for low- and moderate-income families;

• Tying homestead credit to income so that persons with income above, for example, $100,000 are no longer eligible for the exemption.

Positions on Specific Tax Cut Proposals

The Federation opposes taxes that treat one source of income differently than another.  A dollar of income, no matter what its source, is equal.  It should be treated equally by the tax system.

OTHER TAX ISSUES

Sales Tax

The Federation opposes raising sales taxes, whether state-wide or by local option, unless a portion of the revenue generated is devoted to a system of refundable tax credits that would eliminate the regressiveness of the increase in the sales tax.

We support efforts to make the sales tax less regressive by exempting essentials from the sales tax base.

Tuition Tax Credit

The Federation opposes the use of public dollars in the form of vouchers, tuition tax credits or deductions which would reduce the funding available to public education.

Inheritance Tax

The Federation opposes further cuts in the inheritance tax.  The tax has already been eliminated for lineal descendants and ascendants.  The tax for those outside of that category should remain, as it is relatively progressive and does not cause an exodus of Iowa residents.

The Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO opposes using citizen referenda to make state taxing and spending decisions. 

The role of our elected representatives at the state level is, on behalf of the citizens who elected them, to determine the policies and programs in which the state will engage, and to levy the taxes to fund these policies and programs.  Proposals to use a referendum to set taxes strip the Legislature of its constitutional responsibility in a representative democracy.  The outcomes of such referenda hinge entirely on the ability of interest groups to spend massive sums of money to influence citizen voting decisions through the technology of modern communications, thereby undermining the practice of direct democracy such referenda are designed to promote.

The Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO supports legislation that would allow more Iowans who are unemployed through no fault of their own to receive benefits.

The amount of money in Iowa’s unemployment trust fund is currently over $706 million.  Employers continue to contribute at low rates.  At the same time, less than half of unemployed Iowans are receiving benefits.  Thousands of individuals who are totally or partially unemployed through no fault of their own are denied unemployment benefits due to technical regulations.  Iowa should:

• Eliminate the high quarter ratio requirement.  Currently, a worker’s base period earnings must be 1-1/4 times the high quarter earnings.

• Institute a moveable wage base.  Allow the applicant to use the last four of the five preceding quarters of earnings instead of the first four if they lack qualifying wages.

• Extend unemployment benefits to victims of domestic violence.

The IFL opposes the use of unemployment trust fund money or the interest generated by the fund for anything other than benefits to unemployed Iowans.

The Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO supports an increase in the minimum wage in Iowa.

The minimum wage was last increased in 1997 by the U.S. Congress.  Iowa, by statute, adjusts its wage to the federal level.  A state can have a minimum wage higher than the Federal rate.  An estimated 60,000 Iowans would get wage increases if the minimum were increased.

 The Federation supports:

• Separating the Workers’ Compensation premium into two parts:  one part based on medical costs and the other part based on wage replacement.  Workers’ Compensation premiums are wage-based.  Yet nearly one half of the cost of Workers’ Compensation is medical care.  The cost of medical care is the same regardless of the wage rate.  Only wage replacement costs are variable.  The current system discriminates in favor of low wage employers.  Thus, the high wage employers actually subsidize the low wage employers’ medical costs.  A two-part premium would remove this inequity.

• Employee choice of doctor.  A basic tenet of adequate health care is the right of individuals to choose their medical providers.  This choice provides faith in the medical provider and often leads to quicker recovery.  Current Iowa law gives the employer the choice of provider for an injured worker.  This eliminates patient faith as well as raises questions about the loyalties of the medical provider.

• Legislation that will prevent the release of workers’ compensation records to firms which blacklist workers and appropriate penalties in the event workers’ medical privacy rights are violated.  There is a growing “industry” of for-profit information-gathering firms that collect workers’ compensation claims records, including medical information and sell it to employers for “screening purposes.”  Certain firms have been obtaining workers’ compensation records from the state of Iowa and using them to blacklist Iowa workers.

• Enactment of legislation that provides for reasonable, but specific, time frames within which workers’ compensation cases must be decided.  There is an increasing backlog of cases resulting in delays that stretch from months into years, “starving out” sick and injured workers, who, out of necessity, are forced to settle for less than their rightful benefits under the workers’ compensation laws.

• Development of a program of vocational rehabilitation that provides adequate compensation for injured workers while undergoing rehabilitation and that results in meaningful employment for injured workers who complete the program.

• Repeal or extension of the sunset on funding assessment for the Second Injury Fund.  The current system which generates money from workplace deaths and a trigger for an assessment by the insurance commissioner on employers when needed has been working well.