February 7, 2007

Prevailing Wage Legislation
TESTIMONY ON HSB 278

Mr. Chair, thank you for the opportunity to be here and to comment on HSB 278.  On behalf of more than 100,000 AFL-CIO union members in Iowa, I urge you to support this legislation.

Opponents of the legislation use twisted logic to justify their position.  They claim it will cost too much.  Their assumption is that cheap, low-skilled labor is just as productive as more expensive, skilled workers.  The facts are the opposite.  The skilled worker is not only more productive, but the job gets done right the first time. 

Let me remind you what low-skilled labor is capable of.  On November 20, 2001, nearly $10 million in damages resulted when workers from EnviroSafe Air used open-flame torches to remove asbestos from the Old Capitol roof, despite warnings from UI officials.

The opponents should cut the nonsense and just come out and say that they want cheap labor and they don’t care about the quality of the buildings that the state and local governments build.  

They should just look around; the federal government requires the prevailing wage be paid to construction workers on most federally funded projects.  So do 5 of the 6 surrounding states.  These states and the federal government believe that construction firms should compete for government contracts based upon quality, efficiency and productivity, rather than promoting low-wage and low-benefit jobs at the expense of workers.

 Prevailing wage exemplifies good economic development.   It encourages the development of a high-skill, high-wage economy that provides decent health and pension benefits and economic security to workers.  Additionally, higher wages have a positive impact on local incomes and tax revenues.

Prevailing wage helps maintain wage standards in the construction industry, and thus improves the likelihood that construction jobs will continue to provide an avenue for economic mobility for workers within the industry.  Opportunities for minority and at-risk youth for true career paths are improved by encouraging contractors to invest in apprenticeship training programs. 

Iowa can not continue to bemoan the loss of our youth to higher wage states on our border while refusing to prudently use government revenues to build not only the physical infrastructure, but economic opportunities to support workers and their families at a standard of living that contributes to society, as opposed to one that is subsidized by society.

Again, I urge you to support HSB 278.

America Needs a Free Choice for Workers

“This shows just how much you really hate workers.”

Representative George Miller (D-Ca) to Congressional Republicans   trying to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

In Free and Fair? How Labor Law Fails U.S. Democratic Election Standards (2005), Dr. Gordon Lafer (U. of Oregon) measured the union representation election process against democratic election standards established by the Founding Fathers and current statutes and regulations that define "free and fair" elections.   Lafer’s examination found that: workers’ free speech rights are squelched; employers practice various forms of economic coercion; and labor law allows employers to indefinitely delay recognition through drawn out appeals.
"The existence of such realities makes the current system utterly undemocratic."

Bills

to

Watch

HF 835 Inheritance taxes  Exempts an estate that passes to siblings, nieces or nephews if the decedent does not have any lineal descendents at the time of death  IFL opposes.

HF 839  Plumbing licenses  Replaces present local licensing requirements for plumbing, HVAC, refrigeration or hydronic services with a licensing board under the direction of the Department of Public Health.  IFL supports.

HF 845  Paper Voting trail  Requires voting machines that are direct electronic devices to be capable of capturing an image of the ballot, be capable of producing paper ballots that can be reviewed by the voter.  IFL supports.

HF 854  State School sales tax  Replaces the local option school sales tax with a statewide sales tax.  IFL opposes.

HF 861  Health Care Whistle blowers  Establishes protections for health care workers who disclose information to a government agency or law enforcement.  IFL supports.

HF 862  Recreational uses tax credit  Creates an income tax credit for a landowner who enters into a written agreement with the DNR that allows public access to the land for activities including hunting, fishing, swimming, boating, camping, picnicking, hiking, and other summer and winter sports, but does not include vehicles or horses.  IFL opposes.

HF 864  Firefighter tests  Requires firefighter candidates to pay for and to complete a physical ability test.  IFL supports.

HF 877  Statewide pre-school  Creates a statewide voluntary pre-school program for 4-year-old children.  IFL supports.

HSB 293  Exercise club individual tax credit  Creates an individual income tax credit of up to $250 per employee for businesses that pay all or part of the cost of their employees’ membership in a physical exercise club.  IFL opposes.

HSB 294  Exercise club sales tax exemption  Creates a sales tax exemption for charges for membership or services at a physical exercise club.  IFL opposes.

HSB 295  Exercise club tax credit  Creates a tax credit of up to $250 per employee for businesses that pay all or part of the cost of their employees’ membership in a physical exercise club.  IFL opposes.

SSB 1341  TIF and tax credit reporting  Requires cities and counties to include a TIF budget in their budget, which, when possible, will include estimated and actual tax increment revenues, spending, identifying TIF recipients and other matters.  IFL supports.

SSB 1342  Performing ARTS sales tax exemption  Exempts from sales tax the sale of materials and services provided that are used in the operation of a non-profit private performing arts center.  IFL opposes.   

December 9, 2006, 12:30 p.m.

North Central Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

Marvin Gardens

809 Central Avenue Fort Dodge

December 9, 2006, 5:00 p.m.

North Iowa Nine Labor Council, AFL-CIO

Hanford Inn

3041 - 4th St. SW

Mason City

December 13, 2006, 5:30 p.m.

Black Hawk Union Council, AFL-CIO

Brown Bottle

209 West 5th

Waterloo

December 15, 2006, 5:30 p.m.

Hawkeye Labor Council,

AFL-CIO

Iowa City Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

RWDSU #110 Hall

526 F Ave. NW

Cedar Rapids

December 16, 2006, 9:00 a.m.

Dubuque Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

Labor Temple

1610 Garfield, Dubuque

December 16, 2006, 12:30 p.m.

Clinton Labor Congress,

AFL-CIO

Quad City Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

Rusty Nail

2606 W. Locust

Davenport

December 16, 2006, 12:30 p.m.

Southwest Iowa Labor Council, AFL-CIO

Tish’s

1115 S. 35th St. Council Bluffs

December 16, 2006, 5:00 p.m.

Des Moines - Henry County Labor Council, AFL-CIO

Lee County Labor Council,

AFL-CIO

Parthenon Steakhouse

715 - 8th St.

Ft. Madison

December 16, 2006, 5:00 p.m.

Northwest Iowa Labor Council, AFL-CIO

UFCW #222

3038 S. Lakeport,

Sioux City

December 17, 2006, 12:30 p.m.

Southern Iowa Labor Council, AFL-CIO

UFCW #230 Hall

1305 E. Mary Ottumwa

December 18, 2006, 5:30 p.m.

Iowa Federation of Labor,

AFL-CIO

Machinists Hall

2000 Walker St.

Des Moines

A Victory in the Legislature
for People in Need

1600 plus!

Since 2004 (when LoanMax opened 5 locations in Iowa), over 1600 Iowans have had their cars repossessed.  Yeah, they got some money on the spot with no credit check.  But the problem:  the company got the car  title and an extra set of keys. 

And the interest? 

Up to 360%.  Figure that on a family budget!

Finally!

Now our interests are finally being addressed!  The Democrats have long had this abuse in their sights, and both the House and the Senate passed a bill that will limit the interest on car title loans to 21% .

The bill is now on its way to Governor Culver’s office.

Car Title loans:

How did your representative vote?

In the House:

• 84 Yes

• 12 No

• 4 Absent / not voting

Those voting “no”:
Boal, Dolecheck, Greiner, Horbach, Huser, R. Olson, Rayhons, Sands, Struyk, Tomenga, Wise, Worthan.

Absent or not voting, 4:

Arnold, Wessel-Kroeschell, Windschitl, Zirkelbach.

 In the Senate:

• 32 Yes

• 16 No

• 2 Absent

Those voting “no”:
Angelo, Hahn, Lundby, Noble, Behn, Horn, McKibben, Putney, Boettger, Johnson, McKinley, Wieck, Gaskill, Kettering, Mulder, Zieman.

Absent:

Heckroth, Ward.

No to Private
Prisons

Yes to Election Day Voter Registration

Evidence abounds that private prisons end up with:

· decreased security,

· anti-union personnel policies,

· inadequate staff training and equipment,

· inadequate protection of prisoners’ human rights,

· degrading prison conditions,

· poor employment standards,

· financial mismanagement.

The Colorado State Auditor recently conducted an audit of the private prisons operating in Colorado and documented an overwhelming number of serious flaws. (4/29/05)  And in Texas, a grass roots citizens’ committee “South Texans Opposing Private Prisons” has mounted a strong campaign to “STOPP” the growth of such prisons (11/28/05)  Now we can stop them here.

The Iowa Senate has approved a bill prohibiting the department of corrections “from entering into an agreement with a private sector for-profit entity for the purpose of housing inmates committed to the custody of the director of the department of corrections.”   The bill now goes to the House.

How did your Senator vote?
In the Senate: 28 Yes; 19 No; 3 Absent.

Those voting “no”: Angelo, Hartsuch, McKibben, Seymour, Behn, Houser, McKinley, Wieck, Boettger, Johnson, Mulder, Zaun, Gaskill, Kettering, Noble, Zieman, Hahn, Lundby, Putney.

Absent: Courtney, Heckroth, Ward.

Maximum voter turnout is a key safeguard for democracy.  The Iowa Federation of Labor supports a number of electoral reforms to protect this fundamental union value:

· Allowing eligible folks who want to vote to register at the polls on election day

· Allowing towns under 200 to have elections by mail ballot

· Requiring paper trails for all electronic voting machines

· Creating a voter-owned clean election fund to keep elections out of the hands of the plutocrats

The Iowa House has approved same-day registration with plenty of safeguards against “voter fraud.”  People who want to vote can simply show up on election day, show a photo ID and proof of residence and cast their vote!

States with same-day registration are: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Idaho, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Montana and Maine.  All of these states have found election day voter fraud to be virtually non-existent.  The bill now goes to the Senate.

How did your Representative vote?

In the House:  54 Yes; 45 No; 1 Absent / not voting.

Those voting “no”:  Alons, Anderson, Arnold, Baudler, Boal, Chambers, Clute, De Boef, Deyoe, Dolecheck, Drake, Forristall, Gipp, Granzow, Grassley, Greiner, Heaton, Hoffman, Horbach, Huseman, Jacobs, Kaufmann, Lukan, May, L. Miller, S. Olson, Paulsen, Raecker, Rants, Rasmussen, Rayhons, Roberts, Sands, Schickel, Soderberg, Struyk, Tjepkes, Tymeson, Upmeyer, Van Engelenhoven, Van Fossen, Watts, Wiencek, Windschitl, Worthan.

Absent or not voting: Zirkelbach.

In cooperation with the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO presents a conference for union members.

Arbitration

A three-day program for union officers, stewards, representatives, and interested union members (no prior arbitration experience necessary).  Topics include:

Phone registration:  call (319) 335-4146.  Fax registration:  (319) 335-4464.  Online and email registration is available at http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr. 

Time to Think about Iowa Taxes! 

A measure reducing taxes on commercial and industrial property appears likely to pass the Iowa legislature, driven by complaints from commercial property owners that they are paying too much in taxes, and this is driving business from the state.  Are they right?

Overall, state and local taxes on business in Iowa are quite average, according to a report from the Iowa Policy Project, and corporate income taxes are actually among the lowest in the country. While business property taxes are no doubt higher than average, other business taxes are lower. Furthermore, research shows that taxes are a small part of the cost of doing business in a state and have little to do with where businesses locate.   The bottom line: our tax system is not hindering economic development.

Commercial property owners complain that property taxes have been shifted from farmers and homeowners onto commercial property through a “rollback”, designed to prevent the assessed value of agricultural and residential property from rising more than 4% a year.  It accomplishes this by requiring assessments to be a fraction of actual value.

As a result, homeowners now pay taxes on less than half of the actual value of their homes. Commercial property owners, on the other hand, still pay taxes on close to 100% of property value.  So commercial property owners are picking up a larger share of the total property tax tab.

A refund?  To avoid simply shifting taxes from commercial property owners to homeowners, the Legislature is considering refunding a flat amount (about $275) to every commercial property owner. This would be paid out of state revenues.  It is a token amount; it doesn’t do anything to reform the property tax system, yet it will cost the state $25 million at a time when we need state revenues for education and health care. 

Or a permanent tax credit?  Another bill being offered, Senate File 496, would provide a permanent tax credit on commercial property keyed to increases in the school property tax rate. The Iowa Policy Project believes it is premature to establish such a permanent fix for one problem with the property tax before a thorough evaluation of the whole property tax system is undertaken, as recommended by the Governor's property tax commission.

A tax note from the Iowa Policy Project.

Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

Legislative Hospitality

Monday Evenings

5:00 - 7:00

Machinists Hall

2000 Walker Street

Iowa Federation of Labor,  AFL-CIO

Lobbyist Meeting

10:00 Monday Mornings

During the Legislative Session

2000 Walker Street

Des Moines, Iowa
 

You’re invited!

FAIR SHARE
for public workers

Passed Senate — Delayed in House.