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Mandatory Collective Bargaining Legislation
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1st Session, 110th
Congress:
Special Report
12/14/07
11/16/07
11/9/07
10/26/07
2007 survey of State Homeland Security Directors |
URGENT - from National League of Cities
Mandatory Collective Bargaining Bill Offered as Amendment to Farm Bill
CALL YOUR SENATORS NOW AND URGE THEM TO VOTE NO WHEN THIS AMENDMENT TO THE FARM BILL COMES TO THE FLOOR!
On Tuesday, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) offered Senate Amendment 3830 to the Farm Bill (H.R.2419). The amendment, if adopted would add the mandatory collective bargaining bill (S.2123) introduced by Sen. Judd Gregg earlier this year. It is imperative that you contact your senators immediately and ask them to oppose any amendment to the Farm Bill that would add collective bargaining to the bill.
Let your senators know that this amendment:
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would “federalize” local employees by placing the federal government in charge of local collective bargaining.
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would pre-empt state and local authority – including the authority of the voters -- to determine whether or not public sector employees, generally, and public safety officers, specifically, should be allowed to organize and collectively bargain.
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would have a significant fiscal impact on localities. Even if pension and retirement benefits are not subject to negotiation, increased salaries would result in higher payments to pension and retirement plans, resulting in a substantial fiscal impact.
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could force cities and towns to reduce other services such as trash collection and road maintenance, that are important to maintaining local communities, in order to meet salary and pension increases that result from collective bargaining.
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would grant rights to state and local employees that the Congress is unwilling to grant to its own police force – specifically the right to negotiate around wages and hours.[1]
[1] The Congress did grant the Capitol Police the right to organize and negotiate certain parameters of their work. However, the Capitol Police do not have the right to negotiate hours and wages.
This year’s survey shows that the top five priorities for states in 2007 were, in order:
• Developing interoperable communications;
• Coordinating state and local efforts;
• Protecting critical infrastructure;
• Developing state fusion centers; and
• Strengthening citizen preparedness.
These priorities have remained stable for several survey years. The survey also revealed that:
• States continue to report unsatisfactory progress in their relationship with the federal government, specifically with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS);
• In the view of the states, federal homeland security grant programs are not adequately funded and do not strike an adequate balance among preparedness, prevention, response, and recovery;
• The majority of states said DHS should coordinate policies with the states prior to the release or implementation of those policies;
• States need federal funding to support personnel to implement and sustain initiatives that are national in scope but that are carried out locally;
• Federal agencies should coordinate their security clearances to ensure that a clearance issued by one agency is recognized by other agencies;
• Only about one-third of states have at least 75 percent of their National Guard forces available to respond to a natural or manmade disaster; and
• More than half the states have “significantly” involved local governments in the development of strategic plans, including grant funding allocation plans.
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MMA's Federal Issue Papers
MMA Letters to Delegation:
S. 156, the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act - 10/5/07
re H.R. 980 - 8/12/07
Letters from the Delegation:
Court Decisions
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