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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (March 7, 2008)
Special legislati v e session ga v els to a close No major union-related bills are heard during the three-week experiment SALEM — The Oregon Legisla- ture’s first-ever experiment with an annual session wrapped up Feb. 22. No major union-related bills were de- bated during the three-week session, but labor organizations took sides in favor of a handful of bills. And not many of those passed, despite Democ- ratic leadership of the Oregon House, Oregon Senate and governor’s office. The top priority of the Oregon AFL-CIO was a package of mortgage reforms supported by a consumer coalition that included AARP, OS- PIRG, and the union-backed group Our Oregon. State Senator Ben West- lund (D-Tupelo) led the campaign, in- troducing a bill that contained six pro- posals to protect borrowers from onerous mortgage lending practices. But the mortgage industry mounted fierce opposition, and four of the six were amended out of the bill. On the House side, Speaker Jeff Merkely (D-Portland) backed the stripped-down bill, and managed to get it passed by a single vote. Three Democratic House members voted against the bill — Larry Galizio of Tigard, Deborah Boone of Cannon Beach, and Mike Schaufler of Happy Valley. But Merkely was also able to get three Republicans to vote for it — John Lim of R-Gresham, Donna Nel- son of McMinnville, and Bill Garrard of Klamath Falls. In the end, it didn’t matter: Senate leaders Peter Courtney (D-Salem) and Richard Devlin (D-Tu- alatin) refused to give the bill a vote, saying it wouldn’t pass, even though Democrats controlled 18 of 30 seats in the Senate. “The industry was lobbying from day one to stop any lending reform from moving forward,” said Angela Martin, Economic Fairness Coalition Director for Our Oregon. The mortgage reform proposals will likely be back for debate next year, when the next Legislature meets in January. “We will see more pain in the mortgage lending arena for homeown- ers,” Martin said. “The banking com- munity has gone way overboard with excessive fees and abusive contract terms, and it’s eating into the pockets of too many working families.” Two mortgage reform bills did pass, however — bills that were sup- ported by a gubernatorial task force heavy with mortgage industry repre- sentatives. One will limit “rescue mortgage” scams that prey on bor- rowers in foreclosure; the other will require mortgage bankers and brokers to file an annual report about their ac- tivities. Supporters of a union-backed third party, the Oregon Working Families Party (OWFP), were disappointed again when their proposal to restore “fusion” voting failed. Fusion, which exists in several other states, allows candidates to be listed on ballots as the nominee of more than one politi- cal party. OWFP has ballot status as a minor party in Oregon, but hasn’t yet run candidates for fear of the “spoiler” effect, in which voting for a third- party candidate helps elect the less ap- pealing major party candidate. Instead OWFP has focused on restoring fu- sion, which Oregon once had. Passing fusion would breathe life into a party like OWFP, enabling workers to vote on the ballot line of a party that sticks to bread-and-butter economic issues and avoids divisive social issues. Last year, OWFP tried and failed to win passage of a fusion bill in the Legislature’s regular session. In Feb- ruary, OWFP went to work again on state lawmakers with the help of a paid organizer and two contract lob- byists. They managed to get commit- ments of support from a majority in each chamber, said party co-chair Barbara Dudley — including numer- ous Republicans, who believe fusion would lessen the spoiler effect of con- servative third parties like the Liber- tarians. But the bill died in the Ways and Means Committee, because Sen- ate Democratic leaders, including Senate President Peter Courtney, re- fused to give the bill a vote. Dudley credits three Democratic lawmakers in particular as having fought for the bill: state senators Brad Avakian and Ben Westlund, and state representa- tive Chip Shields. OWFP leaders plan to meet soon to consider options, which include a ballot initiative for 2008 or 2010, another try at the Legis- lature in 2009, and a third, unnamed option. On the issue of health care, several union groups backed a proposal for additional money to expand the rolls of poor children on the Oregon Health Plan. Right now the kids are dropped from the rolls if they don’t reapply every six months; the bill would have given them at least a year’s worth of health coverage once they qualify. But a scaled-back state budget forecast drove a nail into the coffin of that idea, said AFL-CIO president Tom Chamberlain. Behind the scenes, there was also talk of adding a representative of or- If the Feds can lower their rates, so can we! 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A bright spot for labor was a bill to require energy conservation improve- ments in state buildings, sponsored by Brad Witt (D-Clatskanie), former sec- retary-treasurer of the Oregon AFL- CIO and a union rep for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555. Witt sponsored a similar bill last year, which failed to pass. This time, an amended version passed with a unani- mous vote in the Oregon House, and all but one vote in the Oregon Senate. The bill could result in thousands of jobs for union building trades work- ers. Witt also was able to get $500,000 appropriated to a revolving loan fund for reconstruction efforts in communi- ties like Vernonia that were hit hard by last year’s severe storms. AFSCME, one of the larger public employee unions, helped pass a bill aimed at heading off a major budget threat. Lawmakers voted to refer to voters a bill to provide drug treatment and longer prison sentences for repeat offenders committing property crimes. The legislature’s proposal is put forth as an alternative to a much more expensive ballot measure au- thored by Kevin Mannix that would require mandatory minimum sen- tences for property crimes and iden- tity theft, even for first time offenders whose crimes were committed to feed drug habits. The way the referral is written, if voters approve it, it will in- validate the Mannix measure. Alltold, AFL-CIO President Cham- berlain termed it a successful legisla- tive session, which passed consensus bills and ended short and under budget. “Could they have done more? Of course they could have,” Chamberlain said. “We didn’t bring forward groundbreaking legislation because we didn’t have time to build support for that.” (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon as a voice of the labor movement. 4275 NE Halsey St., P.O. Box 13150, Portland, Ore. 97213 Telephone: (503) 288-3311 E-mail: Michael492@comcast.net Editor: Michael Gutwig Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non- profit corporation owned by 20 unions and councils including the Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Ore- gon and SW Washington. Subscriptions $13.75 per year for union members. Group rates available to trade union organizations. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a change of address. When ordering a change, please give your old and new addresses and the name and number of your local union. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS, P.O. BOX 13150-0150, PORTLAND, OR 97213 Glaziers, Carpenters, Laborers, Electricians, Sheetmetal Workers, Floorcoverers, Bricklayers, Cement Masons, Roofers, Asbestos Workers, Family, Millwrights, Painters, Elevators, Plasterers PAGE 2 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS MARCH 7, 2008
