1 i
SEIU Local 503, OPEU is advocating the notion
that various ways of increasing the revenue “pie” should
also be on the table. (Safety net services become more,
rather than less, in demand when the economy declines. So
do investments in the public infrastructure as a way to
stimulate the economy.) We’re working in coalition with
talking about hard times up ahead and announcing the
other Wee-minded organizations. Ideas for increasing the
latest round of layoffs. Dwindling revenues resulting from
revenue “pie” vary widely in their political attractiveness.
the official Oregon recession have the Governor and the*
They include:
Legislature sharpening their budget-cutting knives. At the
♦ using some tobacco settlement funds
same time, the Dept, of Revenue is licking the envelopes
♦ putting temporary surcharges on the corporate oi
closed on those “kicker” checks. Despite the fact that
personal income tax
layoffs are sending Human Services caseloads
♦
using additional funds from a Medicaid loophole
skyrocketing, bridges still need repair, and kids still need
♦
delaying implementation of Measure 88 "
schooling.
Other ideas have involved increasing the excise
Despite the dire situation, our agenda hasn’t
tax rate on beer or wine products, expanding video poker,
changed. We’re going to keep pushing our issues. We
and even reclaiming the “Kicker” that’s kicking despite an
have a real opportunity to fight for funding for quality
public services and controlling health care costs to protect : estimation error via a targeted income tax surcharge. No
our members’ top issues-services, programs, our jobs, our
clear consensus has yet emerged as to which of these ideas
pay, and our benefits. We will continue our struggle to:
are viable politically.
• Fight to fund Quality Public Services and control
Call the Governor and your legislator today, and
the skyrocketing costs of Health Care.
urge them not to leave revenue solutions off the table in a
• Elect a Governor who proposes budgets that keep Special Session. The Special Session shouldn’t just be
health care and other worker issues a top priority.
about cuts. Contact information available on the SEIU
• Elect Legislators who support worker-friendly
Local 503 website or via links to other sites.
budgets so we can get the job done.
• Prepare for the possibility of a strike, if
necessary, to protect our jobs, pay and benefits.
• Increase our Union’s strength by organizing new
workers into our Union.
• Build on our internal strength by developing our
Voter Education Project
leadership structures and stewards fighting the
Members are reporting increasing numbers of
daily battles we face on the job.
petitioners with initiative petitions harmful to public
“Strange days indeed”, John Lennon once
sang and these days you’d think he was
singing about Oregon’s economic and
political landscape. Newspaper headlines are
“Think Before You Ink” Bad
Ballot Measures!
$300-$600 Million Shortfall
Projected This Biennium
Special Session Coming
Revenue projections are falling far short of the
expectations during session. A Special Session is likely to
happen, probably in January. However, the content of that
session will be determined ahead of time by legislative
leaders, their caucus members, and the Governor’s office.
At this point, the Governor’s office and the legislative
leadership have restricted their public comments to a
debate over whether there should be across the board cuts
; or prioritized cuts. All program areas appear to be “on the
table.” The Governor has requested suggestions for both
“administrative” and “program” cuts from 2% to 10%
from General Fund/Lottery funded agencies.
.
and private workers, in particular Sizemore’s clone
of Measures 92 and 98 (Initiative number 18).
Please give every member in your worksite and all
family and friends this number on a card (1-800-
295-5597) and ask them to call it when they spot
someone collecting signatures. If possible, also call
in the petitions that are being circulated and the
name of the circulator.
Use the new “Don’t be Fooled” flyer (ask ,
your organizer for some) to inform the public that
they should be cautious before signing any
potentially dangerous initiatives. Every 15 minutes
spent with this kind of leafleting when the
opportunity presents itself makes a huge difference.
Most voters wouldn’t sign these petitions if they
knew how bad some of them are. And don’t forget
to call the 800-number afterwards.
PERS Benefits Threatened
Mortality Rate Tables Discussed
Over the past 2 months, the PERS Board has been
trying to figure out how it should implement new
“actuarial equivalency factors” which are based in
large part on life expectancy tables. For members of
SEIU Local 503, OPEU, this is important because
the wrong implementation can potentially violate
PERS participants’ rights and result in a reduced
monthly benefit compared to what the benefit would
have been without the implementation. The potential
benefit loss depends on the member’s age at
retirement as well as other specifics of the members
situation, such as account balance. In this whole
debate, nobody is arguing that the new mortality rate
tables should not be implemented-it’s just a question,
of how.
u
PERS staff .have made a recommendation for
an implementation method, called the 5-Year Wear-
Away, which SEIU Local 503 and other PERS
Coalition members feel deprive PERS members of
fiduciary and contract rights. Its primary weakness
is that it applies the new rate tables retroactively to
already-earned service credits (or years worked). In
the solution backed by SEIU Local 503, OPEU and
the PERS Coalition, already earned service credits
are untouched, and the new tables apply to future
service. This proposal is called the “Multi-Segment
Approach.”
A subcommittee of the PERS Board has held
a series of hearings about the mortality rate tables
problem. Its’ subcommittee Chair, Dawn Morgan,
will be bringing a recommendation to the January
full PERS Board meeting. The subcommittee meets
again in December 2001. The earliest
implementation date for any method would be
January 1, 2003.
The situation the subcommittee faces is that
they have a recommendation from their staff to
implemeiit using the “5-Year Wear-Away Approach.”
This recommendation is also supported by most of
the public employers that are active in the debate.
To express your concerns and to urge
support for the Multi-Segment Approach^ please call
the members of the subcommittee that will be
making the recommendation to the full PERS Board
before their December meeting. Chair: Dawn
Morgan, DHS; Todd Schwartz; Pat Brown; and
George Russel.
THE OREGON PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PAGE 13