Posts for January 20, 2010

MASSACHUSETTS SPECIAL ELECTION AND THE OUTLOOK FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM

January 20, 2010 – Jay Timmons, NAM

The results of yesterday’s special election to replace the late Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) stunned observers across the country. Senator-elect Scott Brown (R) won with 52 percent of the vote over Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (D), breaking the Senate Democrats’ filibuster-proof 60-seat majority. Brown is the first Republican elected to the United State Senate from Massachusetts in nearly four decades.

Until a few weeks ago, few expected Republicans to have a fighting chance in this special election contest, which only recently gained national attention as Brown began to advance in the polls. Heading into Election Day, Brown had enough momentum to win in a seismic upset.

The key issue in the national coverage of this race was health care. It is important to remember the prominence of health care reform efforts to Massachusetts voters. Former Massachusetts Republican Governor Mitt Romney signed the first major state-level legislation to attempt universal health care coverage in April 2006. And Senator Kennedy pushed this issue continuously during his nearly 47-year career in the Senate.

Brown’s victory delivers a strong message to the White House and congressional leaders in Washington that it is time to Start Over! on health care reform. If Massachusetts voters did not support the current health care legislation enough to ensure the Democratic majority in the Senate had the 60th vote needed to pass the bill, it is highly unlikely to have support from the majority of voters in other states.

It is not yet clear whether the Senate and House majority leadership will attempt to push the health care bill through before Senator-elect Brown can be seated. Even without a 60-vote majority in the Senate, procedural options could allow the Democratic majority to either use the reconciliation process, which would allow passage with a simple 50-plus-one vote hurdle, or allow the House to pass the bill exactly as it passed the Senate. Both options present potential political risks, but among supporters of the health care bill, the desire to see something passed is very strong.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act contains provisions that would increase costs and potentially threaten quality of care and the ability of manufacturers to provide generous health care benefits. Manufacturers believe health care reform should be about lowering costs and improving access to quality health care. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is so fundamentally flawed that we need to “Start Over!” to have a meaningful discussion about reform. The NAM is a member of a broad alliance of business and other groups that want to get health care reform right. Check out the Start Over! Coalition’s membership and TV spots about the Senate health care legislation at http://www.employersforahealthyeconomy.org/.

Please take a moment to call or send a message to your representatives in Congress and let them know you want them to Start Over! on health care. We also encourage you to educate your colleagues and employees about the impact the current health care legislation would have on manufacturers and manufacturing workers across the country. Visit our website to learn more.

LABOR POLICY UPDATE

January 20, 2010 - Jeri G. Kubicki -- Vice President, Human Resources Policy -- NAM

“I think you’ll see the Employee Free Choice Act pass in the first quarter of 2010. You'll see it have some real effect. We'll start creating and making new jobs in this country again.”

-AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, 1/11/2010

· Even after yesterday’s special election in Massachusetts, union leaders are not altering their agenda in the wake of changing political realities. Instead, union leaders have made it clear with various statements that they intend to double down on their efforts and increase the pressure on policy-makers to deliver results on their agenda.

· Last week, union groups cut a deal with the White House on health care reform that gives them a carve-out on the excise tax on high-cost “Cadillac plans,” which many union members have. While it is unclear what direction health reform will take, this is another example of the methods union leaders have employed throughout this Congress: giveaways to protect their own membership at the expense of the rest of the workforce.

· Senators are expected to focus on a jobs bill now that they’ve returned to Washington. Union leaders are asking for swift action on a jobs agenda while also urging immediate action to pass the jobs-killing card check legislation. It is unclear whether elements of card check legislation or other labor priorities would be incorporated into a broad jobs bill. The NAM opposes any effort that aims to destroy jobs instead of create them.

· Even without card check, union leaders are seeking ways to change our labor law system. Labor union attorney Craig Becker was nominated last year to serve on the powerful National Labor Relations Board, but on Christmas Eve, his nomination was sent back to the President due to several Senators’ objections. The NAM and other groups oppose Becker’s nomination because his views of labor law are far outside the mainstream. However, White House sources are claiming that the President seeks to re-nominate Craig Becker to the Board soon. (Click here for more information.)

· Unions aren’t stopping there. They are also using other federal labor boards to try to significantly alter how labor unions can be organized. Recently, the National Mediation Board, which governs the Railway Labor Act that covers the workforces of key transportation sectors, proposed a rule that would make the formation of labor unions much easier. Their proposal would allow a minority of employees to form a union. Citing the impact this proposal would have on the functioning of interstate commerce, the NAM weighed in with formal comments expressing strong concern for this action. To view our comments, click here.

· Recent polling by the Workforce Fairness Institute (which is supported by the NAM’s Labor Policy Institute) shows that card check legislation is still unpopular among voters in key states. Polls conducted in Nevada and Colorado show that approximately two-thirds of voters in both states oppose efforts to pass the bill. Poll results are available here.

NAM Action and Resources

· While we’ve made significant progress in highlighting the dangers of the EFCA, the threat still remains.

· NAM members need to continue to call or write members of Congress and urge them to oppose all votes related to the jobs-killing EFCA. For additional resources to assist in these efforts, please visit our online EFCA Toolkit available at www.nam.org/efca. For more information on taking action, please contact the NAM’s Colleen Vivori at cvivori@nam.org.

NAM members can visit the NAM's Labor Policy Institute (LPI) at www.namlaborpolicyinstitute.org for real-time labor policy updates.