The Missouri NEA Daily Legislative Update is doing a great job of covering the capitulation of Republican legislators to ALEC and the corporate overlords who fund them.  It's ugly and disgusting, but that is the Republican Party of 2013.   Paycheck deception and killing prevailing wage are the priorities.

Remember that the bills coming out of the House and Senate are different, so the knucklehead leaders in each chamber will have to agree to one bill in conference and pass it through both chambers again.   Then Governor Nixon may veto it.   Then on to the veto override attempt.  In other words, it ain't over.  Stay involved and keep the pressure on your legislators!~

Missouri NEA Legislative Update
by Otto Fajen
MNEA Legislative Director

Number 10
March 14, 2013


LEGISLATURE LEAVES ON SPRING BREAK

The House and Senate have completed debate for this week and will not be in session next week during the legislative spring break. Both chambers will reconvene for session on March 25.

SENATE PASSES PAYCHECK DECEPTION BILL
The Senate finally passed (Third Read) SS/SCS/SB 29 (Dan Brown) on March 14 by a party line 24-10 vote. The Association strongly opposes the bill.

The perfected version allows public employees to pay union dues by payroll deduction, but requires annual, written authorization from the employee. The bill also imposes unnecessary and burdensome paperwork requirements on voluntary contributions by public union employees for political contributions. The bill exempts police, firefighters and other "first responders" from the bill.

Sen. Jolie Justus offered SA 3, to remove the language banning use of payroll deduction for paying union dues entirely from the bill, but the amendment was defeated on an 11-19 vote. Sen. Ryan Silvey joined the minority caucus in supporting the amendment.

HOUSE PASSES PAYCHECK DECEPTION BILL
The House finally passed (Third Read) HB 64 (Eric Burlison) on March 13 by a roll-call vote of 90-65. The Association opposes HB 64.

The bill applies to most public and private labor organizations and requires annual authorization for payroll deduction of member contributions for political action. The bill exempts certain trade associations and public safety workers. Unlike SB 29 (Dan Brown), HB 64 does not restrict employee's payment of dues by payroll deduction.

SENATE PASSES HUGE TAX CUT BILL
The Senate finally passed (Third Read) SS#2/SCS/SBs 26, 11 and 31 (Will Kraus) on March 12 by a 23-11 vote. Sen. David Pearce joined with minority caucus members in opposing the bill.

SB 26 will reduce state general revenue by perhaps as much as $750 million per year, which would force devastating cuts to public investment in K-12 and higher education and other vital services.

The Association strongly opposes the radical cuts to state revenues contained in SCS/SBs 26, 11 and 31. The perfected version of the bill reduces state personal and corporate income taxes by 0.75 percent and phases in a 50 percent deduction of business income. The bill also increases the state sales tax by 1/2 percent, enacts the Streamlined Sales Tax and includes Use Tax nexus language for out of state sales.

HOUSE PASSES PREVAILING WAGE ATTACK
The House finally passed (Third Read) HB 409 (Warren Love) on March 13. The bill revises the prevailing wage for construction and maintenance work in counties outside of the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas. The bill would specify a new calculation for the prevailing hourly wage rate for construction and maintenance work in those areas based on the statewide average weekly wage data, rather than actual Missouri wage data and collective bargaining agreements. The Association opposes efforts to eliminate or damage prevailing wage laws. MNEA supports the intent of the prevailing wage law to ensure that public investment supports local jobs and local wage rates. The Association supports efforts to ensure that local wages are reported in timely fashion in all parts of the state, so that the prevailing wage data accurately reflects local wages.