Legislative

2007 Legislative Conference

2007-03-15T21:21:00.000-04:00

Several members of Local 67 just returned from 3 days of work and lobbying efforts in Washington, DC as part of the IAFF Legislative Conference. This year our attendees were VP Jim Davis, VP Dave Bernzweig, ST Aaron Renner, 2U Sgt Joe Richard, Trustee Donogh Hernon, Trustee David Whiting and B3/2U Steward Mark Hill. On Monday, the IAFF presented overviews of the primary issues for lobbying efforts in the 110^th Congress. They also summarized the successes of the 109^th Congress and gave status updates on quite a few bills. In addition, the attendees were treated to comments from some high profile politicians from around the nation like Joe Lieberman, Steny Hoyer, and Ohio’s own John Boehner.

The primary FF issues for the 110^th Congress are:

Passing a nationwide Collective Bargaining Law
Obtaining Heart and Lung Presumption for Federal FFs
Adjusting the Alternative Minimum Tax to enable middle class taxpayers (us) to keep more of their own money
Adjusting the transition for Medicare and Social Security Benefits for our Retirees
Full Funding for SAFER and FIRE Acts.

On Tuesday, all attendees were encouraged to storm the hill for lobbying their respective officeholders on these and other local issues. We were able to meet with both Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-15) and Congressman Pat Tiberi (R-12) for the first time in our 5 years of attendance. Congresswoman Pryce excused herself from a budget hearing in order to spend 20 minutes with our group. We also spent about 45 minutes discussing issues with Congressman Tiberi. Both meetings were productive and are likely to create long-lasting communications between us. We also were able to meet with Senators Voinovich and Brown.

On Wednesday, the attendees were treated to the first-ever IAFF Presidential Forum. As a result of pressure from many of the country’s largest locals, including us, IAFF leadership decided to pursue a more transparent process for endorsement of a Presidential candidate. They developed the forum concept and invited all of the candidates from both parties who were identified as potential Presidential nominees. Six Democrats and 5 Republicans accepted the invitation. They were each give 30-40 minutes to present their case to the attendees. Attendees were asked to fill out survey on each candidate as well. Following the forum, the IAFF was given quite a bit of press on MSNBC and C-Span regarding the forum. Press from all over the world was also in attendance and spoke to many of our members.

Video webcasts from all of the speeches are on the IAFF website and can be downloaded. We will be sending a CD complete to each station as well.

Please see the IAFF website and the blog for some of our opinions from the conference.

Fraternally,

Jack Reall, President
Columbus Fire Fighters Union
Supporting Those who Support Us
and Caring for All!

Election Success

2006-11-10T05:26:00.000-05:00

We Succeeded!!!

17 of our 21 endorsed candidates won. Two of the losses were closely contested races.

Thanks to everyone who helped.

Jack Reall, President
Columbus Fire Fighters Union
Supporting Those who Support Us
and Caring for All!

Endorsements

2006-11-01T06:58:00.000-05:00

These are the Local 67 Endorsements.

Please keep in mind the process we used for our Screening and its integrity.

All candidates HAD to screen to be considered for endorsement. Screening was videotaped for further review. The Screening committee is made up of a diverse group of members with differing opinions and political views. The committee made recommendations for endorsement to the Executive Board, who then brings them to the membership meeting for approval by way of a motion. The committee screened 34 candidates in 25 races over a period of 4 days. Outstanding work. Please support their dedication and commitment by voting for the endorsed candidates.

OAPFF endorsements for other county office holders and statewide endorsements are available at www.oapff.com

State and Federal Endorsements
Governor	Ted Strickland	US Senate	Mike DeWine
Treasurer	Richard Cordray	Secretary of State	Jennifer Brunner
19th House District	Larry Flowers	20th House District	Jim McGregor
21st House District	Dean Hernandez	22nd House District	Jim Hughes
23rd House District	Larry Wolpert	24th House District	Ted Celeste
25th House District	Dan Stewart	15th Senate District	Ray Miller
Franklin County Endorsements
Franklin Co Auditor	Joe Testa	Franklin Co. Comm	Dewey Stokes
Judicial Endorsements
Common Pleas	John Bessey	Common Pleas	Greg Peterson
Common Pleas	Charles Schneider	Common Pleas	Elizabeth Gill
Common Pleas	Stephen McIntosh	Common Pleas	Jim Mason
Common Pleas	Charles Bendig	Appellate	Gary Tyack

Jack Reall, President
Columbus Fire Fighters Union
Supporting Those who Support Us
and Caring for All!

Brother Chris Courtney Running for Statehouse

2006-04-18T09:11:00.000-04:00

For Those of you who do not know, one of our brothers from Worthington is
running for the Statehouse. Chris Courtney, VP Local 3480 is running as a
Democratic Candidate for the 24th House District. The 24th covers Grandview
and West Columbus. He has some stiff competition in the Primary including
Ted Celeste, the brother of former Governor Dick Celeste. I encourage all of
you to support Brother Courtney is his bid to put an Active Firefighter in
the Statehouse.
More information and Donations to the campaign can be made at his website
www.courtneyforohio.org

Jack Reall, President
Columbus Fire Fighters Union
Supporting Those who Support Us
and Caring for All

Legislative Conference 2006

2006-03-24T08:56:00.000-05:00

3/23/06

Legislative Conference

This past weekend, several members of Local 67s Executive Board along with
hundreds of other IAFF members from around the country gathered in our
nations capital for the 2006 Alfred K. Whitehead legislative conference.
This annual conference allows IAFF members to meet directly with their
respective members of Congress and their executive staff to discuss issues
and legislation that are of importance to firefighters.

We were able to meet with the chiefs of staff and legislative directors for
both Congressman Pat Tiberi and Congresswoman Deborah Pryce. Both meetings
went very well with a lot of feed back from the staff along with questions
on our position about issues that affect Columbus.

Though the list is long, some of the issues and legislation discussed were

Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Safety Retirees Act (HELPS) - This
act would allow public safety retirees to designate up to $5000 per year
from their pension or 457 plans to be used to pay health insurance premiums
without that income being subject to tax. With the average fire fighter
pension being $23,000 you can see how every cent saved can help. This act
has passed the house and is currently in committee to work out the
differences between the House and Senate versions. Congressman Tiberi is on
the conference committee that will resolve the differences and his Chief of
Staff was very supportive.

Medical Monitoring
This would create a program to assess and monitor the health and safety of
individuals, including fire fighters and emergency medical personnel,
exposed to harmful substances following a federally declared disaster. A
similar program has been in use to track the health conditions of New York
City Fire Fighters who were exposed to hazards around the World Trade Center
site and is proving to be a tremendous tool in treating and tracking their
ongoing health. This is currently in both the House as HR3850 and the Senate
as S-1741 sponsored by Senators Voinovich and Clinton.

S.A.F.E.R funding
This act passed in 2003 provides for the hiring of up to 75,000 firefighters
over 7 years. Though $1 billion is authorized per year for this program,
Congress only provided $110 million on FY 06. With 2/3 of our nations
departments unable to meet NFPA or OSHA staffing standards many of them are
unable to respond to many common emergencies with existing staff.

Along with our day of lobbying on the hill, we spent a day listening to
speeches given by a very distinguished list of speakers, including

Senator Joseph Biden (Delaware)
Senator Chuck Hagel (Nebraska)
Congressman Chris Van Hollen (Maryland)
Ken Mehlman Chairman of the Republican National Committee
Secretary Michael Chertoff Department of Homeland Security
Governor Bill Richardson (New Mexico)
Howard Dean Chairman of the Democratic National Committee
Congressman Steny Hoyer Minority Whip US House of Representatives

This annual conference is truly paying off for both the IAFF and Local67 as
relationships are fostered with our elected officials.

Fraternally

Robert Funk

Robert Funk
3unit Sgt At Arms

Jack Reall, President
Columbus Fire Fighters Union
Supporting Those who Support Us
and Caring for All

OAPFF Legislative Update

2006-02-15T21:05:00.000-05:00

Ohio Association of Professional Fire Fighters

Jim Carney, Legislative Director

Updated Wednesday, February 08, 2006

HB84 RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS Larry Flowers (H19-R-Canal Winchester) To prohibit political subdivisions from imposing residency requirements on certain employees.

05/31/2005 House State Government (Second)

The companion Senate Bill passed and was signed by the Governor on 1/27/06

HB88 INCOME TAX EXEMPTIONS John R. Willamowski (H04-R-Lima) To exempt from the personal income tax up to $10,000 in state and federal government and military retirement benefits.

04/21/2005 House Ways and Means (First)

RETIREE TAX RELIEF, THIS BILL WOULD EXEMPT THE FIRST $10,000.00 OF A MEMBERS PENSION FOR OHIO INCOME TAX. The bill is not getting any traction in the House or Senate.

HB98 ASSAULT PENALTY Arlene J. Setzer (H36-R-Vandalia) To increase the penalty for assault when the victim is performing services in an emergency facility.

01/24/2006 Referred to Senate Judiciary-Criminal Justice

CHANGES A CHARGE OF ASSAULT ON POLICE, FIRE AND EMS WORKERS FROM A MISDEMEANOR TO A FELONY. WE SUPPORT THIS BILL and it has passed the House and will now go to the Senate Committee.

HB120 POLICE/FIRE PENSION Thomas F. Patton (H18-R-Strongsville) To increase the cost of living allowance for certain Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund members to $600 per year.

06/08/2005 House Retirement and Pensions (Subcommittee) (First)

PRE-1986 RETIREES WOULD RECEIVE $600.00 PER YEAR COLA INSTEAD OF $360.00. This bill is stalled while the Ohio Retirement Study Council looks at legislation to change funding for the Pension System. The Republican members of the Council are proposing a higher retirement age, reducing or eliminating retiree health care, increasing employee contributions and benefit reductions. We are striving to stop these drastic cuts.

HB187 CIVIL SERVICE Stephen P. Buehrer (H74-R-Delta) To implement recommendations of the Civil Service Commission.

12/15/2005 House Local and Municipal Government & Urban Revitalization (Eighth)

WE ARE OPPOSED TO THIS BILL WHICH WOULD PUT POLITICS AND NEPOTISM BACK INTO THE HIRING, PROMOTIONAL, LAYOFF AND TERMINATION PROCEDURES CIVIL SERVICE WAS CREATED TO STOP.

HB282 PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYEES Larry Flowers (H19-R-Canal Winchester) Designating September 11 as 'Ohio Public Safety Employee Day.'

10/06/2005 House Committee recommends passage; Vote 10-0

HB314 UNION DUES Tom Brinkman Jr. (H34-R-Cincinnati) To remove requirement that employees under the Public Employee Collective Bargaining Law or employees of private employers be required to join or pay union dues, to prohibit certain practices by employers from certain actions with regard to unions, and to expand the scope of the unfair labor practices under the act.

07/12/2005 Introduced

WE OPPOSE THIS ANTI WORKER RIGHTS LEGISLATION

HB375 EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES Larry Flowers (H19-R-Canal Winchester) Concerning the authority of the State Board of Emergency Medical Services to suspend certificates to practice emergency medical services.

02/02/2006 SUB BILL ACCEPTED AND REPORTED OUT House State Government (Sixth)

We are working with the sponsor to amend some of the provisions in this legislation.

HB401 FIREFIGHTER TRAINING Randy Law (H64-R-Warren) To provide for the adoption of rules governing firefighter training.

02/01/2006 House Transportation, Public Safety & Homeland Secruity (Second)

WE SUPPORT THE CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS IN THIS BILL, WE HAVE SOME CONCERNS ABOUT THE RULES AND RULEMAKING PROCESS BEING BROUGHT FORTH BY THE EMS BOARD.

SB82 RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS Timothy J. Grendell (H98-R-Chesterland) To generally prohibit political subdivisions from imposing residency requirements on certain employees. EFFECTIVE 5/01/06

01/27/2006 Signed by Governor; eff. 5/01/06

THIS BILL HAS PASSED! WE ARE WORKING WITH OUR LEGAL COUNSEL TO DETERMINE OUR NEXT COURSE OF ACTION. ALL LOCALS WILL BE SENT A LETTER ADVISING THEM OF THE POSITION OF THE OAPFF IN THE NEAR FUTURE

SB86 CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES Randy Gardner (S02-R-Bowling Green) To authorize classified employees to engage in political activities during nonworking hours, to broaden the prohibition against coercion or harassment of classified employees for political purposes, and to authorize the State Personnel Board of Review and local civil service commissions to remedy such coercion or harassment.

05/18/2005 Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Affairs (Third)

REMOVES THE PROHIBITIONS OF CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES ENGAGING IN POLITICAL ACTIVITY. WE SUPPORT THIS BILL.

SB109 9-1-1 SERVICES Kevin Coughlin (S27-R-Cuyahoga Falls) To require health care policies, contracts, and agreements that provide coverage for 9-1-1 emergency services to pay the provider of the services directly.

04/26/2005 Senate Insurance, Commerce and Labor (Third)

THIS BILL IS STALLED IN COMMITTEE, THE INSURANCE LOBBY HAS EFFECTIVELY KILLED THIS BILL WITH THEIR REPUBLICAN ALLIES.

Legislative Affairs Office (614)488-9920

Gubernatorial Candidate Ted Strickland

2006-01-31T18:03:00.000-05:00

Gubernatorial Candidate Ted Strickland’s Responses to Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters Questionnaire

1. I am supportive of collective bargaining right for all public employees at all levels of government. I am currently a cosponsor of HR 1249, the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2005, which provides collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by States or local governments.

2. As a candidate for Governor, I am committed to improving access to healthcare for all Ohioans. Throughout my years in Congress, I have been an advocate on behalf of all retirees and am currently a cosponsor of HR 2177, the Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Safety Retirees Act of 2005, which would allow tax-free distributions from governmental retirement plans to pay for premiums for health and long-term care insurance for public safety officers.

3. I would support funding studies and programs that would measure specific occupational disease risks and implement protections from those diseases and injuries. I am currently a cosponsor of HR 697, the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2005, which specifies that for employees in fire protection, heart disease, lung disease, specified cancers and infectious diseases shall be presumed to be proximately caused by the employee’s employment and that disability or death due to such a disease shall be presumed a result of the employee’s performance of duty. Additionally, I was one of the original authors of a law that establishes a compensation program to cold war veterans who were exposed to toxic and hazardous substances without knowledge or proper protection.

4. Jobs and economic development are at the top of every Ohioans mind as they consider the direction that the state should move in the next decade. Recent tax law changes have had a major impact on the resilience of local government budgets and their ability to support a robust public safety infrastructure. As Governor, I will help local governments get the tools they will need to sustain services while dealing with these changes.

Of course the state itself also has a direct role to ensure these public safety services are being delivered. Ohio needs strong leadership in economic development policy in order to provide opportunities for our young people, boost the wages of Ohio workers, promote better labor relations, spur entrepreneurship and enterprise expansion, and renew the state’s economic infrastructure. I will be rolling out a major economic development strategy that will deal with each of these issues in turn. I will wake up every morning thinking about how we will work together with entrepreneurs, Ohio’s workers, companies, large and small businesses, corporations and governments to create the jobs of the future that will give our young people a future in our state.

5. Over the last several years as threats of our communities have changed, the public is more heavily relying on the services of fire and EMS personnel and expectations of these personnel have increased. Recently at the federal level I have supported the SAFER Act as well as cosponsored the FIRE Act reauthorization both of which would give increased funding to fire fighters as they take on new Homeland Security challenges. As Governor, I would continue my support of adequately funding our public safety personnel and giving them the resources they need to provide the increased services communities expect.

6. Public safety is of the highest importance, and I will demonstrate my commitment to public safety when I develop the state budget.

Governor's Race

2006-01-03T08:56:00.000-05:00

In anticipation of the upcoming elections for Governor, the Columbus Fire
Fighters Union Executive Board has extended invitations to all of the
current announced candidates to meet with them and discuss endorsements. To
date, only the campaign of Ted Strickland has contacted the Union Office to
arrange this meeting. The board expects to recommend an endorsement prior to
the primary elections. If any member would like to provide input on any of
the candidates, please feel free to send an email or letter to the Union
Office. Thanks...Executive Board

Residency Restrictions

2005-12-08T14:49:00.000-05:00

Brothers and Sisters,

Dave Whiting and I attended a Fundraiser last night held by the Ohio House Democratic Caucus for State Reps Mike Mitchell, (26th, Parsons Avenue Area), Dan Stewart (25th, West Side) and Joyce Beatty (27, Linden Area). While there we, along with Jim Carney, OAPFF Legislative Director, met with Mike Mitchell and were able to gain his support for Senate Bill 82, the Residency Bill. This bill would make it illegal to place residency restrictions on municipal employees. This is being pushed by quite a few of our brothers and sisters in other cities throughout the State. We fought to get our reps on board with this Bill in order to get in passed. Representative Larry Flowers, our Republican Friend from the 19th District actually wrote the House version of this bill and sponsored its passage prior to being combined with the Senate version. Rep. Mike Mitchell was a huge win for us. He broke from his ranks in order to side with the passage of the bill. We were obviously able to make a compelling argument for the passage of the bill.

I also met with State Rep. Jim Hughes (22nd, Clintonville) yesterday in order to continue to push the Collective Bargaining agenda. As you know, our brothers and sisters in township departments have NO right to collective bargaining. Of the almost 3000 Professional Firefighters in the Columbus Metro area, more than a 1000 work everyday with no right to a contract or its protections. The Republicans from the Cincinnati area are the most aggressive in fighting this Bill. Rep. Hughes and Flowers are on our side on this issue, but do not believe they have the support to get it passed with tinkering from the opponents. I believe they underestimate their power as the leadership of the house to "force" other members to support this change.

If you see Rep. Hughes or Flowers, please reinforce the need for the collective bargaining for townships and their ability to produce change as leaders of the Ohio House.

Jack Reall

Collective Bargaining

2005-12-08T14:22:00.000-05:00

Brothers and Sisters;

We have enjoyed the fruits of collective bargaining since it was passed at the Statehouse in 1984. In addition to being able to negotiate our salaries and benefits, more importantly we enjoy job protections requiring fair and equitable treatment as well as due process. Our brothers and sisters in the suburban departments do NOT enjoy these same protections. An opening in the original collective bargaining law allowed township governments of less than 5000 residents in the unincorporated areas to avoid the collective bargaining rules with their public safety employees. Some of our largest Franklin County Fire Departments are avoiding collective bargaining. Three of the departments with 100+ Professional Firefighters do NOT have the right to a contract.

There is a push in the Statehouse to correct this injustice by requiring those jurisdiction who protect more than 5000 residents to follow the collective bargaining statute. Please take a few minute of your time and copy the below text to an email to each of the State Reps in Franklin County. Feel free to change it up some and don't forget to sign it.

Fraternally,

Jack Reall, President

Columbus Fire Fighters Union

[Text of Letter]

Dear State Representative,

I am a Fire Fighter in Columbus. We work with our Brother and Sister Fire Fighters in all of the surrounding communities everday, including the communities you represent. We act as one organization in order to provide the best, most effective and efficient response to those citizens facing crisis.

There is currently a problem in our State Law that is creating a crisis for the Fire Fighters who work with us everyday. They are being denied the right to adequate job protection. In 1984, ORC 4117 created Collective Bargaining for Public Safety employees, except those employees in smaller communities of less than 5000 residents. Now, as our Metropolitan area has grown, our suburbs have used this loophole to deny rights to public safety employees in some of our largest departments. Departments of 100 or more firefighters protecting 60,000 residents in an urban environment are being treated the same as departments with 1 or 2 firefighters protection 1100 residents in an rural community.

These job protections need to be extended to our public safety officers in our Metropolitan area in order to maximize the stability of some of the most important first responders to an urban area constantly being tasked with more Homeland Security issues and concerns.

Thank you for you consideration in this matter.

[State Reps Emails]

Linda Reidelbach, North Columbus, Perry Twp, 21st District district21@ohr.state.oh.us

Jim McGregor, Northeast Columbus, Westerville, 20th District district20@ohr.state.oh.us

Joyce Beatty, Linden area and East Suburbs, 27th District district27@ohr.state.oh.us

Mike Mitchell, Southeast Columbus, 26th District district26@ohr.state.oh.us

Dan Stewart, West Side, South Columbus, 25th District district25@ohr.state.oh.us

Geoff Smith, West Columbus, West Suburbs, 24th District district24@ohr.state.oh.us

Jim Hughes, Clintonville, Northwest Suburbs, 22nd District district22@ohr.state.oh.us

Larry Wolpert, Far West Columbus, 23rd District district23@ohr.state.oh.us

Larry Flowers, Far East Columbus, Northeast Franklin Suburbs, Southeast Suburbs, 19th District district22@ohr.state.oh.us