If the governor now signs the tax bill on his desk there will be no money for anything. Public education, state employees, roads, KPERS, police and firefighters. Nothing.

Click here to add your name to our petiton urgin the Governor to Veto HB 2117 and keep Kansas from going bankrupt.

Then take a moment to call the governor’s office and ask him to veto HB 2117. Call Governor Brownback at (785) 296-3232 *TODAY* and ask him to VETO his tax bill.

Increased property taxes, increased class sizes and drastic cuts to vital public safety and infrastructure programs are not Kansas values. Tell Governor Brownback to VETO any tax plan that puts our children’s future at risk and drives up our property taxes.

Sign our petition here and stand up for the future of Kansas.

Please call (785) 296-3232 and tell the Governor to VETO his tax bill. It will devastate the state and every vital program that serve every Kansan.

There is nothing quite like seeing a sore loser in action, especially when this sore loser is threatening to put the citizens and the future of Kansas at risk.

Today the Kansas Senate voted to keep a new version of Brownback’s tax plan in committee in order to seek further compromise between the House and Senate and create a fiscally responsible bill that will not completely bankrupt the state like the current version which is sitting on Brownback’s desk right now.

However the House has refused to go any further in negotiations leaving the future of our great state hanging in the balance.

After not getting his way time and time again this legislative session Governor Brownback has threatened to sign the reckless $4.5 Billion dollar tax cut for businesses and rich Kansans and now he has a choice to make.

The tax cut will absolutely destroy Kansas as we know it – leaving a $2.7 Billion crater in the budget by 2018 – and the only person who can stop it is Sam Brownback.

Schools, highways, prisons, services for the elderly and disabled…all suffered deep cuts over the last several years that will never be restored if the Governor signs this bill. State employee pay will suffer. 

Unless Sam Brownback vetoes this tax cut.

And while businesses and rich Kansans enjoy their income tax cuts the rest of Kansas will see property and sales taxes go up and up and up.

Governor Brownback’s office can be reached by calling 877-579-6757. Tell him to veto the reckless tax cut bill HB 2117. 

After weeks of waiting and at a time when the majority of the State has directed their focus on Brownback’s catastrophic tax plan and the infighting between republican legislators, Sen. Susan Wagle finally called a conference committee on SB 416 this morning.

As a quick refresher: Senate Bill 416 started out as a completely noncontroversial bill but now is now a combination of several anti-worker pieces of legislation. SB 416 as amended, by suggestion of Sec. Brownlee, now allows the Department of Labor to leave workers high and dry if their employer challenges unpaid wage claims in court.  The bill now contains the contents of SB 355 and HB 2638 as explained below.

Senate Bill 355  deletes language in the Wage Payment Act that requires the Secretary to appeal a wage payment decision on behalf of an employee if the wage payment was under $10K, which they are currently required to do.  This will unnecessarily force workers who have been denied wages to obtain their own representation or go through the process on their own if they want to appeal a decision. It also deletes language that allows the Department’s Division of Industrial Safety and Health to inspect private company worksites for safety and health hazards,.

House Bill 2638 includes provisions that deal with lump sum payments or severance pay in the calculation of UI benefits. Under the bill an employee who separates with a lump sum payment for accrued sick or annual leave or remaining vacation time for example would have their UI benefits delayed as a result. So if you get a lump sum payout when you are laid off – regardless if that payout is for wages already earned – your unemployment benefits would be held back. The bill also lowers employer contributions to the UI Trust Fund at a time when the State is borrowing money from the Federal Government (and paying interest on it) to pay the State’s current benefit claims. The bill also abolishes the Employment Security Advisory Council which was created to advise the Secretary on changes to Employment Security Law and gave labor and business a seat at the table when changes, such as the ones detailed in this bill, were brought forward. Sec. Brownlee has never called a meeting for this council and therefore has decided no future Secretary of Labor should have such a resource available to them either.

And as if SB 416 wasn’t bad enough for Kansas workers already this morning the committee showed every attention of loading up the bill in conference committee with multiple anti-labor bills that have been preventing from passing earlier in the session. All of this is happening at the urging of Sec. Brownlee, just proving that the Kansas Department of Labor has not only failed to represent any workers since the day she took office but has completely turn it’s back on the hard working Kansas families in our state.

Below are the potential additions to SB 416 in conference as indicated this morning by the conference committee.

HB 2531 makes changes to the selection process for Workers Comp Appeals Board judges and Employment Review Board members (Employment Review Board hears unemployment compensation appeals). Currently, members of these boards are nominated by a two-member committee representing both labor and industry. The process is balanced and has worked well since 1993. HB 2531 changes this process to establish a 7-member commission heavily stacked towards business interests.  The bill doesn’t even have the appearance of being fair.

• THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THIS IS RAW POLITICS WITH NO SEMBLANCE OF FAIRNESS.

• WORKING FAMILIES SHOULD NOT HAVE THEIR LEGAL DISPUTES DECIDED BY JUDGES BEHOLDEN TO THE CHAMBER AND INSURANCE COMPANIES.

The Kansas Legislature has reached its 90th Day…the last day of the session. Of course they haven’t passed a budget yet. And they haven’t passed new legislative district boundaries yet.

So seeing as they are still here, the Kansas Chamber is marshalling their forces and rallying support among legislators for their newest attack on Kansas families: the Price Gougers Protection Act (HB 2797).

Kansas law protects you today against out-of-state or even foreign corporations fixing prices on everything you buy from gasoline to bread and milk to shoes and clothes.

The Chamber’s Price Gougers Protection Act would strip you of your right to take on price fixers as part of a class along with other Kansans being screwed by these unseupulous companies.

Price fixing is cheating. It hurts you and working familes because everything you buy could eventually end up costing you more so that some out-of-state company can squeeze even more of a profit out of your pocket.

Price fixing also hurts local Kansas businesses who play by the rules. It protects them against anti-competitive shenanigans from companies who only see Kansas as a place to pad their bottom line and could care less for the people and families who call it Home.

While we had hoped to bring you news today on a budget agreement we are now watching another one of the Kansas Chamber’s underhanded and devious legislative attacks that will let corporations walk away with even more of your paycheck and threatens honest and fair Kansas businesses at the same time.

Last night we told you about the unprecedented procedural moves by Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal and House conservatives that sent HB 2117, a massive corporate tax break bill, to Governor Brownback for his signature.

Reactions to HB 2117 from press, lawmakers and analysts statewide have painted a grim picture for the future of Kansas.

“Wednesday’s tax-cut duel under the dome made it official: The legislative process in Topeka is bankrupt. Soon the state could be, too.” Wichita Eagle, Political Thuggery, May 10, 2012

“Passage of the plan set off a firestorm of complaints that the tax package would leave gaping holes in the state budget and lead to severe cuts in services.” Kansas City Star, Kansas House passes $3.7 billion tax-cut plan, May 10, 2012

“As the House speaker passed a tax-cut bill that promises to wreck the state’s finances, he also junked the legislative process. First O’Neal blocked any debate on the specifics of a bill so significant as to end 80 years of balanced tax policy. Then he even cut off lawmakers’ explanation of their votes.” Wichita Eagle, Political Thuggery, May 10, 2012

“It sends our state to hell in a handbasket. It’s a travesty, it’s just terrible tax policy.” Sen. Anthony Hensley, Senate Minority Leader, Topeka

“The bill headed for his [Gov. Brownback's] desk would leave the state $2.7 billion in the red in 2017 and undermine efforts to restore state funds cut in recent years from K-12 schools and social services.” Wichita Eagle, Political Thuggery, May 10, 2012

“If you look at that kind of deficit, it would be devastating to education, to corrections, to our social services, go on down the list,” Sen. Steve Morris, Senate President, Hugoton

“This is a story about public schools not getting their cuts restored, people dying on the waiting list because there’s no money, public safety at risk when we’re already shipping prisoners all over the state. This is about the people of Kansas being put at risk.” Rep. Jim Ward, Wichita

So what does all this mean for you?

1. Less money for education means fewer teachers and overcrowded classrooms.
2. Property and sales taxes statewide are going to go up dramatically.
3. Higher taxes make it harder for families living paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet.

The impact of this reckless plan will put Kansas at risk for years to come, and does absolutely nothing to help the hard working Kansas families in our state.


HB 2117 passed yesterday afternoon on a roll call vote 64 – 59. Below is the break down of the vote.


Yeas: Alford, Arpke, Boman, Brown, Bruchman, Brunk, Burgess, Calloway, Carlson,Collins, Crum, DeGraaf, Denning, Donohoe, Fawcett, Garber, Goico, Goodman,Gordon, Gregory, Grosserode, Hayzlett, Hedke, Hermanson, Hildabrand, Hoffman, C.Holmes, M. Holmes, Howell, Huebert, Kelley, Kerschen, Kiegerl, Kinzer, Kleeb, Knox,Landwehr, Mast, McLeland, Meigs, Mesa, Montgomery, O’Brien, O’Hara, O’Neal,Osterman, Patton, Peck, Powell, Prescott, Rhoades, Rubin, Ryckman, Scapa, Schwab,Schwartz, Seiwert, Siegfreid, Smith, Suellentrop, Tyson, Vickrey, Weber, B. Wolf.


Nays: Aurand, Ballard, Bethell, Billinger, Bowers, Brookens, Burroughs, Carlin,Cassidy, Colloton, Davis, Dillmore, Feuerborn, Finney, Flaharty, Frownfelter, D.Gatewood, S. Gatewood, Gonzalez, Grange, Grant, Henderson, Henry, Hill, Hineman,Johnson, Kelly, Kuether, Lane, Loganbill, Mah, McCray-Miller, Meier, Moxley, Otto,Pauls, Peterson, Phelps, Phillips, Pottorff, Proehl, Roth, Ruiz, Schroeder, Shultz,Slattery, Sloan, Spalding, Swanson, Tietze, Trimmer, Victors, Ward, Wetta, Williams,Winn, K. Wolf, Wolfe Moore, Worley.

You can look up who your representative is below, be sure to call your rep and let them know how you feel about their vote.

In a series of unprecedented procedural moves today Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal and House conservatives sent a massive corporate tax break to Governor Brownback for his signature.

The tax break specifically exempts all business income passed through on individual income tax returns by corporations large and small.

Meanwhile, the poorest Kansans will actually see a tax increase.

Not that details like those were actually discussed on the House floor as Speaker O’Neal shut down debate abruptly and even refused to let some House Democrats explain their votes.

But the impact of this reckless plan will reach far beyond the offshore accounts wealthiest Kansans and the executive boardrooms of the Kansas corporations. After Governor Brownback signs this bill the other shoe will drop. Under this plan Kansas is projected to be billions of dollars in the hole within three years.

So in order to cut $3.7 Billion out of the budget before 2018 to give away in tax cuts 40% of the State General fund will be cut.

Public education will be gutted, costing teachers their jobs, forcing more schools to close and increasing class sizes for Kansas children.

State agencies will be slashed, costing state employees their jobs and asking those who remain to do more – and serve more Kansans – with dramatically less.

And absolutely nothing in this tax bill will address the tax that impacts more working families than any other: property tax. In fact this tax bill guarantees that property and sales taxes will go up across Kansas.

Look-up your representative below and find out how they voted on this tax giveaway to corporations and wealthy Kansans.

Governor Brownback is missing the point. If he wanted to cut taxes for EVERY Kansan he would be pushing for property tax relief.

But he doesn’t want to cut your taxes. His idea of a tax cut will actually cause your tax bill to go up.

And it comes at the expense of the schools that you and families in your community depend on. It puts even more of our most vulnerable at risk. It means state workers won’t see a decent paycheck any time soon.

Contact your legislator today and tell them to support tax relief for ALL Kansans. Tell them to focus on property tax relief, and to forget about Brownback’s income tax cuts that will cost most Kansans more than they pay today.

Last week, we met with a representative of the Senate leadership; Kansas Sec. of Labor Karin Brownlee; representatives for several business interests, such as the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, Kansas NFIB, Kansas SHRM; and representatives of multiple Unions. The purpose of our meeting was to, first, provide some understanding as to the need for Senate Bill 413 and, second, to see if any compromise could be made between Brownlee / the business community and the representatives of workers on SB 413.

As a reminder, SB 413 is another version of Brownback Secretary of Labor Karin Brownlee’s court-packing scheme (HB 2531). It gives employers five (5) members of the seven (7) member nominating committee for work comp and UI judges. The sixth member is a “public employee representative” hand picked by the Sec. of Labor, and the final member is a representative of the Kansas AFL-CIO.  Which means at best, when a pro-worker Sec. of Labor is in office, the nominating commission is stacked 5 to 2 against workers and in the current climate it would be 6 to 1. The proposed court packing scheme does not even attempt to display fairness. It is a pure political power grab that will have devastating consequences on the integrity of the workers compensation system and the unemployment system.

The current system for the selection of the Appeals Board members for workers compensation has been in effect since 1993.  Essentially, when vacancies occur, the Kansas Chamber and Kansas AFL-CIO meet and send a nominee to the Secretary of Labor.  The appointment is for four years, and the Appeals Board members are permitted to reapply.  The system worked so well that it was extended for the selection of Administrative Law Judges, or ALJs.

Brownlee’s argument for this change to the current balanced process is that “organized labor only represents 7.6% of workers” (The Kansas DOL later tweeted 10.1% so there seems to be some interagency confusion on the facts, no surprise there).  Brownlee feels that business interests should also have an opportunity to represent their employees in a system where the employee is making a claim against said business. While Brownlee’s logic is interesting, it’s completely wrong. Here’s the facts.

Kansas is a right to work state.  Which means Unions are lawfully mandated to represent all workers in any type of negotiations, whether that worker is a dues paying member or not they are represented by the Union. You can’t have it both ways and say that Unions only represent 7.6% (or 10.1%) of the workforce while lawfully mandating them to represent everyone. Every worker is required to be represented, regardless of their dues paying status, if they are employed within a represented bargaining unit. That is the essence of Kansas’ right-to-work law.

Brownlee attempted to make an appeal about other Union organizations not being represented in the process. Specifically asking “What about the communications workers? Don’t they deserve a voice in this?”  Come to find out Brownlee didn’t actually know that CWA is a member of the AFL-CIO or even know what the AFL-CIO is. She had no idea that the AFL-CIO is a Union of Unions. Interesting.

A few thing were made abundantly clear in the meeting.

1. There would be no compromise. Brownlee quickly shut down that possibility, she wants SB 413 to come flying out of committee just as she wrote it, ensuring that Kansas workers won’t have a fair shot for years to come.
2. In her second year on the job, the Kansas Secretary of Labor plainly illustrated that she has no idea what the AFL-CIO is or does. Only further showing that since Brownlee took office the Kansas Department of Labor hasn’t represented a single worker’s interest and has only catered to the Kansas Chamber’s extremist anti-worker agenda.
3. Brownlee and the other business representatives in the room failed to name a single issue with the current process. SB 413 is a solution in search of a problem that doesn’t exist.

Yesterday the Kansas Legislature returned for the last leg of the Legislative session — the wrap up session — with a lot left to do, including passing a budget, drawing the district maps fot this year’s elections and let’s not forget the conference committee of SB 416 (which you can read about here) that we will be keeping you up to date on in the near future.

We at the Working Kansas Alliance wanted to take a moment to bring an upcoming event to your attention. Our President, Terry Forsyth, will be speaking at the event and we would like to encourage everyone to come out and join us.

Every year in late April, the unions of the AFL-CIO observe Workers Memorial Day to remember those who have suffered and died on the job and to renew our efforts for safe workplaces.  This year we the struggle continues to create good jobs in this country that are safe and healthy and to ensure the freedom of workers to form unions and, through their unions, to speak out and bargain for respect and a better future.  It’s time for our country to fulfill the promise of safe jobs for all.

Four decades ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job.  Unions and our allies have fought hard to make that promise a reality—winning protections that have made jobs safer, saved hundreds of thousand of lives and prevented millions of workplace injuries and illnesses.

But our work is not done.  Many job hazards are unregulated and uncontrolled.  Some employers, like Massey Energy and BP, cut corners and violate the law, putting workers in serious danger and costing lives. Each year thousands of workers are killed and millions more injured or diseased because of their jobs.

The Obama administration has moved forward to strengthen protections with tougher enforcement on serious violators and proposed new safeguards for workplace hazards.  But business groups and the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives are attacking these stronger measures, falsely claiming they kill jobs. They are pushing legislation to make it difficult, if not impossible, to issue needed safeguards to protect workers and the public.

We cannot and will not let them turn back the clock and destroy the progress we have made to make jobs safer and save lives. Safety laws and regulations don’t kill jobs—but unsafe jobs do kill workers.

Please join the Wichita / Hutchinson Labor Federation as we commemorate Workers Memorial Day with our annual dinner on Thursday April 19th, 6pm at the Machinist Hall – 3830 S. Meridian, Wichita. We will have a free catered dinner from Stroud’s Fried Chicken as we remember those Kansas Workers who lost their lives on the job and renew our commitment to fight for good, SAFE, jobs.

Today just after lunch the Kansas Chamber of Commerce sent out an email dripping with lies and urging people to contact legislators in regards to certain extremist anti-worker legislation. We wanted to take a moment to respond to their lies and provide an accurate interpretation of just what exactly is at foot here. You can view the full email at the end of this post.

LIE

Senate Bill 352 was introduced by Secretary of Labor Karin Brownlee and passed the Senate Commerce Committee last month. SB 352 contains mostly technical changes. The major policy piece of SB 352 clarifies that a positive drug or alcohol test is conclusive evidence of misconduct and therefore makes the claimant ineligible for unemployment insurance. SB 352 also clarifies that repeated absences or lateness is conclusive evidence of misconduct and disqualifies individuals for benefits.

TRUTH

While Senate Bill 352 was indeed introduced by Brownlee it doesn’t contain merely technical changes, which is probably why in the Chamber email they call it a “major policy piece.”  The changes that Senate Bill 352 makes to the Employment Security Law do nothing more than give businesses a way out of complying with the commonsense provisions of the law and do it on the backs of Kansas workers and taxpayers.

Currently, Kansas all work done for wages is presumed to be “employment” for the purposes of the Employment Security Law. This means every worker is presumed eligible for Unemployment Insurance benefits upon discharge unless the worker was actually an independent contractor.

SB 352 completely removes the employer to employee relationship. When a worker who should be classified as an employee is instead classified as an independent contractor they would be deprived of his or her rights to Unemployment Insurance benefits unless they can prove they were misclassified. This places the entire burden on the employee.

SB 352 also removes the Department of Labor’s discretion to grant UI benefits in a situation where an employee was discharge because of repeated absences or lateness.

SB 352 sets a low bar for employers to meet in order to prevent employees from collecting unemployment benefits. The bill goes even further by preventing any consideration of mitigating circumstances. Regardless of circumstances, SB 352 allows an employer to use lateness or absences as a barrier to the worker accessing otherwise-deserved unemployment benefits.

SB352 also grants the Secretary of Labor the right to intervene on behalf of an employer and appeal a decision of an Unemployment Insurance Judge if the decision is deemed too worker-friendly. Which will be paid for by Kansas taxpayers and not the employer who would benefit from the appeal, regardless of if the employer has any interest in an appeal or not. This effectively transfers the cost of this appeal process from employers to the taxpayers.

Senate Bill 352 does nothing more than allow dishonest employers to deny discharged workers the basic right to access unemployment insurance. It stacks the deck against the worker, and even gives employers a taxpayer-funded appeal avenue if somehow the worker does manage to prove their case to an Unemployment Insurance Judge.

The changes proposed in Senate Bill 352 would leave Kansans left with out any help after losing their jobs.  This bill sends the message loud and clear to Kansas workers that they are less important than the interests of big business.

LIE

SB 416 is the Chamber’s unemployment insurance proposal which makes the following changes:

• Clarified and made consistent circumstances where an employee received a lump-sum separation or severance payment, that UI benefits are postponed for the time commensurate with the number of weeks of compensation the lump-sum would represent.
• Would establish in statute that the deadline for the Secretary of Labor to notify employers of their UI contribution rates for the subsequent rate year would be November 15.
• Would lower new employer rates starting in 2014 tax year, 2015 calendar year when the fund is expected to be solvent and no longer in the borrowing state. Rates would go from 4.0% to 2.7% except for construction which would remain at 6.0%.
• Would modify statute to classify holiday or vacation pay as wages.
• Eliminates the Employment Security Advisory Council.

TRUTH

Senate Bill 416 is now a combination of several anti-worker attacks. It allows the Department of Labor to leave workers high and dry if their employer challenges unpaid wage claims in court. Under current law, the Department of Labor is there to defend unpaid wage claims under $10,000 (SB 355). But in keeping with the Department’s new direction under Brownback appointee Karin Brownlee, the Department of Labor is now focused on defending employers and so for these unpaid wage claims, you would be out on your own to find an attorney to handle your case for you.

Senate Bill 416 also now contains a big change to unemployment benefits. It changes UI law to treat earned wages (such as vacation time) as justification for delaying unemployment benefits (Hb 2638). If you get a lump sum payout when you are laid off – regardless if that payout is for wages already earned – your unemployment benefits would be held back. The bill also lowers employer contributions to the UI Trust Fund at a time when the State is borrowing money (and paying interest on it) to pay benefits!

The Kansas Chamber of Commerce are working hand in hand with Karin Brownlee and waging war on Kansas workers and their rights and lying through their teeth while doing so. Not only have the Chamber and Brownlee proposed numerous extremist anti-worker bills, made numerous attempts to stack the deck against workers, attempted to circumvent the majority opinions of the Senate, but they have also continually shown a reckless disregard for the legislative process and the hard working families in Kansas.

Enough is enough. Your legislators need to hear from you. You can find contact information the members of the conference committee below. Contact them and demand they end the Kansas Chamber and Karin Brownlee’s war on working families and oppose this extremist legislation. 

Conference Committee

Member                                           District                                  Office Phone

Sen. Susan Wagle                                  30                                   785-296-7386

Sen. Julia Lynn                                       9                                     785-296-7382

Sen. Tom Holland                                   3                                    785-296-7372

Rep. Anthony Brown                              38                                 785-296-7679

Rep. Gene Suellentrop                           105                                785-296-7680

Rep. Mike Slattery                                   24                                 785-296-7687

As promised here is the Kansas Chamber’s full email.

Having it both ways is becoming a daily occurrence in the legislature.

After killing the Governor’s plan to give tax breaks to corporations and wealthy Kansans early on Wednesday a phone rang in the Senate republican leadership office with Gov. Sam Brownback on the other end of it and just about as quickly as they could the Kansas Senate made an about face and passed the $800M behemoth hours later.

The bill is now likely headed for a conference committee where bad news usually gets worse for working Kansans.

The Tax conference committee will likely do everything it can to preserve Governor Brownback’s tax breaks for corporations and wealthy Kansans.

Corporate earnings will be exempt from income taxes. Worker income won’t.

And with an $800M price tag, it will cost thousands of state employees their jobs, devastate human services, and set Kansas schools back decades.

Meanwhile over in the Kansas House two anti-worker bills passed, Republicans affirmed their belief that corporations are people, and employers were given the green light to discriminate when hiring.

The House passed Senate Bill 413 and Senate Bill 416 on party-line votes. SB 413 is

Karin Brownlee’s court-packing scheme and SB 416 combines attacks on Unemployment Insurance and workers owed wages by unscrupulous employers.

The House also defeated an amendment by Rep. Mike Slattery that would have established that in Kansas we understand that corporations are not people.

Surprisingly – or maybe unsurprisingly – most House Republicans weren’t willing to go that far. After all, they are busy handing out tax breaks to corporations while raising them on people with low incomes, so if anything corporations would be Super-People to many here.

Stan Frownfelter later offered an amendment that would have prevented employers from discriminating against potential new-hires based on them being unemployed or having bad credit.

Again on a largely party-line vote, employers were backed up by Republicans, and unemployed Kansans can expect to stay unemployed a bit longer.

None of these measures are headed to the Governor yet, but your legislators are coming home for the weekend and we thought you’d like to know that on their way out of town they:

- Cut taxes for corporations and wealthy Kansans

- Advanced Karin Brownlee’s court packing scheme

- Took steps towards delaying unemployment insurance

- declared that corporations are people

…and  let employers discriminate against job-seekers who are unemployed or have bad credit.

All in a day’s work for this crowd!

It’s time for action!

Late Friday night the House Commerce Committee took action on several anti-worker bills that change Unemployment and workers compensation benefits. Resorting to procedural moves to deny the public the opportunity to comment on the bills, the committee passed out Senate Bills 413 and 416, and now both are headed to the full House next week.

The bill numbers keep changing, but the goals for the Brownback Administration remain the same: attack working Kansans and make life easier for employers.

Contact your legislators NOW to tell them to oppose SB 413 and 416.

Senate Bill 413 is another version of Brownback Secretary of Labor Karin Brownlee’s court-packing scheme (Hb 2531). It gives employers 5 members of the 7 member nominating committee for work comp and UI judges. How is that fair? What kind of judges do you think will be chosen by that committee?

Senate Bill 416 is now a combination of several anti-worker attacks. It allows the Department of Labor to leave workers high and dry if their employer challenges unpaid wage claims in court. Under current law, the Department of Labor is there to defend unpaid wage claims under $10,000 (SB 355). But in keeping with the Department’s new direction under Brownback appointee Karin Brownlee, the Department of Labor is now focused on defending employers and so for these unpaid wage claims, you would be out on your own to find an attorney to handle your case for you.

Senate Bill 416 also now contains a big change to unemployment benefits. It changes UI law to treat earned wages (such as vacation time) as justification for delaying unemployment benefits (Hb 2638). If you get a lump sum payout when you are laid off – regardless if that payout is for wages already earned – your unemployment benefits would be held back. The bill also lowers employer contributions to the UI Trust Fund at a time when the State is borrowing money (and paying interest on it) to pay benefits!

We’ll be in touch as soon as we know when the House plans to vote on these bills.

In the meantime, contact your legislators and tell them to stand up for working familes and oppose SB 413 and SB 416.

Today in House Commerce we saw a complete disregard for a fair legislative process when the Secretary of Labor, Karin Brownlee, and her Deputy of The War of Workers Secretary, Kathy Sparks, suggested three amendments to SB 416. Senate bill 416 is a pretty bland bill, there’s nothing controversial about it and normally we wouldn’t pay any attention to it.  But the three amendments that Sparks suggested to the committee today are completely controversial bills. So much so that the Senate hasn’t allowed these bills on to General Orders to be debate, which is in fact the reason Sparks cited for suggesting them as amendments today.

Anthony Brown, Chairman of the House Commerce committee, intends to work this bills tomorrow. With no hearing on the amendments from anyone other than Kathy Sparks.  Rep Lous Ruiz (D – Kansas City) and Rep Gail Finney (D -Wichita) raised objections during the hearing today on the grounds that these bills haven’t been properly vetted in the House, and questioned if the bills were just “minor non-controversial changes” like Kathy Sparks said then why hadn’t the Senate take action on them. Here’s a clue: The Senate hasn’t taken action on them for good reason. These are terrible bills for workers statewide and stack the deck against hard working Kansans and their families.

The three bills Sparks suggested be placed as amendments on to SB 416 today are 1) SB 352; 2) SB 355; 3) HB 2638 (House version). Here’s a little explanation of these bills:

Senate Bill 352 makes to the Employment Security Law do nothing more than give businesses a way out of complying with the commonsense provisions of the law and do it on the backs of Kansas workers and taxpayers. The bill was introduced Karin Brownlee. It  would make dramatic changes to the definition of “misconduct” when determining the eligibility of unemployment compensation. The bill will shift the entire burden of proof from the employer to the employee, effectively making workers ineligible for unemployment compensation unless they were part of a direct lay off.

SB352 also grants the Secretary of Labor the right to intervene on behalf of an employer and appeal a decision of an Unemployment Insurance Judge if the decision is deemed too worker-friendly.  The Bill does nothing more than allow dishonest employers to deny discharged workers the basic right to access unemployment insurance. It stacks the deck against the worker, and even gives employers a taxpayer-funded appeal avenue if somehow the worker does manage to prove their case to an Unemployment Insurance Judge.

The changes proposed in Senate Bill 352 would leave Kansans left with out any help after losing their jobs.  This bill sends the message loud and clear to Kansas workers that they are less important than the interests of big business.

Senate Bill 355 was also introduced by the Secretary of Labor. It deletes language in the Wage Payment Act that requires the Secretary to appeal a wage payment decision on behalf of an employee if the wage payment was under 10K.  This will unnecessarily force workers who have been denied wages to obtain their own representation or go through the process on their own if they want to appeal a decision. It also deletes language that allows the Department’s Division of Industrial Safety and Health to inspect private company worksites for safety and health hazards. 

The Wage Payment Act today requires the Secretary of Labor to appeal on behalf of an employee with a valid claim for unpaid wages if the claim is less than $10,000. This is a commonsense provision that protects workers regardless of their ability to pay for representation.

Forcing an employee to obtain their own representation or navigate the appeal process themselves puts the working poor at a disadvantage even in instances where the Secretary of Labor agrees that they have a valid claim.

Creating the conditions for even one employer to get away with not paying what the Secretary determines to be a valid claim will do nothing to discourage other employers from pushing the boundaries of fairness.

House Bill 2638 (House Version) was passed through the House and sent to the Senate and earlier this week amended in the Senate Commerce Committee. Brownlee and Sparks don’t much care for the changes made to the bill so they have decided to show complete disregard for the legislative process and decided they know better than legislator and make an attempt at getting what they want from the bill.  In short, the bill reduces benefits to workers, reduces employer contributions to UI Trust Fund at a time when Kansas is paying back loans on the fund, and eliminates a body that is designed to give a balanced review of legislation like this.

The responsible way to make the UI Trust Fund self-sufficient again is to allow it to be replenished by Kansas businesses during times when fewer workers are depending on those benefits. The appropriate time to discuss lowering UI contributions is after a healthy reserve is built up in the Trust Fund, not when it is in the red.

Furthermore, attempting to couple a reduction in employer contributions to the UI Fund with a reduction in benefits to workers is as short-sighted as it is fundamentally unfair. Unemployment is not a paid vacation. When workers experience unemployment they do not stop needing to feed their families or pay their mortgages. Their local grocers and banks do not stop needing to be paid for the good and services they provide. But the impact that reductions in benefits or shortening the benefit period has means that those local businesses do lose customers. Unemployed workers put every dollar they have back into the economy while they are looking for a new job.

Finally, the bill would abolish the Employment Security Advisory Council. The Council was formed with the idea that proposals like those included in this bill would benefit from a thorough and balanced analysis by employee and employer representatives. This administration has failed to even call a meeting of the Council and therefore it is understandable that the Secretary would want to abolish it. However, employers and employees both stand to benefit from the careful consideration the Council could provide, and again, the Secretary is always able to ignore any inconvenient analyses it produces.

The Employment Security statutes on the books in Kansas are in place to support Kansas workers and businesses, not penalize them. The changes outlined in House Bill 2638 are one-sided and short-sighted.

We will continue working to keep these attacks on workers from passing and keep you updated on what happens at the Capitol.

The following update is taken from the KNEA “Under The Dome” email update.

Appropriations votes to reduce school funding immediately

Unencumbered balances under constant attack

House conservatives, under the leadership of Speaker Mike O’Neal (R-Hutchinson), continue their relentless attack on fund balances in school districts, going after them in both the Appropriations and Education Budget Committees yesterday.

The House Education Budget Committee held a hearing on HB 2773, a bill that would require school districts to spend some unencumbered fund balances to offset reductions in BSAPP or on reducing Local Option Budget mill levies. No action was taken on the bill.

The House Appropriations Committee approved a motion to cut $28.5 million in funding to school districts in the current year and force them to spend unencumbered fund balances to make up the difference. Every year the legislature considers a supplemental appropriation to meet the school finance requirements which may have increased due to enrollment changes and other economic conditions such as decreases in property valuations.

This year the Governor included the supplemental appropriation in his budget. The Appropriations Committee action removes the supplemental appropriation and directs school districts to use their unencumbered balances to make up the loss.

Why do school districts have fund balances? There are a variety of reasons for fund balances. Some funds maintain balances because they need start up money in the fall while waiting for their first aid payments – special education and food services are two of these funds. Other funds are saved up until it is time for the expenditure – the textbook fund is a good example. And some funds are held on to simply for emergencies. The best example of this is the contingency reserve fund. Contingency reserve is tapped for unexpected emergencies such as the failure of a heating or cooling system. Another often mentioned reason for fund balances is the recent tendency for the legislature to balance the budget by delaying school aid payments. Without a balance to cover payroll, employees would be asked to delay their paychecks until the state made its payment.

The question of whether school districts have too little or too much money in unencumbered balances is unanswered. Some have spent balances down as a result of the many rounds of funding cuts and others have not. A blanket policy such as those contained in these proposals is entirely inappropriate. And one must not lose sight of the fact that the Legislature directed school districts to put more money in contingency reserve by increasing the maximum amount allowable.

If there is one thing you can count on this year in the Legislature, it is that House Republicans will find a way to fit an attack on working Kansans into their daily schedule.

The much anticipated debate on the House leadership’s plan to make working families pay for tax breaks for the wealthy was cancelled on Monday, surely leaving many House Republicans with an empty feeling. After all, the House tax plan depended on cuts to the highway plan – also known as The Single Biggest Job Creation Initiative To Come Out Of Topeka In A Decade – and those cuts would have cost more than a few Kansans their job security.

But despite holding off on that debate until tomorrow, some members of the House Appropriations Committee were able to satisfy their apparently insatiable appetite for the paychecks of Kansas workers when they denied Market Adjustments to state employees who are making less than their private sector counterparts.

We’ll give you the list of House members who voted against the effort to bring public workers up to paycheck parity with the private sector, and you should keep it handy to see who on this list – if anybody – stands with working Kansans on the tax debate that has been rescheduled for tomorrow.  If the House does pass tax breaks for the wealthy this week, they will be able to thank the under-market state employees for making it possible.

Just so we are clear, when Gov. Brownback and House Republicans talk about cutting income taxes for the wealthy there are winners and losers. Or to put it another way, there will be the wealthy, and there will be the rest of us.

Here’s your list of Appropriations members who denied market adjustments to state employees earn less than they would in the private sector:

Rep. Marc Rhoades

Rep. Kasha Kelley

Rep. Anthony Brown

Rep. Richard Carlson

Rep. Ward Cassidy

Rep. Dave Crum

Rep. Pete DeGraaf

Rep. Jim Denning

Rep. Lana Gordon

Rep. Marvin Kleeb

Rep. Peggy Mast

Rep. Joe McLeland

Rep. Virgil Peck

Rep. Jo Ann Pottorff

Rep. Sharon Schwartz

Rep. Clark Shultz

Rep. Gene Suellentrop