2011 Legislative session ends
9/12/11
The 2011 legislative session ended Sept. 9th. In the final days and hours of the session Governmental Relations staff worked to move bills to protect CSEA members and oppose bills that harm workers.
Sponsored Bills
AB 501 (Campos) was passed by the Legislature and is on its way to the Governor's desk. This bill would correct a bad PERB decision and restore the right of noon duty workers to join unions. It also clarifies collective bargaining law to provide that school employees who work for school joint powers agencies are covered under the education collective bargaining laws (EERA).
We encourage you to send letters to Governor Brown asking him to sign this bill. A sample letter is included, below.
AB 925 (Lara) would give classified employees in charter schools Education Code rights similar to other classified employees. This is a two year bill and will be taken up in the 2012 Legislative Session. Battling supporters of charter schools continues to be a challenge. If you have stories of abuses of classified employees in charter schools please send them to the CSEA Governmental Relations office.
AB 1203 (Mendoza) was pulled back from the Governor and made a two year bill in order to negotiate amendments. This bill would allow unions to pay for release time for classified employees who are not elected officers. Some limits to this authority will be required in order to gain a signature from the Governor.
SB 810 (Leno) would create a single payer universal health care system in California. This is a two year bill and will be taken up in the 2012 legislative session. Insurance companies, hospitals and doctors continue to oppose SB 810. CSEA has joined with many organizations to lobby in support of this bill and will continue those efforts in the months ahead. If you have any compelling health care stories you can share to help make the case for a single-payer system please send them to Governmental Relations.
Ballot Initiative Change
CSEA led an effort to provide that all state initiatives appear only on November General election ballots. SB 202 (Hancock) was passed just prior to the end of session to implement this change. November ballot turnout is generally much higher than June, insuring greater democracy on important statewide ballot measures.
CSEA took to the lead to draft, amend, lobby and organize support for this important measure.
Budget
SB 6 X1 (Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee) amends the education trailer bill. In the event that the budget triggers are pulled, this bill requires the Director of Department of Finance to make every effort to notify the Legislature by December 9, 2011, of the specific trigger reductions that are proposed and, at least 10 days prior to implementing the trigger reductions, consult with the Legislature about the reductions as well as alternative budget solutions to those set forth in current law. This bill also delays the implementation of the Community College $10 per unit fee increase from the winter semester to the summer semester of the 2011-12 academic year.
Pensions
The Legislature passed a bill creating a Joint Conference Committee on pensions. This committee will conduct hearings and develop a comprehensive set of bills to stop pension abuses, eliminate spiking and make other reforms. Governor Brown is expected to release a pension reform package over the next few weeks, which will be heard before the Conference Committee. CSEA and Californians for Retirement Security will be actively involved in this process in order to ensure reforms are reasonable and fair to workers.
Diastat
SB 161 (Huff) would permit unlicensed school employees to inject Diastat into epileptic children who are having seizures. Despite the strong opposition from labor and education groups, SB 161 passed the legislature. CSEA is working as part of a coalition with these organizations and many others requesting the governor to veto SB 161.
Please urge the Governor to veto this bill.
What's Next?
The Governor has until October 9th to take action on those bills that were moved to his desk. Governmental Relations staff will continue to work with the Governor and Legislature on bills passed during this Legislative Session and will complete a report on all bills signed into law impacting classified employees