Latest news with #HouseBill1424
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Unions call on Senate to move worker protection bills languishing in committee
Cherrish Vick, secretary-treasurer with AFSCME Local 112, urges the Maryland Senate to move legislation that would reform the arbitration process for state workers. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters) Labor unions called on senators Monday to act on a pair of worker protection bills that passed the House but are languishing in the Senate, with just two weeks left in the legislative session. Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Maryland Council 3 (AFSCME) and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) rallied in support of the bills — one to support laid-off federal employees and one to help state workers in future negotiations. 'These aren't just workers, these are our neighbors, our friends, they're our family,' said House Majority Whip Jazz Lewis (D-Prince George's), the lead sponsor of both bills awaiting Senate consideration. 'The House has already passed both these bills, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to do the same – and I know they will,' Lewis said at a news conference in the Prince George's Delegation room in House office building. The bills come at a time when state officials are trying to support government workers amid mass federal layoffs and a rocky economic outlook for the state. Fired fed workers won their jobs back, but many linger in 'administrative leave' limbo House Bill 1424 would expand the use of two current employee-assistance funds so they could be used to assist federal workers who are laid off as the Trump administration rushes to slash the size of government. The bill also gives the attorney general authority to sue the Trump administration on behalf of the laid off workers. The bill passed the House 103-36 on March 11, and is slated for a hearing Thursday in the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. A companion bill, Senate Bill 683, was discussed in Budget and Taxation in early March, but was never brought to a vote. But Budget and Taxation Committee Chair Guy Guzzone (D-Howard), who noted that there are a number of federal workers who live in his district, said Monday evening that there is interest in the bill. Lewis' other bill, House Bill 159, would reform the state's collective bargaining process to subject it to binding arbitration if the state and the unions reached an impasse in negotiations. The bill, which has been filed every year since 2022, has never moved out of either chamber before. But the House passed it 101-37 in March 11 and sent it to the Senate, where it has been jointly assigned to the Finance Committee and the Budget and Taxation Committee. The Senate version of the bill received a hearing back in January in Budget and Taxation, but has not been brought to a vote. 'Over the years, our jobs as state employees have gotten harder every day. There's more work to do, there's more Marylanders to serve and there are more services that are needed,' said Cherrish Vick, secretary-treasurer with AFSCME Local 112. 'There just aren't enough of us to do the work,' she said at Monday's event. 'You know what happens? Lines get longer, services get delayed and lawsuits start piling up.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE She said that the bill would 'fix a broken negotiation process in state government' and she is 'hopeful' that the Senate will support the legislation. Without addressing either bill specifically in his remarks, Gov. Wes Moore (D) stopped by the event to provide comments in support of federal and state workers who live in Maryland and are affected by layoffs. 'Maryland is strong because we are union strong, and we stand united in that,' he said. 'We make sure that we take care of our people. And right now, our people are under attack.' Following his comments, Moore left the press conference early without taking questions. Lewis said during the event that the governor supports his arbitration bill, but did not indicate where the governor stands on the Protect Our Federal Workers Act. The governor's office did not immediately respond to a request to clarify his position on the bills.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill to provide care for laid-off federal workers devolves into partisan feud
House Majority Whip Jazz Lewis (D-Prince George's), left, talks Wednesday about emergency legislation he's sponsoring on behalf of recently laid-off federal workers in Maryland. House Minority Jason Buckel (R-Allegany), right, challenged one part of the measure. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters) House debate over a bill that would provide care for laid-off federal workers devolved Wednesday into a partisan squabble over who cares more. The spat came during a debate on House Bill 1424, which would expand the use of two current employee-assistance funds so they could be used for federal workers laid off as the Trump administration rushes to slash the size of government. Republicans in the House were questioning one part of the bill, that would let the attorney general file suit on behalf of laid-off federal workers. The debate was tame to begin, but tensions began to bubble up when Del. Jazz Lewis (D-Prince George's) expressed skepticism of the Republican Party's interest in supporting laid-off workers. 'This bill, ultimately, is about us protecting Marylanders. And to be clear, I hear a lot of concern from the floor leaders – I don't know if this actually reflects the entire position of the minority party — but everything I'm standing up to say … our leadership is standing on, is about protecting our workers, our citizens all across the state,' Lewis said. 'I have not heard you all stand up once to talk about you're going to stand up for the workers in your districts — particularly the federal ones,' said Lewis, the House Majority Whip and lead sponsor of the bill.. His remarks elicited groans from the chamber, and a sharp response from Del. Matthew Morgan (R-St. Mary's). 'We're more than willing to stand up for our citizens here,' Morgan said. 'If the majority whip would like us to talk – let's go.' OPM, OMB memo sets off fresh round of concerns among Maryland Democrats Speaker Pro Tem Dana Stein (D-Baltimore County) reminded Morgan that he had not been recognized to speak, as required, before allowing Morgan to continue. 'Those were disparaging remarks for the minority party in this chamber. We've been talking ad nauseam for five years on the business environment that the majority party has created in this state,' Morgan said. 'We've been lied to consistently – we were told that crime reform, police reform, no cash bail bonds –' At that point, Appropriations Committee Chair Ben Barnes (D-Prince George's and Anne Arundel) interrupted to note that Morgan's comments were 'definitely not on the bill this point.' Morgan tried to argue that he was addressing Lewis' remarks, before Stein stepped back in and gave the floor to Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany), who tried to calm things down. 'We're not here to impugn someone's motive,' said Buckel, before steering the debate back to the bill and his amendment that was on the floor at the time. It was an odd argument over a bill that appears to have general support in the House. HB1424 would expand the state's Catastrophic Event Account that is designed to let state agencies respond quickly to a natural disaster, a catastrophe, or a full or partial shutdown of the federal government. It would also effect the Federal Government Shutdown Employee Assistance Loan Fund, a state fund that makes no-interest loans to federal workers in the state who are not being paid because of a federal shutdown. The bill would strike 'shutdown' from the second fund's name and allow state officials to tap those funds to help former federal workers who are in a financial bind because of 'closure, relocation or mass layoff' of the government unit they worked at. It budgets $10 million for the new fund. Lewis' bill is largely in response to recent layoffs in the Trump administration as to works to slash the size of the government. But the bill was amended in committee to expand the authority of the Maryland Attorney General's Office so that it would sue on behalf of federal workers affected by a temporary shutdown or, in the current environment, a mass firing or agency closure. It adds $1.5 million to let the attorney general's office pursue such cases. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'We are fighting to protect your constituents and everyone's constituents in the state, regardless of whether they're Eastern Shore, in Southern Maryland, in the far reaches of Western Maryland,' Lewis said on the floor. 'We're fighting with our front foot.' But Buckel challenged the attorney general language on the floor Wednesday. 'We're giving the attorney general the ability to sue on behalf of those people, not on behalf of the state,' Buckel argued. 'The state doesn't have a right to enforce the employment and labor laws of the federal government on behalf of private individuals. 'I'm going to bet money,' he said, 'that if we do this and the attorney general brings a suit, then some court somewhere is going to say, 'No, you can't do that.'' Buckel said the state would be 'wasting $1.5 million to file lawsuits that probably won't go anywhere,' if it retained the attorney general language. Lewis insisted the bill gives the attorney general the 'ability to fight on behalf of our workers.' Once things calmed down after the partisan hubbub, Buckel's amendment failed 97-39. HB 1424 is not currently scheduled for a final floor vote until next week. Prior to Wednesday's floor debate, Lewis said the bill is a step to ease the burden of Maryland's federal workers in the face of mass layoffs being executed by the Trump administration. 'I just don't understand the cruelty in the mindset of these people,' Lewis said of the administration. 'But we have brought forward legislation to try to stand up for federal workers and show them that we appreciate their service, that we want them to stay in Maryland. 'While we can't respond to everything that the federal government does, we're going to do what we can to try to help these folks,' Lewis said. – Maryland Matters reporter Jack Bowman contributed to this report.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House rejects bills that aimed to change how North Dakota candidates get on the ballot
Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck, speaks on the House floor on Feb. 25, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) Two bills that would have reshaped how candidates get on the North Dakota ballot failed in the House late Tuesday. House Bill 1446, sponsored by Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck, would have eliminated the option of getting on the ballot through a political endorsement. Instead, candidates for statewide and legislative offices would be required to gather signatures to get on the primary or general election ballot. Currently, candidates can get on the ballot through either a political endorsement or by gathering signatures. However, several incumbent lawmakers skipped district endorsing conventions last year, citing concerns about the process. And two candidates endorsed at the Republican Party state convention went on to lose in the primary. 'The system, we all know, is not working,' Nathe said. Under the proposal, legislative candidates would be required to obtain signatures for 1% of the district's total population, about 167, while statewide office holders would need to acquire 2,000 signatures. Competing bills would change how candidates get on North Dakota ballot During floor debate, Nathe said some districts are pushing candidates away if they don't meet the 'litmus test' for the perceived values of the political party. Others are being harassed and booed at meetings if they say anything that could go against party doctrine, he said. Lawmakers opposing the bill suggested it would put more candidates on the primary ballot and would fundamentally change the endorsing process. Rep. Vicky Steiner, R-Dickinson, acknowledged that some districts have issues, but said it's up to the state party to correct the behavior. She said some districts take their endorsements and processes seriously and are consistently trying to improve them. 'The system works,' Steiner said. 'Endorsing a candidate gives the voter a chance to understand that that person has been vetted by a group of people who have a set of principles.' Rep. Ben Koppelman, R-West Fargo, said there would be no way to verify that the signatures submitted by a candidate are from people of the same party. 'Many court cases have suggested that a party, through law, cannot be deprived of the ability to choose their candidate,' Koppelman said. Nathe's bill failed on a 58-32 vote. House Bill 1424, sponsored by Koppelman, would have required candidates to obtain a political party's endorsement. Candidates who submit signatures to get on the ballot could not have a political party next to their name. After the debate on Nathe's bill, Koppelman urged lawmakers to vote against his proposal. 'I think that we all are reacting to what our experiences are in the last two, maybe four years,' he said. 'I think if cooler heads prevail, and we go back and try to build the best districts that we can, that we'll be successful in our respective parties and hopefully we'll get more people involved.' Koppelman's bill failed on an 86-3 vote. House Minority Leader Zac Ista, D-Grand Forks, said people listening to the floor debate may get the wrong impression that getting into politics is 'messy' and 'nasty.' 'I can't speak for your districts or party, maybe that's true, but I want people watching to know that that's not the case in the minority party,' Ista said. 'I sure hope you all will figure this out so we can move forward productively.' Senate Bill 2252, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Walen, R-New Town, also would have prohibited ballot access to the primary election for candidates not endorsed by a political party. Walen's bill failed on the Senate floor Monday on a 41-6 vote. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
