Originally distributed 4/11/2012 at 2:07 PM.

The Legislature has finally adjourned and we are finally safe — at least for the moment.  Our GR staff was in the Capitol building until nearly dawn this morning, and it will take them a while to recover and provide us with a complete analysis of what happened in the final days of the session.  The full impact of the various bills held hostage by the Senate Republicans and road kill caucus won’t be known for a few days. 

However, we do know the efforts from members and staff throughout the session — and especially in the last 24 hours – had a huge impact.  Importantly, it made a difference.

We broke new records for the number of emails sent, leaders who came to Olympia and calls placed to legislators.  The rallies back home, which energized so many members, caused legislators to reconsider their positions on the health care takeover.  The doorbelling in targeted districts showed the power of our grassroots effort. 

And most impressive was yesterday’s last-minute push by so many leaders and staff.  With almost no notice, more than 70 WEA members and staff traveled to Olympia to personally lobby legislators. Thank you to those leaders who dropped everything and joined the fray in Olympia. Thanks, too, to our staff who canceled the WEASO Executive Committee and other staff meetings to join in the concerted effort.   If we build on this kind of unity going forward, we can’t be stopped. Those members and staff created a buzz.  You steeled the backbone of key allies.  You made a difference.

Those who couldn’t go to Olympia made a difference, too.  Again and again, legislators  told us they were being inundated by calls and emails.  One threatened to destroy his laptop, just to make it stop.  Another asked us to stop the calls, assuming they were robo calls and was shocked to find out that was not the case. 

To all of you who have responded again and again, and worked tirelessly over these past weeks: thank you!

We are very grateful — and very fortunate — to lead an organization of such commitment and unity.  We Are One.

Mary Lindquist, WEA President

John Okamoto, WEA Executive Director

Originally distributed 4/11/12 at 6:38 am.

Early this morning, the Legislature approved a final version of the K-12 health care bill.

Here is a link to the OurVoice story about it: http://ourvoicewashingtonea.org/legislators-approve-confusing-k-12-health-care-bill/

Here is the story itself:

The final version of ESSB 5940 approved by the Legislature early Wednesday morning is a confusing and convoluted hodgepodge of new requirements.

The bill, prime sponsored by Sen. Steve Hobbs, never had a hearing, and the public never had a chance for comment. Although the bill makes major changes to the $1 billion health care system that covers 200,000 educators and family members, most legislators voted on the bill without seeing it – including legislators who demanded more “transparency” from the existing health care system.

The bill language was made public only minutes before senators voted on it around 4:20 a.m., when only a small number of lobbyists and reporters remained in the capitol.

ESSB 5940 doesn’t mandate a state takeover of the K-12 health care system. But it could potentially force some school districts into the state health benefit plan (PEBB) if they fail to provide required data. ESSB 5940 retains local collective bargaining rights around health benefits. However, it will have a major impact on negotiations at the local level by mandating new goals and premium requirements.

Even a few hours before the bill’s passage, some legislators continued to push for the complete state takeover of K-12 health care. Many legislators said lobbying efforts by WEA members played an important role in defeating that effort.

Thousands of WEA members emailed and called their legislators to oppose the takeover legislation in the last 24 hours before the bill passed, setting new WEA records for emails sent and OurVoice website visits. On Tuesday with only a moment’s notice, more than 70 WEA members and staff traveled to Olympia to personally lobby their legislators. The final lobby effort by WEA members followed a dozen back-home rallies, more than 60,000 emails to Olympia, thousands of postcards, advertising campaigns and 800 WEA members lobbying their legislators face-to-face in Olympia.

Bottom line: ESSB 5940 is not a state takeover of the K-12 health care system. It does retain local collective bargaining, though the new law will definitely complicate local bargaining around benefits. It requires boatloads of data from providers and school districts. The true impact on school employees and their families won’t be known until WEA budget and insurance experts fully analyze the bill.

Here is how the House voted on the bill. Besides Hobbs, Senators Keiser, Tom, Ericksen, Kastama and Zarelli also sponsored the bill.

URGENT! Please take 2 minutes today to do this!

Today is the last day of the special session. SB 6442 (health care takeover) died, but now a new bill has passed through the senate that will take away our right to bargain health care benefits. We need to contact all of our House Representatives in the 27^th and 29^th and tell them to VOTE NO on SB 5940!

27^th

Jenkins:  253-566-5610

Danielle: 360-786-7974

29^th

Kirby : 360-786-7996

Ladenburg: 360-786-7906

Key phone call points:

Educators urge ALL legislators to oppose SB 5940 or any other changes to the K-12 health care system

• The current version of SB 5940 was drafted in secret as part of a last-minute political deal and hasn’t even had a hearing — but it makes dramatic changes to the $1 billion K-12 health care system.
• This bill is unrealistic and unworkable and does not make health care more affordable for school employees.
• Don’t let political games jeopardize the health care of 200,000 educators and their families.