Federal Consideration of Women's Health Care

Article on HR 3590 and HR 4872 of 2010 as related to specific women's health care issues was written by Maria Sanders of Legislative Intent Service, Inc. for the May 2010 Women Lawyers of Sacramento’s Newsletter.

You can find this article beginning on page 7 at: http://www.womenlawyers-sacramento.org/userfiles/admin/file/WLS_May_2010_newsletter.pdf

States "Race to the Top"

States Race For Education Funds: In the nationwide contest for federal funds under the “Race to the Top ” program, many states are deciding whether to continue with their pursuit of these funds – Only two states, Delaware and Tennessee, were named winners in the first round of the contest, sharing nearly $600 million. Finalists in the second round will be announced by the U.S. Department of Education on July 26, 2010 and the final winners may be announced by late August or early September. Here are a few states’ plans for pursuing these second round education funds:

• California: The state’s Schools Chief announced on April 30th that California would continue its efforts to seek federal funding through Phase 2 of the Race to the Top federal funds competition. Applications for the second round are due June 1st.

• Michigan: The Detroit News reported that the Michigan Education Association and American Federation of Teachers-Michigan issued letters of support for this state’s application for $400 million in the second round of the contest for federal school funds. The unions apparently agreed to encourage local memberships across Michigan to issue MOUs indicatng agreement with the state’s plan.

• Minnesota: Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Minnesota will not be applying for the up to $175 million in federal education funds under the Race to the Top program. As reported in the StarTribune , during the just-completed legislative session, there were proposals that affected teachers that sharply divided by chambers of the state legislature. Strong disagreements led to no education bill being passed by Minnesota’s legislature.

• Nevada: This state formed the Nevada Education Reform Blue Ribbon Task Force to guide and oversee Nevada’s Race to the Top application. The first meeting was held at Wynn Las Vegas on March 19th.

• Washington: By May 21, 2010, 95% of the school districts in the state of Washington have signed on to submit an application for the federal Race to the Top funds. The Spokesman-Review broke down the possible funding as follows: with the state receiving $250 million over four years, that would mean that Spokane Public Schools would receive about $1.6 million annually, the Central Valley about $263,000, and Mead about $198,000.

Federal Government: Following the Money

Federal Legislation: “Follow the money” takes on new meaning in the 111th Congress. States and the federal government share jurisdiction in the area of banking under the unique American dual banking system. States apply state laws and regulations to serve the needs of local economies, values and local concerns. While states are the sole regulators of insurance, the federal government is primarily responsible for regulating the nation’s securities markets. States also serve as critical partners investigating fraud, educating the public, and punishing criminals. The recent federal “Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 ” highlights the controversial importance of this issue in our current economy. The April 30, 2010 Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Report accompanying this federal legislation noted that S. 3217 was “a direct and comprehensive response to the financial crisis that nearly crippled the U.S. economy beginning in 2008.” (See Sen. Rpt. 111-176 , page 2) On May 20th, the Senate passed H.R. 4173 in lieu of S. 3217. A conference was called to reconcile the two bills’ reform provisions.

Labor Laws a Major Focus of State Legislatures

Labor and Employment: Here at LIS, we have observed a sharp increase in research projects related to California’s labor and employment laws, with numerous requests for Industrial Welfare Commission materials on Wage Orders and Labor Code legislation. Other states, too, are grappling with these issues:

• Illinois SB 3566 , assigned to the House Labor Committee, creates the Abusive Work Environment Act, which provides findings and purposes of the Act; definitions; unlawful employment practices, including abusive work environment and retaliation; employer liability and affirmative defense; employee liability and affirmative defense; relief; procedures and limitations; effect of the Act on other legal relationships; and other matters.

• New York S5254 and A2129 both affect the “Omnibus Prevailing Wage Enforcement Act” – S5254 to create the office of the prevailing wage fraud inspector general for increased vigilance in the effort to achieve prevailing wage enforcement; and allows public authorities to require that successful bidders for public works jobs participate in a state-sponsored apprenticeship program; and A2129 to amend the labor law, the general municipal law and the public offers law, in relation to the omnibus prevailing wage enforcement act and to amend the laws relating to establishing a public work enforcement fund and making an appropriation therefore, in relation to moneys accumulated in the public work enforcement fund.

• Washington state HB 1642 , regarding meal and reset periods for employees of health care facilities, requires employees of health care facilities to be provided scheduled and uninterrupted meal and rest periods of a duration no less than specified in rules adopted by the department of labor and industries under chapter 49.12 RCW (industrial welfare) or as otherwise agreed to be provided by the employer, whichever is longer in duration.

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States React to BP Oilspill with Focus on Environmental Issues

Environment and Natural Resources: Energy and protection of the environment are currently on the front pages of all media outlets as the effects of the BP offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico challenge private and public entities to develop solutions for this and other related consequences. Among the many legislative solutions being proposed, here are three examples:

• California SJR 17 , relating to greenhouse gases, was enacted on April 26, 2010 to reaffirm the Legislature’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gases in California to 1990 levels by year 2020, while AB 32 of 2006, Governor Schwarzenegger’s climate law, will be challenged in November in a proposition to block full implementation of AB 32’s greenhouse gas regulations.

• Ohio Sub. H. B. No. 382 , pending as of March 11, 2010 for House Third consideration, provides immunity from liability for eligible landowners who provide access to abandoned mine land or land impacted by an abandoned mine or to a water resource located on the landowner's land for purposes of reclamation or water pollution abatement, provides immunity from liability for nonprofit organizations that provide funding or service for such reclamation or water pollution abatement, and designates that methane gas emitted from an abandoned coal mine constitutes a renewable energy resource. An amendment is planned to categorize methane gas as an advanced energy source.

• Hawaii SB 2782 , now before the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations, proposes a constitutional amendment banning the construction of new petroleum, coal, and nuclear power plants within the State without the approval of two-thirds of each house of the legislature.

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State Legislatures Focus on Immigration

Immigration: Arizona through its recent immigration bill (SB 1070 ) was not the only state considering immigration legislation. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures , recently 45 state legislatures have considered 1,180 bills and resolutions relating to illegal immigration. The following are only a few examples:

• South Carolina H4919 , entitled the “Illegal Aliens Enforcement” bill, was introduced on April 29, 2010 and is before the House Committee on Judiciary. This bill seeks to provide for procedures for verification of a person’s immigration status under certain circumstances and to provide for the warrantless arrest of persons suspected of being present in the U.S. unlawfully; creating the offense of willful failure to complete or carry an alien registration document; and to create the offense of unlawfully hiring and picking up workers at different locations while impeding traffic, among other changes.

• Pennsylvania H.B. 2479 was introduced on May 5, 2010 as the “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act,” is intended to make attrition through enforcement the public policy of all agencies of the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions and to work together to discourage and deter the unlawful entry, presence and economic activity, by persons unlawfully present in the U.S. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the authors of this bill intend to “follow Arizona’s lead and ‘protect its borders and citizens’ by giving local and state police more power to arrest, detain and eventually deport foreigners who have entered the state illegally and don’t have proper registration papers.”

• Idaho SB 1271 , which cleared Idaho’s Senate committee in March, takes aim at employment of undocumented immigrants by prohibiting the manufacture of false identification and use of false identification by all persons to obtain employment and by providing criminal sanctions for employers who knowingly employ person using false identification.

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