Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Walters: New State Budget a Windfall for Unions
dan_walters
By Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary
Published 5 years ago on
July 4, 2019

Share

The state budget package Democratic legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom just enacted is sprinkled with billions of dollars in extra goodies for their most important political constituency, labor unions.


Dan Walters
CALmatters

Take, for example, Senate Bill 90, the budget’s omnibus education measure. It would allocate $3.1 billion to reduce mandatory payments that local school districts would otherwise have to make to the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) and the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS).
CalPERS has been ramping up mandatory contributions from school districts and local governments to deal with tens of billions of dollars in unfunded pension liabilities. Former Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature rescued STRS from its similar situation by requiring the state, teachers and school districts contribute more.
By reducing those payments, the appropriations would put that much additional money on the table for school salary negotiations. It bails out districts, such as Los Angeles Unified, Oakland Unified and Sacramento Unified, that have dug deep financial holes by overspending and underwrites salary negotiations in other districts.
Another budget trailer bill, Senate Bill 75, provides $36 million to help pay non-teaching school employees during summer vacations – in effect, extra pay for the unionized workers.

Similar to What Happened a Couple of Decades Ago

SB 75 also allocates $10 million to create records on childcare workers, with the stated goal of making it easier for the Service Employees International Union or some other labor organization to organize them in the future.
The state is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into expanding what’s called “early childhood education” and unions see the child care industry as ripe for unionization.
It’s similar to what happened a couple of decades ago when workers who care for the elderly and disabled under the federal-state In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program were designated as employees who could be unionized.
Speaking of which, still another budget trailer bill, Senate Bill 80, would impose financial penalties on counties that don’t reach a contract agreement with IHSS worker unions, thus giving them leverage in negotiations.
The biggest labor bill of the year, however, is not attached to the budget. Assembly Bill 5 would lock into law a ruling by the state Supreme Court that several million workers who have been treated as contractors must become payroll employees with the attendant benefits and, of course, the potential to be unionized.

Assemblywoman Gonzalez Has Agreed to Only a Few

Unions sought the ruling, saying workers misclassified as contractors were being exploited, citing drivers for on-call transportation services such as Uber and Lyft as examples.

Lorena Gozalez, a Democrat from San Diego and a former union official, moved the bill through the Assembly easily, but its fate in the state Senate is uncertain.
The measure has touched off furious efforts by affected employers, and sometimes their contract workers, for exemptions but the author of AB 5, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, has agreed to only a few.
Gozalez, a Democrat from San Diego and a former union official, moved the bill through the Assembly easily, but its fate in the state Senate is uncertain. That said, she has a powerful lever because if the Legislature doesn’t act, the Supreme Court ruling’s three-factor test for who’s an employee and who’s not remains in effect.
While a Legislature dominated by Democrats makes its bias for union organization quite obvious, there is one notable exception.
Assembly Bill 969, also carried by Gonzalez, would allow the Legislature’s own workers to become union members. It didn’t even receive an initial hearing in the Assembly’s labor committee.
It’s a stark example, not the first, of the Legislature’s penchant for imposing obligations on others while exempting itself.
CALmatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.
[activecampaign form=19]

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Musk, Vivek Will Form Outside Group to Advise White House on Government Efficiency

DON'T MISS

Fate of Clovis Trustee Race Still Up in the Air. So Are Clovis, Sanger School Bond Measures.

DON'T MISS

Richardson Widens Lead Over Bonakdar in Nail-Biting Race for Fresno City Council

DON'T MISS

What to Know About John Ratcliffe, Trump’s Pick for CIA Director

DON'T MISS

Here Are the People Trump Has Picked for Key Positions So Far

DON'T MISS

Waymo’s Robotaxis Now Open to Anyone Who Wants a Driverless Ride in Los Angeles

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Man Accused of Filing Fake Disability Claims in $300K Fraud Scheme

DON'T MISS

Trump Nominates Fox News Host Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary

DON'T MISS

Economists Warn of Inflation and Debt Risks in Trump’s Second Term Plans

DON'T MISS

How Many Smoke Shops Is Too Many? Fresno Plan Would Allow Only 49

UP NEXT

How Democrats Helped Trump

UP NEXT

Newsom Uses a Stunt to Position Himself as a Leader of Anti-Trump Resistance

UP NEXT

In Deep Blue California, Voters Don’t Always March to Dem Drums

UP NEXT

How Harris Lost Will Be Her Legacy

UP NEXT

Trump, Musk and an American Masculinity Crisis

UP NEXT

Let’s Keep Innovative Partnerships Crucial to Combating Climate Change: Fresno Dairy Manager

UP NEXT

No Matter the Outcome, We Are the True Losers of This Election

UP NEXT

California’s Transition Off Carbon Fuels Could Be a Monumental Disaster

UP NEXT

Don’t Let Liberal Purity Elect Trump

UP NEXT

Newsom Provides Welfare to the Wealthy, Skimps on Anti-Homelessness Programs

What to Know About John Ratcliffe, Trump’s Pick for CIA Director

6 hours ago

Here Are the People Trump Has Picked for Key Positions So Far

6 hours ago

Waymo’s Robotaxis Now Open to Anyone Who Wants a Driverless Ride in Los Angeles

6 hours ago

Fresno County Man Accused of Filing Fake Disability Claims in $300K Fraud Scheme

7 hours ago

Trump Nominates Fox News Host Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary

7 hours ago

Economists Warn of Inflation and Debt Risks in Trump’s Second Term Plans

7 hours ago

How Many Smoke Shops Is Too Many? Fresno Plan Would Allow Only 49

7 hours ago

US Says It Will Not Limit Israel Arms Transfers After Some Improvements in Flow of Aid to Gaza

7 hours ago

Who With Valley Ties Could Land Spots in the Trump Administration?

8 hours ago

Tulare Gang Member Gets Life Without Parole for 2022 Murders

9 hours ago

Trump Says Musk, Vivek Will Form Outside Group to Advise White House on Government Efficiency

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new “D...

5 hours ago

5 hours ago

Trump Says Musk, Vivek Will Form Outside Group to Advise White House on Government Efficiency

5 hours ago

Fate of Clovis Trustee Race Still Up in the Air. So Are Clovis, Sanger School Bond Measures.

6 hours ago

Richardson Widens Lead Over Bonakdar in Nail-Biting Race for Fresno City Council

6 hours ago

What to Know About John Ratcliffe, Trump’s Pick for CIA Director

6 hours ago

Here Are the People Trump Has Picked for Key Positions So Far

6 hours ago

Waymo’s Robotaxis Now Open to Anyone Who Wants a Driverless Ride in Los Angeles

A Fresno County man has been indicted on mail fraud charges for allegedly submitting over $300,000 in falsified disability claims using stolen identities. (GV Wire File)
7 hours ago

Fresno County Man Accused of Filing Fake Disability Claims in $300K Fraud Scheme

Pete Hegseth walks to an elevator for a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York, Dec. 15, 2016. (AP File)
7 hours ago

Trump Nominates Fox News Host Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary

Search

Send this to a friend