January 28, 2020
Yesterday was a big day in Virginia for school employees.
Three of VEA’s priority bills passed the Senate with bipartisan support, and
Delegate Guzman’s HB582, which would establish a State Labor Relations Board
and allow public sector employees to collectively bargain, passed the full
House Labor and Commerce on a 12-9, party-line vote.
SB98 from Senator Mamie Locke restores teacher probation to
three years. This legislation came directly from a New Business Item at the
2019 VEA Convention. This legislation reverses one piece of the damage done
under the Bob McDonnell administration during their attack on due process for
teachers. We were excited to see good friends on both sides of the aisle vote
in favor of this legislation. It passed 25-15 and will head to the House of
Delegates. We do have a House companion to the bill (HB365 Carroll Foy) that
passed the House Education Subcommittee on PK-12 and will be in the full
committee on Wednesday. Here is the vote from SB98, a YEA vote was the RIGHT
vote:
YEAS--Barker, Bell, Boysko, Chafin, Cosgrove, Deeds, Ebbin,
Edwards, Favola, Hashmi, Howell, Lewis, Locke, Lucas, Marsden, Mason,
McClellan, McPike, Morrissey, Petersen, Pillion, Saslaw, Spruill, Surovell,
Vogel--25.
NAYS--Chase, DeSteph, Dunnavant, Hanger, Kiggans, McDougle,
Newman, Norment, Obenshain, Peake, Reeves, Ruff, Stanley, Stuart,
Suetterlein--15.
Thank you to Senators Chafin, Cosgrove, Pillion, Vogel for
breaking with the Republican Caucus to vote in favor of the bill.
SB167 from Senator Barbara Favola would remove the language
in Code that allows for a single unsatisfactory evaluation to be used to
declare a teacher incompetent and be fired. That language was also added in
2013 during the attack in teachers. Again, we had Republicans break from their caucus
to vote with us on this bill. A YEA vote was the right vote:
YEAS--Barker, Bell, Boysko, Deeds, Ebbin, Edwards, Favola,
Hashmi, Howell, Lewis, Locke, Lucas, Marsden, Mason, McClellan, McPike,
Morrissey, Petersen, Pillion, Saslaw, Spruill, Surovell, Vogel--23.
NAYS--Chafin, Chase, Cosgrove, DeSteph, Dunnavant, Hanger,
Kiggans, McDougle, Newman, Norment, Obenshain, Peake, Reeves, Ruff, Stanley,
Stuart, Suetterlein--17.
Thank you, again, to Senators Vogel and Pillion for voting
with us on this legislation. The House companion bill (HB570 Guzman) is in the
full House Education Committee after passing the subcommittee on a party-line
vote.
SB377 from Senator John Bell restores the option of a three-person
panel in teacher grievance cases. This option was stripped from teachers in the
2013 attack. Senator John Bell has a long history of working hard to reverse
the 2013 action. As a member of the House of Delegates, John Bell filed this
legislation every year even when the Republicans in the House would reprimand
him. He is a true champion for us on this issue. Th bill passed the Senate on a
23-17 vote. A YEA vote was the right vote:
YEAS--Barker, Bell, Boysko, Deeds, Ebbin, Edwards, Favola,
Hashmi, Howell, Lewis, Locke, Lucas, Marsden, Mason, McClellan, McPike,
Morrissey, Norment, Petersen, Saslaw, Spruill, Surovell, Vogel--23.
NAYS--Chafin, Chase, Cosgrove, DeSteph, Dunnavant, Hanger,
Kiggans, McDougle, Newman, Obenshain, Peake, Pillion, Reeves, Ruff, Stanley,
Stuart, Suetterlein--17.
Thank you to Senators Vogel and Norment for voting with us!
The other huge news was HB582, Delegate Elizabeth Guzman’s
Collective Bargaining for Public Sector Employees, was up in the full House
Labor and Commerce Committee. Of the 21 members on that committee, 11 Democrats
are co-patrons on the bill, so passage was certain. The bill was reported and
referred to the House Appropriations Committee since there is a $1.5 million
fiscal impact on the state. That funding supports the newly formed State Labor
Relations Board. In other good news, Delegate Levine’s HB327, rolled into
HB582. HB327 did not include a framework to support collective bargaining, so
we were glad to see it rolled in. A YEA vote was the right vote:
YEAS--Ward, Sullivan, Kory, Keam, Lopez, Bagby, Heretick,
Mullin, Bourne, Guzman, Ayala, Gooditis--12.
NAYS--Kilgore, Byron, Ware, Marshall, Wilt, Webert, Ransone,
O'Quinn, Head--9.
ABSTENTIONS--0.
NOT VOTING--Lindsey--1.
It is time to put pressure on the Senators who are on the
Commerce and Labor Committee. We need them to support the Senate version of the
bill (SB1022 Boysko). You can click on the names of the Senators to get their
contact information. Calls are best. Tell them you are a public sector employee
and ask them to SUPPORT SB1022.
Saslaw(Chair), Norment, Newman, Obenshain, Lucas, Spruill, Edwards, Deeds, Barker, Marsden, Ebbin, Lewis, Surovell, Mason, Bell
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