Post by TonyV on Mar 12, 2018 11:30:16 GMT -5
There is a new post published on the UAWLAP.org Site.
Details of the post follow.
Recap of the Legislative Week by Senator Morgan McGarvey
It has been a real show.
Looked at one way, the 2018 General Assembly has been a series of wrestling
matches between public employees and proponents of a pension plan, that was
approved by a Senate committee this week but may not have enough votes to pass
the full chamber.
And, as the sage Jesse Ventura said, “Wrestling is ballet, with violence.”
What we have been doing is wrestling, with words.
As Senate Bill (SB) 1 was being debated, throngs in the halls and catcalls in
committee rooms would have done justice to a 1950s wrestling crowd, jammed in a
gym to see Baron Michele Leone break Gorgeous George “like a flower.”
Of course, what is at stake in Frankfort is serious business – the economic
security of public employees, government’s ability to recruit talent, and the
viability of our state budget.
I do not approach the pension problem as an absolutist, nor do I think we are
pressed to the mat with no way out of the hold it has on us. There are
solutions, beginning with new revenue which we could grab from several sources
including comprehensive tax reform, expanded gaming, and medicinal marijuana,
all of which I have been pushing for a long time. The pension system also needs
structural change to make it workable over time. The question is how we get
there from where we are.
As this legislative session began, political pros were predicting that
Republican leaders, powered by supermajorities in both chambers, would push
their pension plan to victory like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin muscling Bret
“the Hitman” Hart to the mat. It didn't work out that way. As of today,
they still didn’t have enough votes to brave bringing it to the floor. (I’m
exposing my brief love of mid-90s wrestling. For you non-fans, Austin is a
grappling great whose signature signoff was, “And that’s the BOTTOM LINE,
because Stone Cold SAID SO!”)
Marcus Aurelius said the “art of living is more like wrestling than
dancing.” So is the art of governing.
This pension thing has been a fight, not a fox-trot.
My problems with Senate Bill 1 are not small things. There is no revenue in the
proposal, which is the only sure-fire way we have to fix the current unfunded
liability. There is no real security in it for teachers, because there is no
inviolable contract going forward (just ask the other state employees – we
made them a similar promise five years ago that we are stripping out in this
pension bill). There is a basic unfairness in cutting cost-of-living adjustments
that teachers were led to expect and asked to pre-fund. And, it is fundamentally
wrong to pick teachers’ pockets for money to fix the pension problems while
threatening to pass a budget bill that could jack up their rates for health
insurance. So I voted no in committee. I hope something better will emerge.
Hope is justified. Good things do happen in Frankfort.
As the run-up to the pension battle continued, we finally cleared a much-needed
child marriage bill. Shelved temporarily for changes, an improved Senate Bill
48, introduced by Senator Julie Raque Adams, was sent to the House by a vote of
34-3. It will prevent all marriages involving an individual age 16 or under.
Those 17 could be married with the approval of parents and a judge, but not if
one of the partners is more than four years older than the other.
This measure was strongly supported by advocates who point to instances of
underage girls being coerced into unwanted relationships that amount to
emotional and psychological abuse. I voted yes.
More good news: My proposal to tighten the rules governing conduct of athletic
agents was approved unanimously in committee. Anyone who reads the sports pages
will know why Senate Bill 228 is needed. High school stars and their
often-financially-stressed families too often are preyed upon by individuals
with money to offer, in exchange for guiding them toward certain campuses or
signing them up with endorsement-hungry shoe companies. My bill will join
Kentucky with eight other states in the effort to curb these abuses. More states
are expected to follow.
Here are other one-sided decisions, demonstrating that we can work together:
· A proposal to mandate insurance coverage for medically
necessary fertility preservation (Senate Bill 95) passed 34-3. Who could be
against helping women in health crises preserve their ability to have a baby?
Senate Bill 149, establishing a state palliative care regulatory program, was
approved 36-0. The penalties for sex crimes against those with intellectual
disabilities would be raised one degree by Senate Bill 19, which cleared the
Senate 37-0.
· If you doubt that decisions in Frankfort have an impact on
your daily life, consider Senate Bill 117, which would force all relevant groups
to become members of the “811” consortium that responds when homeowners call
about a proposed dig on their property. If you think calling to have the
underground lines through your yard marked before the bulldozer begins its work,
think about the fact that 1,600 gas lines were ruptured in Kentucky last year by
excavation. I was one of the 28 who voted yes. There were 10 no votes.
As I mentioned earlier, I remain positive, even though it is day 46 of the
60-day session and we still have not overcome the two big challenges – pension
and budget. We just have to keep at the task. I try to remember what Robert
Strauss said about governing: “It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You
don't quit when you're tired - you quit when the gorilla is tired.”
I hope this session is not remembered as one in which we quit. Let us keep
working – together – to find funding, make changes, and improve the outlook
for pensions and budget.
Someone once said that everything you want is on the other side of fear. Unless
the Senate and House get over their fear of raising new revenue, we will never
solve the pension problem, and we will never have the kind of state government
we want and need.
That’s the bottom line, whether I say so or not.
Link to the post:
uawlap.org/uaw/recap-of-the-legislative-week-by-senator-morgan-mcgarvey-4.php
Link to UAWLAP.org: uawlap.org
Details of the post follow.
Recap of the Legislative Week by Senator Morgan McGarvey
It has been a real show.
Looked at one way, the 2018 General Assembly has been a series of wrestling
matches between public employees and proponents of a pension plan, that was
approved by a Senate committee this week but may not have enough votes to pass
the full chamber.
And, as the sage Jesse Ventura said, “Wrestling is ballet, with violence.”
What we have been doing is wrestling, with words.
As Senate Bill (SB) 1 was being debated, throngs in the halls and catcalls in
committee rooms would have done justice to a 1950s wrestling crowd, jammed in a
gym to see Baron Michele Leone break Gorgeous George “like a flower.”
Of course, what is at stake in Frankfort is serious business – the economic
security of public employees, government’s ability to recruit talent, and the
viability of our state budget.
I do not approach the pension problem as an absolutist, nor do I think we are
pressed to the mat with no way out of the hold it has on us. There are
solutions, beginning with new revenue which we could grab from several sources
including comprehensive tax reform, expanded gaming, and medicinal marijuana,
all of which I have been pushing for a long time. The pension system also needs
structural change to make it workable over time. The question is how we get
there from where we are.
As this legislative session began, political pros were predicting that
Republican leaders, powered by supermajorities in both chambers, would push
their pension plan to victory like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin muscling Bret
“the Hitman” Hart to the mat. It didn't work out that way. As of today,
they still didn’t have enough votes to brave bringing it to the floor. (I’m
exposing my brief love of mid-90s wrestling. For you non-fans, Austin is a
grappling great whose signature signoff was, “And that’s the BOTTOM LINE,
because Stone Cold SAID SO!”)
Marcus Aurelius said the “art of living is more like wrestling than
dancing.” So is the art of governing.
This pension thing has been a fight, not a fox-trot.
My problems with Senate Bill 1 are not small things. There is no revenue in the
proposal, which is the only sure-fire way we have to fix the current unfunded
liability. There is no real security in it for teachers, because there is no
inviolable contract going forward (just ask the other state employees – we
made them a similar promise five years ago that we are stripping out in this
pension bill). There is a basic unfairness in cutting cost-of-living adjustments
that teachers were led to expect and asked to pre-fund. And, it is fundamentally
wrong to pick teachers’ pockets for money to fix the pension problems while
threatening to pass a budget bill that could jack up their rates for health
insurance. So I voted no in committee. I hope something better will emerge.
Hope is justified. Good things do happen in Frankfort.
As the run-up to the pension battle continued, we finally cleared a much-needed
child marriage bill. Shelved temporarily for changes, an improved Senate Bill
48, introduced by Senator Julie Raque Adams, was sent to the House by a vote of
34-3. It will prevent all marriages involving an individual age 16 or under.
Those 17 could be married with the approval of parents and a judge, but not if
one of the partners is more than four years older than the other.
This measure was strongly supported by advocates who point to instances of
underage girls being coerced into unwanted relationships that amount to
emotional and psychological abuse. I voted yes.
More good news: My proposal to tighten the rules governing conduct of athletic
agents was approved unanimously in committee. Anyone who reads the sports pages
will know why Senate Bill 228 is needed. High school stars and their
often-financially-stressed families too often are preyed upon by individuals
with money to offer, in exchange for guiding them toward certain campuses or
signing them up with endorsement-hungry shoe companies. My bill will join
Kentucky with eight other states in the effort to curb these abuses. More states
are expected to follow.
Here are other one-sided decisions, demonstrating that we can work together:
· A proposal to mandate insurance coverage for medically
necessary fertility preservation (Senate Bill 95) passed 34-3. Who could be
against helping women in health crises preserve their ability to have a baby?
Senate Bill 149, establishing a state palliative care regulatory program, was
approved 36-0. The penalties for sex crimes against those with intellectual
disabilities would be raised one degree by Senate Bill 19, which cleared the
Senate 37-0.
· If you doubt that decisions in Frankfort have an impact on
your daily life, consider Senate Bill 117, which would force all relevant groups
to become members of the “811” consortium that responds when homeowners call
about a proposed dig on their property. If you think calling to have the
underground lines through your yard marked before the bulldozer begins its work,
think about the fact that 1,600 gas lines were ruptured in Kentucky last year by
excavation. I was one of the 28 who voted yes. There were 10 no votes.
As I mentioned earlier, I remain positive, even though it is day 46 of the
60-day session and we still have not overcome the two big challenges – pension
and budget. We just have to keep at the task. I try to remember what Robert
Strauss said about governing: “It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You
don't quit when you're tired - you quit when the gorilla is tired.”
I hope this session is not remembered as one in which we quit. Let us keep
working – together – to find funding, make changes, and improve the outlook
for pensions and budget.
Someone once said that everything you want is on the other side of fear. Unless
the Senate and House get over their fear of raising new revenue, we will never
solve the pension problem, and we will never have the kind of state government
we want and need.
That’s the bottom line, whether I say so or not.
Link to the post:
uawlap.org/uaw/recap-of-the-legislative-week-by-senator-morgan-mcgarvey-4.php
Link to UAWLAP.org: uawlap.org