Click here for the latest DAEA Newsletter

Memorandum

TO: State Affiliate Presidents State Affiliate Executive Directors

FROM: Dennis Van Roekel, President John Wilson, Executive Director

Today, the Senate passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by a vote of 61-37. The bill includes the compromise provisions agreed to under the Nelson-Collins amendment.

Action now shifts to the conference committee, which will be working out differences between the House and Senate bills. We expect the conference to move quickly and a final bill to be back on the House and Senate floors possibly by the end of the week. The bill will then go to President Obama for his signature.

Immediate Action Needed:

Contact all Members of Congress and urge them to support education funding levels closer to the House-passed version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Specifically the final agreement should:

Include the House-passed funding for school modernization grants (House has $20 billion in state grants, Senate has $0)

Provide as much as possible for the State Stabilization Fund (House has $79 billion, Senate has $39 billion)

Include the House-passed funding level for Title I (House has $13 billion, Senate has $12.4 billion)

Include the House increase for Pell Grants (House has $16 billion to boost the maximum award by $500 to $5,250, Senate has $14 billion to boost the maximum Pell Grant by $400 to $5,250)

Retain the $13 billion provided for special education in both the House and Senate version.

Engage your members in contacting all Members of Congress. The simple message: Provide as much funding for education as possible in the final economic recovery bill, including school modernization and state fiscal relief.

Continue to work with governors and state legislators in pushing for the economic recovery package. If you have any state legislators who are NEA members, we encourage you to engage them in this fight.

Determine how many education-related layoffs and spending cuts your state is facing and continue to share that information with Diane Shust, your governors, and Members of Congress.

Continue to work with NEA on media outreach. State communications staff will receive today in a separate e-mail a number of tools to facilitate media work.

If you have any questions about the legislation, please contact Diane Shust, NEA Director of Government Relations, at dshust@nea.org. Questions about our media efforts can be directed to Andy Linebaugh, NEA Director of Public Relations, at alinebaugh@nea.org.

Thank you for your continued invaluable assistance.

Act NOW for statewide health care
House Bill 1841introduced by Rep. Dan Surra and 57 other members of the Pennsylvania House of Representativesestablishes the mechanism for statewide health care for public school employees. The House Education Committee voted overwhelmingly in support of the bill. Now we need your help to ensure that the bill is considered by the full House of Representatives as soon as possible following the Legislatures return to session on March 10. HB 1841 is essential to ensure that public school employees and their familiesPSEA and other union membershave affordable, quality health care.

Think about it.... No more contract impasses over the cost of rising health care and who has to pay for it. All of our education employees in one health care plan. School districts could save administrative costs related to their health care plans, applying those savings to programs and staffing.

Your voice is necessary to educate legislators and to keep HB 1841 moving through the legislative process!

What you can do to support statewide health care:

1) Visit your state representative in the district office before March 10 (when the Legislature returns to Harrisburg for session).

2) E-mail or call the district office in support of HB 1841 if you cant schedule the visit. If you e-mail your representative, please also cc: your state senator. (Although the Senate companion bill to HB 1841, Senate Bill 1140, is not currently moving in the Senate, it is important to keep senators informed about why they should support statewide health care.) You can easily e-mail your legislators from PSEAs online Legislative Action Center at http://capwiz.com/psea/home.

Talking points on HB 1841 for your visit or contact:

House Bill 1841 could save taxpayers millions of dollars. PSEA estimates a 7%-20% cost savings if HB 1841 is enacted.

Over the past decade, the increases in health insurance premiums have far outpaced inflation. By placing the Commonwealths public school employees in a single risk pool, the increases on a year-to-year basis can be significantly lowered.

These savings will free up local tax dollars that can be used for educational programs.

A statewide health care system would remove one of the most contentious issues from the bargaining table. This would mean fewer strikes.

The legislation sets up a board to study potential cost savings and to make recommendations on how to set up the new system. It does not mandate any one particular system, but rather establishes a board that will evaluate options based on cost savings and quality of benefits.