Senate Begins Debate on Public Safety Collective Bargaining Bill

On Tuesday, May 13, the Senate began what looked like a promising debate of the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act (H.R. 980), a bipartisan bill that will guarantee that law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical service workers in all 50 states have the right to discuss workplace issues with their employers.   The bill provides a framework for such discussions, while respecting the right and flexibility of states to write their own laws for public sector workers.  Importantly, H.R. 980 prohibits strikes and does not call for mandatory arbitration.  States that offer equal or greater collective bargaining rights will be exempt from this federal statute.  This legislation will not overturn current collective bargaining laws – it will only provide basic collective bargaining rights to those who currently do not have them.

During the debate of H.R. 980, however, the bill was unfortunately caught up in partisan politics.  The Republicans pushed their minority right to amend the bill, but took incredible steps to do so by offering non-germane amendments – specifically a veteran’s benefits proposal – and poison pill amendments to the bill.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) became furious with these tactics and on Wednesday evening, May 14, he made a motion to end debate on H.R. 980. 

Upon hearing this, NAPO took action.  We knew we did not have enough votes to win cloture and that the vote would mean the defeat of H.R. 980.   NAPO reached out to both Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to urge them to come to an agreement so that debate could continue on the bill in a fair and timely manner.  On Thursday night, May 15, Senators McConnell and Reid had a colloquy on the Senate floor regarding the need to come to an agreement and move forward with debate on the Collective Bargaining bill.  Consequently, Senator Reid cancelled the cloture vote that was scheduled for May 16. 

However, Senator Michael Enzi of Wyoming is proving to be a much more difficult hurdle to get over.  He has offered several amendments, all of them poison pills aimed at killing the bill, and he has not been willing to come to an agreement or compromise on the number of amendments to be debated.  Nonetheless, after the dialogue between Senators Reid and McConnell on the Senate floor, we are very hopeful that we will reach a deal with Senator Enzi.

NAPO expects debate to continue on H.R. 980 the week of May 19, after the Senate works on the emergency war supplemental bill, which has legislative priority over H.R. 980 under Senate rules.  If we do not hit any more obstacles in the road, it could be possible that we have a final vote on H.R. 980 before Congress leaves for Memorial Day Recess.  If we are able to pass the bill, the next hurdle will be overcoming a Presidential Veto. 

On Thursday, May 8, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff signed a letter to Senate leadership raising concerns regarding H.R. 980.  On May 13, the White House followed this letter with a veto threat in a Statement of Administration Policy.  NAPO has sent a letter to all Senators addressing the administration's concerns, urging them not be mislead by the arguments and to support this important legislation.  Please find the administration’s letter and NAPO's response letter to the Senate linked below. 

NAPO firmly believes that the public safety is best protected through effective partnerships between first responders on the front lines and the agencies that employ them.  H.R. 980 will ensure that all public safety officers have the opportunity to meet with local officials to discuss how they do their jobs and how best to protect the public. In July of last year, NAPO finally got the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act passed by the House - the first time in the 13 years we've been fighting for its passage that the House has passed the bill.  As the fight continues in the Senate, NAPO is doing everything in its power to ensure passage of this important bill in order that all public safety officers are granted the right to collectively bargain.

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Andy Mournighan, NAPO’s Government Affairs Director, at (703) 549-0775.  With your help, we can give all public safety officers the right to collectively bargain and end this 13-year fight.