Harris Picks Walz
1. Harris Selects a VP
Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate for the upcoming presidential election, aiming to enhance the Democratic ticket’s appeal in the Midwest. Walz, 60, is a military veteran and former U.S. Representative who has served as governor since 2019. Before entering politics, he spent a decade as a public school teacher and was an active union member.
2. Equal Rights Amendment
In November, New York voters will decide on Proposition 1, an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the state constitution, which aims to expand anti-discrimination protections by including provisions related to gender identity and reproductive health care autonomy, including the right to abortion. The amendment faced legal challenges when a lower court removed it from the ballot due to a procedural error by state lawmakers. However, a panel of midlevel appellate judges reinstated it, ruling that the plaintiffs had missed the deadline to file their lawsuit. The New York Court of Appeals declined to hear an appeal, ensuring the amendment’s place on the ballot. While there are concerns about the ballot language’s clarity, the legal hurdles have been cleared, allowing voters to cast their vote on this amendment. CSEA is supportive of the ERA.
3. Legislative Highlight: Updating Civil Service Exams
In each issue, we’ll be highlighting one of CSEA’s legislative victories from this past session. This week, we’re highlighting S.8551/A.9349, which requires the New York State Department of Civil Service to review and update civil service exams every five years.
The civil service system is designed to ensure that hiring and promotional decisions are based on merit and fitness. For this system to work, the questions posed by these exams must effectively evaluate candidates on the skills and abilities required for each job. However, the public sector workforce is constantly adapting to technological advances, an increasing demand for services, and more. As a result, the skills and abilities required to be effective in a civil service job are subject to change. This bill ensures that the civil service system is equally adaptive by requiring that civil service exams questions be reassessed every five years to reflect these changing needs.
This bill passed both houses of the State Legislature and is awaiting delivery to Governor Hochul.
4. Project 2025: Impact on Unions
The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 is the policy playbook for a second Trump administration. This sprawling 800+ page proposal would fundamentally alter the way the federal government functions. This week, we’re highlighting some of the document’s proposals that would hurt public sector unions. The document says that the next Republican administration should:
- Disband public sector unions, saying, “Congress should consider whether public-sector unions are appropriate in the first place.” [p.81]
- “Prioritize performance over seniority when deciding who should be retained following reductions-in-force” [p.81]
- “Prevent union representatives from engaging in union activity on government time”[p.81]
These are just a few examples of the negative impacts that Project 2025 would have on CSEA members. In each issue, we’ll be highlighting additional areas of concern. To read the full document, click here. You can also view and share our Project 2025 fliers, here.
5. Next Week
For the summer, This Week in Albany will be published every two weeks. The next edition will be in your inbox on August 23.
6. CSEA Legislative Toolkit
We’re encouraging members to get the word out about our union’s legislative successes. Click the icons below for informational documents that you can print, share, and post on social media to spread the news. You can also check out CSEA’s summary of the 2024-2025 Enacted Budget here.
Tier 6 Reform:
Ambulance Direct Payments:
Bumping, Retreating and Rehiring Rights:
Civil Service Exam Announcements:
School Workplace Violence Prevention Programs:
Counting Provisional Time Toward Probation: