BAC Elected Officials Advance Important Issues

BAC members have a track record of supporting candidates who support working families In last year’s election, they had the opportunity to vote for fellow members. Here’s a quick look at four BAC members who make the business of government their business:

Minnesota

Retired Local 1 MN Business Agent and State Senator Don Samuelson.

In Minnesota, members helped re-elect Don Samuelson to the State Senate, where he also holds a key leadership post as President of the Senate. The Brainerd Democrat and recently retired BAC Local 1 Minnesota Business Agent serves on key Senate committees such as health, commerce, the environment, and human resources. Samuelson has been a member of the State legislature since his election to the House in 1968. He was elected to the Senate in 1982, and is currently serving his fifth term. His areas of expertise include state finance, health care, and insurance. According to Senator Samuelson, “My priorities are to provide affordable property taxes to senior citizens in our State, as well as health care to all citizens. As author of the Minnesota prevailing wage rate for construction workers, I am constantly fighting off Republican efforts to repeal this 1974 Law.”

Indiana

Local 4 IN/KY Field Representative Vern Tincher retained his State House seat in November 2000 election.

November 2000 was a very good month for Local 4 Indiana/Kentucky Field Representative Vern Tincher, Local 4 members, and the residents of Indiana’s District 46 which takes in Owen, Clay, Monroe, and Vigo counties. In the fall election, Tincher retained the Indiana House seat he has held since 1996, and before that, from 1982 to 1994. He is currently on the House Judiciary, and Ways and Means Committees. “One of my legislative goals is to insure that the State uses our skilled union crafts and union contractors on state building projects. Protecting the provisions of our state prevailing wage law on public works projects is also very important,” says Representative Tincher.

Wisconsin

WI State Senator and Local 6 WI member Russ Decker.

Local 6 Wisconsin member Russ Decker gives voice to Union members as an elected State Senator. Representing the state’s 29th District in central Wisconsin, Decker brings a union perspective to his office. Decker serves on the Senate’s Finance, Labor, and Economic Development Committees. Elected to the State Senate in 1990, the Athens, Wisconsin native remains active in the Union by serving on his Local’s Joint Apprenticeship Committee, and working with his tools during extended Senate recesses. According to Senator Decker, “My top legislative priority is containment of health care costs. Hospital rates, for example, continue to skyrocket at two and three times the rate of inflation. The hospitals in Wisconsin made $396 million in profit last year, and they’re all not-for-profit. I want to put them under a review commission so that they have to justify their increases and the consumer gets a break.”

New York

NY State Senator George Onorato and member of Local 1 NY.

State Senator, BAC Local 1 member, and former Local Union officer George Onorato represents New York State’s 14th District located in Queens. Onorato has served as a State Senator since 1983 and is the ranking Democrat on the Senate’s Labor Committee. In addition to fighting for the rights of workers and unions, Onorato is an advocate for consumers, veterans, and senior citizens. A native of Astoria, N.Y., Onorato was Secretary-Treasurer of former Local 41 New York from 1968 until his election to State office. When asked about his current legislative priorities, Senator Onorato points to “minimum wage enhancement, farmworker rights, and workers’ compensation benefit increases.”

“An increase in the state’s minimum wage would benefit the poorest families and would have a manifest impact on the financial security of those persons who are presently considered to be members of the working poor,” says Onorato.