The House Veterans Affairs Committee May 8 passed a bill that would pave the way for a wholesale privatization of the VA.
H.R. 5476 passed the House VA Committee by a 20-2 margin, with Ranking Member Tim Walz and Vice Ranking Member Mark Takano voting against the measure. It will now go to the House Rules Committee and on to the House Floor for consideration.
AFGE opposes the bill because it would:
AFGE sent a letter to the committee prior to the markup voicing our opposition. We submitted seven recommendations, including holding private providers to the same standards for patient care as VA’s in-house providers, but they were rejected. The committee, however, agreed to require the VA to be more transparent about the number of unfilled positions.
“It is imperative that we not starve the VA for resources and kowtow to the Koch Brothers scheme to dismantle the crown jewel of the American health care system,” AFGE said in the May 7 letter.
A discovery that remote workers at an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) facility in Ann Arbor, Mich., were about to get kicked out of the bargaining unit led an AFGE local to spring into action and save the employees’ workplace rights.
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Representatives of the AFGE Law Enforcement Officers Steering Committee were invited to the White House to attend a presentation of the Medal of Valor on May 17 during National Police Week.
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AFGE is proud to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month!
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