DeLay issues mea culpa on pro-union past

Part of Gunner DeLay’s challenge in capturing the GOP primary for the 3rd Congressional District is to convince Republican voters that his attempts to pass pro-union legislation while a state Senator was a well-intentioned mistake.

And DeLay, a Fort Smith attorney who previously worked for a law firm that handles workers’ compensation claims for employees of area businesses and corporations, says his mea culpa on the issue of his 2001 legislative filings is satisfying the concerns of the business community.

Part of DeLay’s effort to assuage concerns about his past union stance is found on his campaign Web site, where he states his opposition to Card Check — “This legislation would allow union bosses to know how each worker votes when deciding to unionize. Not only is this concept un-American, it will kill jobs.”

In a note to The City Wire, DeLay added: “As 3rd District Congressman, I will fiercely oppose card check legislation and will work for reduced taxes and regulation on all businesses, both large and small.”

BUSINESS, LABOR HISTORY
The bulk of DeLay’s potential problem with this issue revolves around at least five bills he filed or supported that were deemed pro-union by the business community, and were outside the agreement made between the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce and Arkansas AFL-CIO prior to the 83rd General Assembly in 2001. In 2001, as it is today, Arkansas legislators give business and labor room to negotiate changes to Arkansas’ labor laws.

The chamber and AFL-CIO agreed to a package of changes to workers’ compensation that were geared to not result in rate increases for Arkansas businesses. The key provisions of HB 2521 — supported by labor and business interests and eventually becoming Act 1281 — provided a flat 25% attorneys’ fee for certain claims and adopted new guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome.

But while the elements eventually to be part of HB 2521 were in negotiation, DeLay, then the District 13 Senator representing Fort Smith, and Sen. Mike Everett, D-Marked Tree, filed a series of bills that sought to tilt the workers’ compensation system toward a pro-union, pro-worker system. The legislative filings by DeLay and Everett initially resulted in a brief negotiation breakdown between the chamber and the AFL-CIO.

TOOL OF LABOR UNIONS
There were five pro-labor bills filed that would have increased workers’ compensation premiums — paid by Arkansas businesses — by between 22% and 32%, according to chamber info. Three of the five bills (SB 487, SB 488 and SB 489) were sponsored by DeLay, and he advocated for the two he didn’t sponsor. The bills were not passed.

DeLay and others also filed several pro-union bills (to include SB 490, SB 491, SB 841, SB 948, and SB 952) that clouded the negotiations between labor and business.

The bills filed by DeLay, Everett and others that fell outside the negotiated agreement between labor and business did not sit well with then-Gov. Mike Huckabee. Rex Nelson, the spokesman in 2001 for Huckabee, labeled DeLay a "tool of the labor unions."

THE MEA CULPA
Rex Nelson, who today is the senior vice president for government relations and public outreach at The Communications Group, says he clearly remembers the oddity of seeing such legislation filed by a Republican.

“My memory is certainly that he was the most pro-union Republican legislator we had,” Nelson said.

DeLay would likely agree with Nelson’s assessment, but quickly adds that he now recognizes his mistakes. Also, DeLay believes the conservative, pro-business voters who are the largest voting bloc in the 3rd Congressional District will look at his overall record and not focus on the bills filed in 2001.

“Throughout my legislative career, I had a record that was absolutely pro-business —cutting taxes for many businesses such as broadcasting, timber and agriculture, Oaklawn, as well as opposing taxes on gasoline and diesel. In fact, I never supported a single tax in my 8 years in the legislature,” DeLay said in an e-mail interview with The City Wire. “When I was a new senator, I wanted to do something that showed I was not an aristocratic Republican, but that I was concerned for the welfare of everyone in my district, including hourly wage workers.”

Continuing, DeLay noted: “Although my heart was in the right place, my head was not. In retrospect, I deeply regret the position I took because it greatly upset the business community, and I could have helped the people I wanted to in other ways such as targeted tax relief. I also wish I had waited on the consensus bill that was passed later in the session. … All this happened almost ten years ago. I’m sure all of us can look back on things that we did ten years ago and say, ‘I wish I had done things differently.’ I certainly fall in that category. All I can do is say, ‘I made a mistake.’ I would add that I believe if anyone who has served in public office tells you they never made a mistake, they are either insincere, arrogant, or a liar.”

THE RUNOFF FIGHT
Nelson, who has watched or participated in Arkansas politics for more than 30 years, said the 2001 filings are not likely to be a big issue for DeLay. He suggests the fundamentals of geography and demographics will be front and center in a GOP primary with eight candidates and less than two months before the primary.

“I think there are going to be factors in this race that are going to be a lot bigger than that (pro-union bills),” Nelson said. “I think geography will play a bigger role than that issue will ever play.”

Nelson said DeLay may in fact have an advantage in that the other two GOP primary frontrunners — State Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers, and Rogers Mayor Steve Womack — are from the Republican stronghold of Benton and Washington counties. DeLay is the only GOP candidate from the Fort Smith area.

“He’s not asking me for any advice, believe me, but if he picks off those rural counties and let’s them fight it out in Northwest Arkansas, he’ll probably make the runoff,” Nelson said, adding that DeLay has a good chance of winning the GOP primary if he can fight to a runoff.