BRL MEETING NOTES COMILATION LIUNA.......................................................................................2 SIFMA – Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Met with Andy Blocker and Joseph Vaughan from SIFMA  Discussed 2016 strategy and map  Discussed Trump as a factor  Andy mentioned seeing the article about today’s messaging meeting o Andy mentioned they see this as a good sign o Need to get Blue Dogs, New Dems and Progressives on same page  Talked about Financial Services Messaging concerns o Lots of would be Democrats in Financial Services area o Feel that the party committee needs to be smarter and more thoughtful about this messaging o Upset around messaging demonizing Wall Street  Understand that Wall Street isn’t popular, but the message won’t win the day  Turns off Dems in Financial Services world when they are attacked just for working in the industry  Creates a larger problem when people don’t trust banks and financial institutions o Chairman talked about Clinton messaging around “bad actors” which is more palatable and crosses industries o BRL mentioned the article where Leader Pelosi said that Sen. Warren doesn’t speak for the party  Andy and Joseph thought this was an encouraging sign, but hadn’t seen this article before  There are areas where we can work together o Financial Literacy  BRL mentioned the possibility of working w/ SIFMA in districts to do literacy events o Saving for colleges o Capital for entrepreneurs  Concerned with Department of Labor Fiduciary Rule o Biggest concern is that if it becomes final, it will take a long time to change o BRL mentioned they should keep in touch with Chiefs moving forward through August  SIFMA cannot support the DCCC right now, in large part due to messaging o Did find the meeting helpful, feel we are moving in the right direction o Encouraged by meeting, will keep the door open and make further consideration of support down the road LIUNA - Laborers International Union of North America    Met with President Terence O’Sullivan, Yvette Pena and David Mallino NOT supportive of the administration o Membership is general upset with Democrats o Very disappointed with the Executive Order on Project Labor Agreements  Only 3% of projects are using Union Labor Many issues with the Affordable Care Act o One of 4 Unions who didn’t support it o Hurting their Health and Welfare funds         Costing them millions of dollars a year  Feel it’s unfair, they’ve played by the rules, and did the right thing all along o Will force retirees to purchase health insurance off the exchanges, pay out of their pensions o Felt that only Pelosi really listened/advocated for their concerns o Want to eliminate the Cadillac Tax  BRL has signed on, they appreciate that  Heard they might take up repeal of tax in the Fall Supportive of Keystone o Hate that members refer to construction jobs as “temporary jobs” o They do over $30 billion in work on pipelines o Feel that Keystone was the beginning, this will lead to attacks on all pipelines and eventually natural gas projects o Feel Democrats should be supportive of Union jobs in MT, ND, NE o Entire process has been way too drawn out  Should take 18 months, just want the President to make a decision, not play politics  Feel that environmentalists are taking over the Democratic Party Supportive of Immigration Reform Concerned with Pension Reform Supportive of Highway Funding o Supportive of the gas tax, as it allows states to do long-term infrastructure planning  Would lead to more construction jobs Upset with Tribal Sovereignty legislation o Don’t think they should be exempt from NLRA o Don’t think states should be exempt either They have higher standards and expectations for Democrats Are more supportive of Republicans o Feel Republicans are with them on Obamacare  LiUNA would be happy with total repeal o With them on Keystone IUPAT - International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Met with President Rigmaiden and Chris Sloan  President Rigmaiden attended a meeting of the Executive Committee (15-20) folks yesterday o They are continuing the freeze for now o Once it’s settled, they’ll be back in the mix o Hoping to have something done before the next recess  Talked about their problems with trade o In the past products have shipped from other countries, but have come completely assembled o Flooded the market with these cheaper, finished products, hurting their folks  Unsure what the President will do on TPA o Will be sign TPA is TAA is still moving through Congress o Feels that TPA cannot pass the house w/ TAA, cannot pass the senate without TAA  Singled out Bera as someone their upset with o Promised locals he’d be ‘right’ on trade o They were big supporters, he ran his recount operation out of IUPAT offices  Wanted to talk about CORE – Community Organizing for Real Economies o Working to create a path to the middle class o o Want to work to bring more minorities into the Building Trades Would like to connect with the CHC. BRL mentioned we should connect Amy and Rep. Cardenas. NARFE - National Active & Retired Federal Employees Meeting with National Active & Retired Federal Employees Met with President Thissen, Jessica Klement & John Hatton      Spoke with President Thissen about the national labs o Mentioned that NM has per capita one of the highest levels of federal employees in the nation Troubles during the 2014 cycle o A lot of the more vulnerable members had the hardest records for NARFE  Frontliners who voted for Federal workforce pay freezes and used cuts to benefits as pay-fors Looking at 2016 Cycle o Only scored vote so far has been the budget o Want to work with the Chairman to get information ahead of votes to help members o NARFE anticipates that the Highway trust fund, debt ceiling and continuing resolutions will be their biggest fights o They didn’t score the TAA vote, they are neutral on trade  Mentioned that a lot of pro-trade dems are good on their issues (Connelly, Kilmer, Beyer, etc.) o BRL mentioned the races that will be most competitive  Mentioned Gwen Graham (FL-02) and Brad Ashford (NE-02), open Capps seat(CA-24), Taddeo (FL-26) and Cain (ME-02), Gibson (NY-19), Fitzpatrick (PA08), King (NY-02),Guinta (NH-01)  Mentioned the opportunities with redistricting in CA, VA and playing defense in AZ  Mentioned that there would be some more recruits announcing in July BRL wanted to invite John and Jessica back to talk with the policy shop when appropriate How else NARFE can be helpful o BRL mentioned HMP, the new building/recount funds  NARFE mentioned they do not give to leadership PACs o NARFE mentioned a desire to have their local folks more involved fundraisers. NARFE - National Minority Quality Forum    National Minority Quality Forum (www.nmwf.org) o Amalgamates health data based on various geographic areas  Zip code, Congressional District, etc. Does Target marketing o There are 38,000 zip codes in the US, minorities are concentrated in 6,000 of them o Database has over 900,000,000 records o Tracking Medicare information, can track patients over the years  Noted that Rep. Chris Smith (NJ) has most Medicare spending per Congressional district in the US  Data can help with messaging o Buy a lot of their data  The information is highly predictive How data can be useful o Can be used to help create a profile of district/voters/etc.   o Report out based on cells of 11 people or more o Can help target based on voter information, other public records o Cannot be used on an individual basis o May have possible fundraising implications Should have more conversations, consider how it can be useful o ID a district, give an overlay, find a way to synergize with their information o Can help with broader understanding of communities Want to create a better dialogue with CHC o BRL mentioned connecting them with Sanchez, Roybal Allard, & Luján Grisham o Help connect them caucus wide. APWU - American Postal Workers Union Meeting with American Postal Workers Union  Met with President Mark Dimondstein  BRL mentioned the need to have an exit strategy for the AFL Freeze o BRL mentioned that Labor has been more effective with this trade deal  President Dimondstein mentioned that Prefunding was hurting the Postal Workers o Admitted Unions weren’t together on fighting prefunding in 2006  President Dimonstein is not enamored with Democrats o Said that many are good allies, but doesn’t feel Democrats are the party of the working people anymore  Pleased that most of the caucus is standing up to the President on TPA o Upset about what has been coming out of the White House  Said that Postal Accountable and Enhancements Act is hurting them  They’ve gone from 300,000 members to 150,000 members  COPA is shrinking with Membership  Concerned that progressive referendums passed (minimum wage, etc.) while people also elected the most conservative Congress in decades o Thinks this is because of a failure of messaging  Stressed the need to get more younger people involved  Wants to get good candidates in touch with APWU o Big fans of Alma Adams  Wants to work with the party on helpful, progressive initiatives o Mentioned Citizens United, Voting Rights issues International Union of Operating Engineers       Met with President Callahan and Jeff Soth Jeff was in New Mexico fighting against Right to Work President Callahan mentioned that he was 123 managers throughout the US/Canada o Have to get them re-elected o Some frustration with the party right now o Feels like Dems have always been the party that supported working families They are supportive and involved in energy projects o Support renewables o Supported Keystone  Don’t understand opposition, no safer to move oil on rail  Would invite members to walk the pipelines to inspect them Need to stop referring to construction jobs as temporary Members/candidates need to be better about connecting with locals   Mentioned that there would be a transition with local 953 o Pat Vigil is retiring, want to connect BRL with new person Concerned about NRLB legislation moving in the Senate o Would exempt tribal businesses from NRLB  Concerning since so many employees are non-tribal  Would hurt local 953 specifically, among others  Scheduled for June 13th markup  BRL mentioned desire to check in with Tom Udall on this  Soth said he would send a letter  BRL wants to check back in with Jeff by the first week of June on this SEIU - Service Employees International Union       Met with President Mary Kay Henry and Brandon Davis It’s important what fights we pick o Our agenda is also important to that fight o How to fight on budget issues o How Republicans are dividing people o There are some issues that fall into the Hold The Line bucket  i.e. labor rights SEIU is interested in building up infrastructure in safe, majority minority districts o Want to work to link the DCCC and CBC/CHC thinking on some issues o Working to elevate the debate in safe seats o Talked about having safe seat members helping their vulnerable neighbors  i.e. Vargas and Peters o Need to organize and turn out low propensity voters, especially in communities of color  Need to get local buy in from folks SEIU is preparing to do some research on messaging o If we have any pollster suggestions, we should send to them o Research should be complete in June o Want to see if we can share this info The House is a multi-cycle priority for SEIU o Need to tie voting to actual outcomes  i.e. Drive to 15, for minimum wage o Want to focus on marrying GOTV efforts with economic message o SEIU is trying to organize non-union members as well Talked about an impending SCOTUS decision that will cost 1,000,000 public sector jobs this summer o Will need to rebuild unions o Want Democrats to lean in on Union activities Goldman Sachs   Met with Joyce Brayboy and Michael Paese Still in the shadow of the Financial Services o Feel that the rhetoric is problematic  It feels even worse than 2010  Michael said these emails live forever once they come out  Has to explain to folks at Goldman who are supportive of the Dems, why they’re being attacked o They feel there isn’t enough rhetoric coming from Pro-Business Democrats They are not rolling back Dodd-Frank, don’t like Warren’s messaging  We should stop and look at emails before they go out, and consider if they are factual Wanted to engage with us on income inequality o Should be about lifting up folks, not tearing others down Gave them frontliners and one termers list Touched briefly on redistricting, how it’s changing the landscape o    Air Line Pilots Association      Met with President Cannoll and Zack Mooneyham President Cannoll mentioned he would be attending the HMP dinner o BRL thanked him for his support of HMP o Wanted to know how else they could be helpful Talked about our priorities o Help with finance, helping the committee and Frontliners o Help with voter turnout, ground game  Mentioned that they are working on grassroots themselves  Said they mostly have a big presence in Atlanta o Which races we are looking at closely  CA: Valadeo, Royce, Denham  IA/NY/PA/IL  VA: Depending on redistricting o Noted that Millenials are not as concerned with party labels Touch on the Fair Skies o Middle East airlines keep adding routes, trying to get them in under the wire  Know they are in violation of the trade agreement  Waiting on comment period to end (hopefully in June) before moving forward with action, bringing new routes to halt until decision is made Worried about FAA reauthorization, due in September o Don’t want to have to go through multiple extensions over and over o Noted that Air Traffic Control is at capacity right now, but people want more service Planned Parenthood         Met with Amy Taylor and Wendi Wallace Amy offered to have Cecile as a surrogate for candidates if that would be helpful Want to set up a meeting with BRL and Cecile Richards. Mentioned that he is going to be in NYC the weekend of May 4 – 5, and wanted to see if it might be possible to set up a coffee while he was there Gave background on PPFA, 97% of what they do is preventative care. They spent $15 million in the 2014 cycle on elections, mostly on Governors raced, along with targeted Congressional races that mixed with their Gubernatorial targets They gave out $850,000 in contributions last cycle, maxed out to Frontliners, Red to Blue and others. Wanting to know who folks are they should be helping early (sending over Frontline list) Willing to help candidates and members with messaging around choice issues Offered to see if Cecile could speak at the WomenLead Event (they are checking her availability, then BRL wants to check in w/ Frankel) Mentioned interest in BRL’s July weekend trip w/ Heinrich (though they aren’t sure they can give to Heinrich off cycle) Mentioned that Vickie Cowart, the CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains might be interested in attending. General Electric       Met with Josh Raymond (GE Capital), Betsy Tower (GEPAC), and Josh Schaeffler (GE Healthcare) Gave background on GE (Produce 1/3 of world’s energy, 3 rd biggest Healthcare company, that part is HQed in Rep. Moore’s district. GE Capital shrinking from $500 billion to $100 billion. Largest producer of locomotives and jet engines) Care about all committees, given the breadth of their work They gave $400,000 to House Dems last cycle, but they are facing headwinds this cycle o Issues around Cromnibus, Trade and Medical Device Tax, but are happy w/ Dem Help on Ex-Im o Upset that SGR fix not totally funded, but Dems want repeal of Medical Device Tax to be fully funded before repealing Want to know how we plan to go on the offensive and win seats, where we are targeting, how we are messaging (are we pushing out National message, or letting local races decide) o BRL talked about increasing field and analytics, working with Start Ups on helpful technologies and targeting, o GE Brought up the Horsford Race, wanted to know what happened o BRL mentioned our attempts to ensure we aren’t caught flat footed in closer races o BRL mentioned more member engagement (dues, raising, messaging, etc) o Walked through races we are looking at (CA, NY, IL, PA, IA) o Touched on redistricting (FL, NC, AL, etc.) Noted the efforts to get CBC involved in redistricting ahead of time o GE asked about how we plan to win back Southern District in particular (mentioned Shuler and Cramer as examples) Want to know what issues we can work together on o BRL mentioned having them come back and meet with the Policy team once it’s more in place o GE wants to know how they can be helpful with the business community, messaging about what we are doing o GE Mentioned trade, and their efforts to get the Chamber to back off on attacking pro-trade Dems o Betsy wants the Frontline and Radar candidates so they know who needs the most help American Hospital Association      Talked about changing technology and how it is integrated into social media and for the Hospital Association. They hired Blue State Digital to help with their online and social media efforts, which are geared towards keeping folks within their provider network Talked briefly about Jim Hinton, the immediate past Chairman of AHA and President and CEO of Presbyterian Healthcare Services in New Mexico, and how he has been supportive and helpful Shared their list of “Frontliners” with the Chairman (Kirkpatrick, Brownley, Aguilar, Ruiz, Peters, Graham, Nolan, Ashford, Kuster) as members that are a priority for them to help. Talked briefly about the SGR fix. Even though they took a hit with it, they felt it was balanced and really appreciated the support on the D side, mentioned they worked with the Leader to help get it passed Touched on the impending ACA Supreme Court Case (King. Burwell). Noted they’ve filed an amicus brief supporting the legislation, as they did on the first SCOTUS case. They are preparing contingencies. Mentioned the need to possibly work on a state by state basis if things are up-ended by the decision. Noted a Chevron case in which the Court stated that ambiguous language can be sent to the IRS for determination. It was noted that 22 of 24 Senate Republicans up for re-election this cycle come from states without state run exchanges.