Koch group turns up heat on GOP state lawmakers USA Today ...Americans for Prosperity has been increasingly involved in state politics. In North Carolina, the group successfully fought proposed tax hikes. In Michigan, it rallied for the passage of a right-to-work law. In Wisconsin, it's supporting the deregulation of mining...
Sanders, Reid, DeFazio Introduce Legislation to Strengthen Social Security Bernie Sanders ...Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today introduced legislation cosponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to strengthen Social Security by making the wealthiest Americans pay the same payroll tax that nearly everyone else already pays. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) introduced the companion bill in the House...
U.S. Economy Adds 236,000 Jobs; Unemployment Rate Down To 7.7 Huffington Post ...the U.S. economy managed one of the best months for job gains in the past year in February, driving the unemployment rate to its lowest level in more than four years. But the job market would be even better, and the unemployment rate even lower, had not the government spent most of the recovery cutting spending and jobs...
U.S. Trade Deficit with Korea Soars to Highest Point on Record under FTA Public Citizen ...January's U.S. trade deficit with Korea topped $2.4 billion -- the largest monthly deficit with Korea on record. In short, another month of trade with Korea under the Korea FTA has produced another month of remarkably large job-displacing trade imbalances...
Obama Choice for Labor Secretary Said to Be Justice’s Perez Bloomberg ...President Barack Obama is close to choosing Thomas Perez, currently the assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, to be labor secretary. He was formerly secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, which enforces workplace safety laws and wage-and-hour regulations as well as consumer-protection laws...
Right-to-work amendment passes Senate Anniston Star ...The Alabama Senate voted 22-10 to add "right-to-work" wording to the state Constitution on Thursday, a move that would still need approval of the House and, eventually, the voters...
No state law on ‘dark money’ coming this legislative session Cronkite News ... For all of the controversy during the last election over the influence of so-called dark money in politics, the Arizona State Legislature is unlikely to produce any laws on the subject this session...
Miami-Dade politicians blast Legislature over wage laws Miami Herald ...(Natacha) Seijas, a Republican who has kept a low profile since being recalled from office two years ago, joined former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez, a Democrat, and union workers on the steps of downtown Miami’s historic courthouse to ask Miami-Dade lawmakers and the public to oppose legislation banning local-government wage laws...
Conservative (Koch brothers) group that supports spending cuts, Right to Work to lobby for Pence tax cuts Evansville Courier & Post ...The Indiana chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a tea party-fueled organization funded by the Koch brothers, will launch a "six-figure" advertising buy in Indiana and accompany it with emails, phone calls and door-to-door efforts...
Rep. Driskell Denounces Bill to Limit Paid Sick Leave for Michigan Workers Saline Patch ...House Bill 4249, sponsored by state Rep. Earl Poleski, R-Jackson, would bar municipalities from enacting paid leave policies greater than those of the state or federal government...
Unions Oppose Bill Requiring Yearly Reauthorization for Political Contributions El Dorado Springs Sun ...“There seems to be a concerted effort in ... (the Missouri) General Assembly to decimate labor unions” ...
Conservative group fundraiser draws ire of Montana Democrats Missoulian ...A conservative think tank is drawing the ire of some Democrats for using a state building for a membership drive. The American Legislative Exchange Council has helped draft model legislation used by Republican lawmakers...
Montana Senate backs campaign-finance bill Great Falls Tribune ...The measure would make it illegal for corporations to make independent expenditures that advocate for or against a candidate or to fund any electioneering communications...
Senate backs new check on union contracts New Hampshire Union Leader ...New labor contracts with state workers unions would need to be cleared by a powerful legislative committee under a bill approved in the Senate this week...
N.H. House panel recommends rolling back new voter ID law Concord Monitor ...A House committee yesterday recommended that legislators roll back, but not fully repeal, New Hampshire’s new voter identification requirement...
Ohio Senate bill would restrict number of days to gather signatures for referendum petitions Cleveland Plain Dealer ...The Ohio Senate passed legislation Wednesday that would make it harder for citizens to mount petition drives to repeal laws, by putting a clamp on the number of days in which signatures could be collected...
Florida’s failed experiment with sales tax expansion Innovation Ohio ...Governor Kasich is seeking to expand the state sales tax base to help pay for a $4 billion income tax cut...
At the end of the 1986 legislative session, the Florida legislature passed a bill extending the state’s five percent state sales tax ...Businesses hated it...
Council approves raise for Teamsters local Toledo Blade ...Toledo City Council approved a fact-finder report Friday that granted one of the city’s Teamsters locals a 5 percent raise over three years but slashed payments to employees’ pensions...
LABOR: UPS, Teamsters still talking Press-Enterprise ...According to a Teamsters communique released today, the two sides have been at the table consistently for the last two weeks. UPS negotiators outlined the company’s issues on health care costs, and the union is studying them to come up with a solution that guarantees workers don’t have to pay for coverage...
