NILRR Weekly News Clips May 10, 2013

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A black and white image of an eagle with its wings spread.

 

 

Kansas outperforms ranking on employment

Topeka Capital Journal Online, May 4, 2013

Factors considered in the report are the state’s highest personal income tax rate, highest corporate income tax rate, personal income tax progressivity (meaning how much more higher-income taxpayers pay than low-income ones), property tax burden, sales tax burden, whether the state has an estate tax, burden from other taxes, any recent tax changes, how much of tax revenue goes toward paying for debt, number of public employees per 1,000 residents, the quality of the state’s legal system, costs related to workers’ compensation, state minimum wage, whether a state has enacted right-to-work laws (meaning workers can’t be required to join a union) and whether the state has a statutory limit on taxes or expenditures.

GOP moves make it harder to stop new union-busting bills

Plumberbun.com, May 7, 2013

In 2011, support for a referendum to repeal the anti-union provisions of Senate Bill 5 resulted millions of signatures and huge rallies at the Ohio Statehouse.   As Republicans begin moving new anti-union legislation through the Ohio House, they’ve already made moves to hinder an effective response from those who oppose the so-called right-to-work bills

Millionaire Union Boss Compares Ohioans to Nazis

Redstate.com, May 7, 2013

Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE) Executive Director Joe Rugola, who last week compared supporters of workplace freedom to Nazis, was paid $253,351 in member dues during the union’s most recent fiscal year.

Live Free or Move

Realclearpolitics.com, May 8, 2013

Americans have moved away from high-taxed, heavily regulated states to lower-taxed, less-regulated states. Most don’t think of it as a political decision. They just go where opportunities are, and that usually means where there’s less government.

Report: governments now doing less with more

publicsectorinc.com, May6, 2013

We’ve all heard of governments “doing more with less” and “doing less with less” but, according to “Government Crowded Out,” a new report by Dan Disalvo, the real trend is “doing less with more.” The recession ended four years ago, since which time the economy has grown, but public services have seen no appreciable improvement. The increase in revenues has been absorbed by pension and healthcare costs, leaving no more room in budgets for service enhancements. Less with more.

Auditor cites Detroit Fire Department for drug policy violations

Detroit Free Press Online, May 9, 2013

The report also found that 21 on-duty Fire Department workers tested positive after a urine drug screening and seven tested positive after a breath alcohol test between January 2008 and September 2011. Those with a positive test included three chiefs, one captain, two lieutenants and three sergeants, according to the audit.

Union vote in Hays County could run off volunteer firefighters

KVUE.com, ABC, Austin, TX, May 8, 2013

However, volunteer firefighters tell KVUE a measure, called Proposition 1, to allow unionized, full-time firefighters collective bargaining rights will push everyone else out.

“We are literally (unpaid) volunteers. The union, as stated by their president, doesn’t like that at all,” volunteer firefighter Dean Rudolph said.

CALPERS: Bankrupt San Bernardino can afford to pay pension fund

Washington Examiner, May 8, 2013

San Bernardino is one of several cases in California that pit federal bankruptcy law against state pension laws. Stockton, the most populous U.S. city to enter bankruptcy proceedings, has continued paying CalPERS even though it can barely provide basic services and stopped paying its other creditors.

Bill would curb the power of lower court judges to block potentially unconstitutional legislation

Capital Times Online, May 8, 2013

Three times over the past two years, signature portions of Republican-passed legislation have been blocked from immediately taking effect because a Dane County Circuit Court judge found the statutes to be unconstitutional.

HELP Committee Members Must Ask Tough Questions of NLRB Nominees

Townhall.com, May 7, 2013

Going before the HELP Committee will be the aforementioned Block and Griffin, but also Board Chairman Mark Pearce, and Republican nominees Harry I. Johnson III and Philip A. Miscimarra. Johnson currently serves as a partner with Arent Fox LLP, while Miscimarra is a partner with Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP and a senior fellow at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

D.C. Circuit Voids NLRB Posting Rule

The Volokh Conspiracy, May 9, 2013

This morning, a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in National Association of Manufacturers v. National Labor Relations Board, struck down a new NLRB regulation requiring employers to post a notice of employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act on their properties and websites.  Judge Randoph wrote the opinion for the court finding that the various means of enforcing the rule violated various provisions of the NLRA.  Among other things, Judge Randolph concluded that if Section 8(c) of the NLRA prohibits the Board from finding an employer guilty of an unfair labor practice for posting a notice informing workers of their right not to join a union, it cannot be an unfair labor practice for an employer to refuse to post a notice informing workers of their right to unionize.  Judge Henderson also wrote a concurring opinion, joined by Judge Brown, articulating additional reasons to find the rule invalid.

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