Highlights: VT: Senate gives initial approval to universal health care; Petition booklets to get SB5 on the ballot are out; Indiana Senate approves measure tying teacher pay to student performance; Gov. Rick Scott pushes corporate tax cut plan but Senate committee balks; Texas state workers ready to bolt over cuts; Local GOP, Democrats want changes to Walker's budget

Missouri

'Right to work' legislation in Missouri would hurt everyone
Kansas City Star
Some Missouri Republicans have similarly dressed up their so-called Right to Work bill, SB 1, as a job-creation scheme, but it's really a naked attack on the livelihoods of Missouri workers. It wouldn't give anyone a job, and it has nothing to do with

Labor notes | Workers Memorial Day this week A bill that would prohibit unions from collecting mandatory fees and would disallow collective bargaining agreements that require employees to join a labor union is advancing in New Hampshire, The New York Times reports. On Wednesday the state Senate

Indiana

Teacher Incentives Head to Governor
Inside INdiana Business (press release)
Other issues in the "Putting Students First" agenda are collective bargaining reforms and a school voucher program. With less than one week remaining in the 2011 legislative session, Indiana's “Putting Students First” education agenda

Indiana Senate approves measure tying teacher pay to student performance
Evansville Courier & Press
Already, he has signed into law a measure that restricts teachers' collective bargaining rights to wages and benefits. Other items, such as an expansion of charter schools and a private school voucher program, are expected to clear their last

Wisconsin

Local GOP, Democrats want changes to Walker's budget
Wausau Daily Herald
Scott Walker to reform collective bargaining in Wisconsin. Rather than eliminating most collective bargaining rights as Walker proposed, Petrowski said he would have tried to change state laws on mediation and arbitration of union contracts

Wis. union battle casts shadow over local races
The Associated Press
An almost identical scenario played out in the race for village president in Lake Hallie, a small community in northwest Wisconsin. Republican state Rep. Kathy Bernier won the primary, then voted twice for Walker's collective bargaining law

Rove heaps praise on Walker
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Scott Walker's controversial budget-repair bill and the battle over the 2011-'13 state budget Republican strategist Karl Rove praised Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Monday evening for pushing his plan to sharply limit collective bargaining for public

Ohio

Ohio Unions Fighting Collective Bargaining Referrendum
Indiana's NewsCenter
Want to be in the know for the next weather event, the next school closing or the next big breaking news story? TextCaster alerts from Indiana's NewsCenter are your defining source for instant information delivered right to your cell phone and email

Petition booklets to get SB5 on the ballot are out
WTOL.com
Entertainment News from AP By Rob Wiercinski - bio | email (WTOL) - According to the "We are Ohio" coalition, 22000 petition booklets are now being circulated aimed at forcing a statewide vote on SB5, Ohio's new collective bargaining law

Ohio Law Forces Statewide Merit Pay
U.S. News & World Report (blog)
By Jason Koebler A new law that limits collective bargaining for public workers in Ohio will fundamentally change the way teachers are paid in that state. Senate Bill 5, signed into law by Ohio Gov. John Kasich March 31, limits collective bargaining

Mansfield mayoral candidates focus on city's fiscal health
Mansfield News Journal
Ball, who is police chief of Butler, said he was not for Ohio's new collective bargaining law in its entirety. "We are working-class people, and we need to be protected," Ball said. "I don't believe public servants should be allowed to strike when t

Michigan

Democrats pushing to protect money for schools

The leader of the Democratic minority in the Michigan Senate reiterated Monday that warding off proposed cuts to public school funding will be her main goal as budget debates continue for the fiscal year that starts

Differences emerge in early Michigan budget plans

Gov. Rick Snyder would like to complete work on the next state budget by May 31, a significant departure from recent years when budget negotiations have stretched until the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year.

Maine

ME: Bills would mandate drug testing for MaineCare enrollees
Republican lawmakers Monday introduced two proposals that would impose mandatory — and possibly unconstitutional — drug testing on Maine residents who are enrolled in MaineCare, the state's Medicaid program for low-income and disabled residents.

Pennsylvania

Voucher opponents, proponents donated heavily to candidates

Two main combatants in the clamor over whether to use public dollars for private schooling donated a combined $8.3 million to legislative and gubernatorial candidates, state campaign finance records show.

PA liquor prices actually competitive?

Public hearing held on adultBasic

Lawmakers offer plans to get revenue from shale drillers

Whether and how much to tax Marcellus shale gas drilling operations is shaping up as one of Harrisburg's liveliest debates.

Florida

Top Republican bashes Florida House speaker over budget impasse

A squabble over spending turned tense Monday when the Florida Senate's budget chairman accused the leader of the Florida House of negotiating in bad faith and "attempting" to hamstring Senate President Mike Haridopolos' run for U.S. Senate.

Gov. Rick Scott pushes corporate tax cut plan but Senate committee balks

With the clock ticking on the session, Gov. Rick Scott's pledge to cut corporate income taxes got a last-minute rescue Monday, but senators are still balking at the price tag.

Texas

State workers -- We're ready to bolt over cuts

Significant changes to pay and benefits for Texas' employees, if enacted by legislators, could drive thousands of workers into retirement or jobs outside state government, survey results released Monday show.

Vermont

VT: Senate gives initial approval to universal health care
Sen. Peter Galbraith, D-Windham, ran for the state Senate to be able to support a bill setting Vermont on a course toward a more consolidated health care system guaranteeing coverage to every Vermonter, he said Monday. "This is a historic day," Galbraith declared just before he joined 20 other senators to give preliminary approval to the health reform bill.

New Hampshire

Healthy Kids would drop 835

About 835 New Hampshire children are set to be dropped from a state-funded program that significantly reduces their health insurance costs if the current 2012-2013 budget proposal is passed.

Montana

100 bills remain as Montana Legislature winds down

Republican legislative leaders have yet to send more than 100 bills to Gov. Brian Schweitzer as the session enters its final days, likely reducing the Democratic governor's ability to request changes to the measures already passed by lawmakers.

Massachussetts

Unions fight for collective bargaining
WWLP 22News
“We don't want to be like Wisconsin,” said AFL-CIO President Robert Haynes. “Taking away collective bargaining rights is not going to solve the healthcare crisis here in Massachusetts.” The FY2012 House budget gives cities and towns the unilateral

Arizona

AZ: Brewer signs bill for 2-year tax increase on employers
Arizona employers face a temporary tax increase to help the state repay loans provided by the federal government to pay for unemployment benefits.