Highlights: Montana Gov takes 'brand management' to new level; FL Senate weakens anti-union bill amid broad opposition; Union leaders' complaint: Florida workers 'under assault'; NH Senate to vote on right-to-work legislation; Collective bargaining bill hits Tennessee; full Scrooge Alert here http://dailyscroogealert.blogspot.com/
Florida
Senate weakens anti-union bill amid broad opposition
Faced with certain defeat of his anti-union bill, a powerful Senate leader backed off his proposal to ban unions from collecting dues through payroll deduction Friday and offered up an alternative to keep the measure alive.
PolitiFact Florida rates dueling ads over 'paycheck protection' legislation
Legislation that would prohibit government unions from collecting dues through automated payroll deductions and require unions to get members to authorize political expenditures has produced dueling ads from the Florida Chamber of Commerce — which supports the idea — and the Florida Education Association — which opposes it. PolitiFact Florida watched both campaign-style television spots, and decided to analyze claims from each using the Truth-O-Meter. Neither group fared well.
Union leaders' complaint: Florida workers 'under assault'
Palm Beach Post
"Florida is already a right-to-work state; you don't have to belong to a union to hold a job. Workers can end membership in a union any time they want. This legislation is a kickback to big business. This is a bogus attempt to bust unions.
Ohio
SB5: 'Not the end' for city, Denen says
Record Herald
"In all of the news reports that I watched, there is an assumption that all municipal corporations treat their employees in the same way," Denen said after providing council with a brief history of collective bargaining within the state of Ohio and the
Population claim fails to land shuttle for Ohio: PolitiFact Ohio's weekly recap
Plain Dealer
Opponents of the measure, which Kasich enthusiastically signed March 31, say that argument comes up false when comparing Ohio to other states. "There is no evidence to suggest that collective bargaining is the cause of overall budget challenges,"
Wisconsin
Unions may shift focus of tasks to politics
Madison.com
Wisconsin's new collective bargaining law would take away many of the traditional tasks of public sector unions, so some labor leaders are considering plans to shift more of their focus to the political arena. The law forbids contract negotiations on
Labor's last stand? Creating new governance structure a tall order
Madison.com
Schools across the state were shut down for a day or more when teachers called in sick or took leave immediately after Walker proposed the collective bargaining measure in February. Wisconsin enacted its collective bargaining law to put an end to
Sarah Palin supports Gov. Scott Walker
The State Column
Former Alaska Republican governor Sarah Palin expressed support for Wisconsin governor Scott Walker Saturday, telling supporters that his controversial collective bargaining rights law is designed to save public jobs. “Hey, folks!
New Hampshire
NH Senate to vote on right-to-work legislation - BostonHerald.com
The so-called Right to Work legislation has already passed the House, but a Senate ... Sarah Palin: Wisconsin gov doing the right thing with unions
NH Senate to vote whether to bar unions from requiring non-members ...
Daily Journal
AP CONCORD, NH — The New Hampshire Senate votes this week whether to end the ... The so-called Right to Work legislation has already passed the House
Rep. Smith fails to make case for his own views
Seacoastonline.com
This was where I exposed the fallacies in his attempts to justify the so-called Right to Work bill. This time he used 10 overly long paragraphs in a rambling explanation of his proposed budget cuts. He mentions reductions in education and health care
Montana
Montana Gov takes 'brand management' to new level
Summary of bills vetoed by Schweitzer
So far this session, Gov. Brian Schweitzer has vetoed 21 bills and issued amendatory vetoes on another 16 measures. None has been overridden by the Legislature, yet lawmakers have agreed to Schweitzer's amendatory veto on at least two bills.
House needs to muster 67 votes to pass jobs bill
What a difference a couple of weeks or even a few days makes in positions of Montana lawmakers. Over a weekend, two leaders of the Senate, Billings Republicans Taylor Brown and Jeff Essmann, switched from supporting a state jobs and infrastructure bill to opposing the legislation.
Tennessee
Collective bargaining bill hits Tennessee
The State Column
... a revised version of the Republican bill to end collective bargaining between local school boards and local teachers associations. State Democrats have criticized the measure, which comes in the wake of similar bills passed in Wisconsin and Ohio
