Full Scrooge Alert here: http://dailyscroogealert.blogspot.com/
All Around
This Week in Labor: Union Fights Scheme to Give Guns to Firefighters, Hoses to Cops The Michigan Professional Firefighters Union is pushing back against a harebrained scheme that would give guns to firefighters and hoses to cops. Several towns in Michigan are debating whether to combine policing and firefighting into one job, Public Security Officer (PSO).
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Residents Say Economy Getting Worse: Survey
A majority of the 400 state residents responding to the state budget and collective bargaining survey (61 percent) said public employees should have the right to collectively bargain for wages. The remainder of responses showed 35 percent of
$3 For 3 More Recalls The PCCC Recall Committee and Democracy for America (DFA) are asking people to contribute $3 to the ongoing State Senator recall effort in Wisconsin. Five GOP State Senators have been recalled. Three campaigns remain in need of signatures by May 2nd.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's budget plans put legal aid to poor, elderly at risk
GREEN BAY — A proposed funding cut to the state's computerized court records system is part of a larger plan that would eliminate funding of a program that provides free legal aid to the poor.
“A look into Missouri’s past could provide a glimpse into Wisconsin’s future.” A very interesting read from the Wisconsin State Journal: “Labor’s last stand? Missouri a prototype for Walker’s policies.” The article looks at Governor Walker’s policies in Wisconsin through the lens of Missouri, where similar actions were taken. Missouri, now the state where “the public-private pay gap is highest in the nation,” has suffered from Walkerian policies.
Indiana
IN: Mitch Daniels sounds fiscal alarm, but Indiana Republican hesitant to run in 2012
No prospective Republican presidential candidate has done more to highlight the issue of debt and deficits than Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. He calls it the "new red menace," an ocean of red ink that he says is every bit as dangerous as the Soviet nuclear threat during the Cold War.
Finishing kick gets squeezed
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Education overhaul – One key proposal has already been signed into law by Daniels – limits on teacher collective bargaining. And a bill creating a state-funded voucher program for private schools needs just one more vote in the highly GOP House chamber
A Bargain of a Bill in Illinois?
The measure comes as Ohio, Wisconsin, and Indiana have enacted Republican-backed laws to curb collective bargaining for educators and other public workers. Those laws drew massive protests from unions, who complained they were shut out of the process.
Pennsylvania
PA: Conservative wave seems to miss Pennsylvania
Historic gains by the GOP in statehouses across the country are fast-tracking traditionally conservative policy changes that go beyond spending cuts, targeting issues such as collective bargaining, welfare and abortion. Some political observers say Pennsylvania Republicans, who control both legislative chambers and the governor's mansion for the first time in eight years, are taking a more measured approach.
Gov. Tom Corbett announces advisory panel for Pennsylvania's transportation needs
Pennsylvania's vast transportation needs — and particularly how to find billions of dollars to pay for them — are about to get a fresh look by an advisory panel announced Friday by Gov. Tom Corbett.
Michigan
$95 million in concessions sought from Michigan's corrections union
About 7,700 unionized corrections officers are being asked to absorb more than half of $180 million in concessions that Gov. Rick Snyder is seeking from state employees.
New Hampshire
This Is What New Hampshire Looks Like
Montana
MT: Schweitzer, GOP leaders agree on budget deal
Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer held a rare joint news conference with Republican legislative leaders Friday evening to announce a breakthrough in budget talks, with both sides signing documents promising to stick to a deal that was hailed as a hard-fought compromise.
Maine
ME: Judge rules in favor of LePage, says mural can stay in closet
A federal judge refused Friday to order Gov. Paul LePage to return a mural depicting the history of labor to a state office building in Augusta. U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock agreed with LePage that the removal of the mural was "a constitutionally permissible exercise of gubernatorial authority."
Ohio
Valley residents among the first to sign collective bargaining bill petitions
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - People in the Mahoning Valley will be among the first to sign petitions to repeal or reverse the law that will now limit collective bargaining for some 350- thousand public employees. The group, We Are Ohio, Repeal SB5 is
Kasich remark about Bob Evans' benefits sparks union response
Just weeks after inking a deal to give Bob Evans Farms Inc. $11 million in loans and grants to stay in Ohio, Gov. John Kasich remarked that the food and restaurant chain offers wait staff health care benefits that are "shabby, at best."
Today kicked off anti-SB 5 petition drive
I said it before knowing what has happened in other states that made this movement before (RIGHT TO WORK STATES), we will see higher unemployment right
Democrats' request for school data is rejected
Gov. John Kasich said he would "love to show" House Democrats his budget numbers as they relate to funding for Ohio's schools.
Workers' Compensation Council 'rips off' taxpayers, think tank says
The Kasich Administration's budget includes nearly $1 million for the Workers' Compensation Council, which last year had to pay out a $70,000 legal settlement to three workers who said the boss subjected them to religious harassment.
Minnesota
JOBZ subsidies rose as jobs fell 9%
A state program that is supposed to promote hiring has faltered in the tough economy, showing a 9 percent drop in jobs created even as participating companies got record subsidies.
Florida
Elections overhaul passes House
The Florida House passed a sweeping overhaul of election laws Thursday that Republicans say will streamline voting machinery and Democrats say will make it harder for people to vote in the nation's biggest battleground state in 2012.
