Opinion
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Chicago Business Group Declares Illinois Pension System ‘Unfixable’
Opinion -Illinois’ pension problem is “unfixable” – not only because of the overwhelming magnitude of the problem, but because lawmakers “won’t fix it,” a Chicago business group has warned in a letter to Gov. Pat Quinn (D). -
Growing Pressure to Push State Pension Funding to Local Level
Opinion -Economist Jonathan Williams says one way to solve state pension funding problems is to give local governments more control over and responsibility for their employees’ pensions. -
Voters Slap Down Michigan’s Union-Backed Jobs Amendment
Opinion -Michigan voters defeated the union-backed Proposal 2, with 58 percent voting no and 42 percent voting yes. -
Michigan Voters to Decide on Union Power
Opinion -Michigan voters will decide in November whether to give constitutional authority to unions’ collective bargaining rights. -
Employers Fear Jobs Losses from Michigan’s ‘Protect Our Jobs Amendment’
Opinion -Michigan labor unions are working to land a “Protect Our Jobs Amendment” on the state’s November ballot. If passed, unions’ collective bargaining rights would be added to the state’s constitution. -
Low-Wage Workers Likely to Suffer from Rhode Island Wage Hike
Opinion -Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee (I) has signed a bill raising his state’s minimum wage to $7.75 an hour, 50 cents an hour more than the federal wage floor. The law takes effect January 1. -
Public Pension ‘Stimulus’ Claims Easily Debunked
Opinion -Breaking windows will stimulate the economy, according to a leading public pension advocacy group. Skeptical? -
Overwhelming Support for Pension Reform in San Diego, San Jose
Opinion -Wisconsin wasn’t the only place government unions took an election-day drubbing in June. Voters in two major California cities overwhelmingly approved cuts in future retirement perks for local government workers. -
Voters Give Government Unions a Whopping in Wisconsin
Opinion -The intense political brawl that was the Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election came to a quick and decisive end the evening of June 5 with sitting Governor Scott Walker (R) retaining his seat by a margin of seven points. -
Michigan Law Ends Stealth Unionization of Home Caregivers
Opinion -Michigan’s 60,000 home health care aides are no longer deemed government employees—meaning they cannot be forced into a government employee union and have dues withheld—as a result of legislation signed in April by Gov. Rick Snyder (R). -
Big Fees, Small Returns for Illinois’ Teachers Retirement System
Opinion -Illinois’ largest public employee pension fund paid more than $1 billion in fees to hundreds of financial managers over the past decade but reaped only a paltry annual return on its investments over that same period, according to a Better Government -
Business Groups Balk at Higher Minimum Wage Talk in New York
Opinion -New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) is leading a move to raise the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 and then index it to annual inflation. “Increasing the minimum wage would benefit over 1 million working New Yorkers. -
Michigan Law Ensures Graduate Students Cannot be Unionized
Opinion -Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) has signed into law an amendment to Michigan’s public labor law statutorily confirming that graduate student research assistants at state universities are not government employees. -
Opposition Grows Against Florida Renewable Energy Bill
Opinion -Opposition is growing to Florida House Bill 7117, which would give millions in taxpayers subsidies to Solyndra-style renewable energy companies, impose new obstacles on the construction of power plans utilizing inexpensive fuel sources like coal and -
Indiana Bucks Rust Belt, Enacts Right-to-Work Law
Opinion -A battle in Indiana that lasted more than a year and two legislative sessions ended Feb. 1 when Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) signed a right-to-work bill into law, making Indiana the 23rd right-work state—and the first in the Rust Belt. -
Illinois Had Nation’s Worst Jobs Record in 2011, Report Says
Opinion -Over the past year, Illinois has been dogged by numerous news stories about the state’s poor jobs climate and negative economic outlook. The latest employment numbers indicate the trend isn’t poised to end anytime soon. -
San Francisco’s High Minimum Wage Will Bring More Harm Than Good
Opinion -As of January 1, the minimum wage in San Francisco will increase to $10.24 per hour―about $3.00 above the Federal minimum wage. San Francisco is a very expensive place to live. -
Parents Forced to Pay Union Dues, Lawmaker Rakes in Health Care Money
Opinion -Michigan's “forced unionization” is not only taking money away from home health care workers, it's taking dollars out of the pockets of parents of the afflicted as well. -
Revelations Lead to Reform of Illinois Pensions
Opinion -Illinois lawmakers have approved legislation to reform the state’s government pension system, the nation’s most poorly funded. But having barely half the money needed to fund future pension obligations was not the reason for the reform. -
Rhode Island Lawmakers Pass Major Pension Reforms
Opinion -Rhode Island lawmakers had a choice: Keep the state’s pension system as is, forcing big tax increases, service cuts, or both. Or change the pension system to improve solvency and control the growth of future obligations. -
Ohio Voters Reject Union Curbs
Opinion -Sixty-one percent of Ohio voters yesterday repealed a law restricting collective bargaining and requiring state employees to contribute to their pension and healthcare benefits. -
Ohioans Vote to Overturn Bargaining Limits
Opinion -Ohioans on Tuesday voted 61 percent to 39 percent to repeal Senate Bill 5, a law that would have limited the collective-bargaining ability of public-employee unions. Support for the repeal had majorities in 82 of Ohio’s 88 counties. -
NLRB: Facebook Comments ‘Protected Concerted Activity’
Opinion -A September National Labor Relations Board decision reversed the termination of five employees fired for posting on the Facebook social networking site negative comments regarding their workplace. -
Phoenix Taxpayers Foot Huge Bill for Union Activities
Opinion -Phoenix taxpayers spend millions of dollars to pay full salary and benefits for city employees to work exclusively for labor unions, a Goldwater Institute investigation has found.
