Month: May 2023

$15-an-Hour Minimum Wage Bill Being Drafted in Pennsylvania House

Bradley Vasoli

A new bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour is emerging in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. 

Sponsored by Representative Patty Kim (D-Harrisburg), the bill as described in a memorandum appears similar to legislation Senator Dan Laughlin (R-Erie) is spearheading in his chamber. It contrasts with a more radical measure authored by Representative Chris Rabb (D-Philadelphia) that would hike the wage floor to $16.50 in July 2025 and gradually increase it to $21 by mid-2028. The Rabb bill would also apply the state minimum wage to prisoners, vastly boosting their pay. 

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Ohio House Lawmakers Re-Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Require Employers to Provide Workers with Pay Stubs

Hannah Poling

Two Ohio House Representatives have re-introduced Bipartisan legislation to require employers to provide their employees access to their pay statements.

House Bill (HB) 106, known as the Pay Stub Protection Act, sponsored by State Representatives Scott Lipps (R-Franklin) and Dontavious Jarrells (D-Youngstown) aims to make Ohio an access state requiring employers to provide either a written, printed, or electronic pay stub (or access to the electronic pay stub) to their employees.

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Tennessee Governor Lee Signs Bill Dissolving Remaining Community Oversight Boards in Memphis and Nashville

Kaitlin Housler

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee recently signed a bill to abolish community oversight boards in the state.

SB591/HB764, according to the bill’s official summary, “abolishes community oversight boards and authorizes municipalities to create police advisory and review committees to ensure the timely, fair, and objective review of citizen complaints and to make recommendations concerning such complaints.”

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Resolution Introduced to Offer Election Day Voter Registration in Ohio

The Center Square

A proposal in the Ohio Senate would allow Ohioans to register to vote on Election Day and force potential voters to register again if they have not voted in four consecutive years.

State Sen. Paula Hicks-Hudson, D-Toledo, introduced the resolution she says expands voting rights and is an effort to lessen the effects of voting legislation passed by the General Assembly last year.

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Homeless Drug Addicts Have Invaded High School Bathrooms, Left Used Needles, Students Say

Admin

Students from San Jose asked their school board Thursday to build a fence around the school and to address the homelessness problem, according to NBC Bay Area.

A group of roughly 20 students from the charter school KIPP San Jose Collegiate explained that homeless people have been entering their school and leaving needles on their cafeteria tables, NBC reported. The issue has been going on for about one year, they said.

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Children’s Hospital Recommends Costly ‘Fertility Preservation’ for Kids Undergoing Gender Transitions

Admin

Seattle Children’s Hospital promotes expensive fertility preservation methods for children undergoing cross-sex treatments at its facilities, according to documents reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, which Seattle Children’s offers to children as young as 13 and a half years old, can severely and permanently limit patients’ fertility, a fact the institution admits in multiple documents. The hospital offers and promotes fertility preservation options, including for prepubescent children, according to its website, which can cost well over $10,000.

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All Presidents Since Reagan Mishandled Classified Memos, Trump First Referred to DOJ, Archives Says

Just the News

Prior to former President Donald Trump, the Justice Department had not been involved in enforcing the Presidential Records Act, according to testimony from a National Archives and Records Administration official.

On Wednesday, the House Intelligence Committee released a transcript from an interview in March with NARA officials in which the agency’s chief operating officer, William Bosanko, testified that the agency had “found classified information in unclassified boxes” for all the presidential administrations “from Reagan forward.”

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British Intelligence Found FBI Russia Collusion Probe so Absurd It Stopped Helping

Just the News

British intelligence expressed skepticism about the FBI’s investigation into the Donald Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russia in 2016, and eventually became so concerned it stopped cooperating, according to evidence made public in Special Counsel John Durham’s recent report.

Durham released his 300+ page report on the origins of the Trump-Russia collusion probe on Monday, representing the culmination of years of investigations. That report excoriated the FBI for pursuing the investigation without possessing any significant evidence of wrongdoing.

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Americans’ Inflation Pain Hits a New High

The Center Square

Regardless of a slowdown in the rise of inflation, Americans report that higher prices are causing financial hardship, a new poll indicates.

Gallup released the poll data Thursday, which found that 61% of those surveyed say price hikes have caused financial hardship, up from 49% in January of last year. That 61% figure is a high point for Americans since Gallup began tracking the data in 2021, when inflation was growing faster.

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Kari Lake’s Second Election Contest Trial Concludes, No Experts Dispute 274,000 Ballot Signatures Were ‘Verified’ at a Rate of 3 Seconds Each

Rachel Alexander

Kari Lake’s second trial challenging her gubernatorial loss concluded on Friday, with Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Thompson giving no indication when he would issue his ruling.

In March, the Arizona Supreme Court reversed part of Thompson’s original decision dismissing her case, remanding the signature verification issue back to him for reconsideration. The trial has focused on the speed that signature reviewers examined signatures on mail-in ballot envelopes, which Lake’s team did not believe was physically possible.

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North Dakota Man Who Ran over Teen That He Thought Was a ‘Rightwing Extremist’ Faces Only 10 Years in Prison After Murder Charge Dropped

Admin

The North Dakota man who admitted to mowing down a teenager with his SUV last September because he thought the boy was a “rightwing extremist” is facing a maximum of only ten years in prison after the prosecutor dropped the charge from murder to manslaughter.

Shannon Brandt, 42,  pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charge, avoiding a trial which was set to start on May 30, KVRR reported.

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Report: Tennessee Spends $23 Million Cleaning Up Litter on Roads Each Year

The Center Square

A new report on litter control in Tennessee shows the state spends $23 million each year on litter pickup and prevention and there are an average 88.5 million pieces of litter on roads at any given time.

The 2022 study showed $5.5 million is granted each year from the Tennessee Department of Transportation to individual counties for roadway litter cleanup and abatement and the $23 million overall spent on litter comes from a soft drink and malt beverage tax.

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FBI Repeatedly Abused Surveillance Tool to Spy on Americans in Wake of January 6, Newly Unsealed Court Doc Reveals

Admin

The FBI abused a digital surveillance tool nearly 300,000 times between 2020 and early 2021, running 23,132 inquiries alone after Jan. 6., according to a newly unsealed court document.

The Section 702 database, which the FBI is authorized to use to gather foreign intelligence information or if they believe there is evidence of a crime, was used on Jan. 6 suspects, along with congressional campaign donors and protestors arrested in riots after George Floyd was killed in 2020, a newly unsealed court document reveals. An April 2022 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) opinion described these abuses, noting that the employee who ran the queries after Jan. 6 did so “to find evidence of possible foreign influence, although the analyst conducting the queries had no indications of foreign influence related to the query term used.”

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Lee Signs Bill to Lower Tennessee Aviation Fuel Tax Cap to $1 Million

The Center Square

Tennessee’s corporate aviation fuel tax cap will soon go down to $1 million, which would have an additional $10.6 million impact on the state’s Transportation Equity Fund, after Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill to lower the cap.

The bill is part of a drop in the aviation fuel tax over years. Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis, said FedEx paid $45 million in annual aviation fuel tax when the cap was first installed and will be down to $1 million for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

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Virginia Gov. Youngkin Finalizes Legislation from Reconvened Session

The Center Square

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin took final action on 17 pieces of legislation pending from the reconvened legislative session, signing 12 and vetoing five.

The legislation ranged from energy to medical marijuana. The governor celebrated the General Assembly voting approving nearly all of his amendments. Youngkin expressed disappointment for a few pieces of legislation rejected by the Assembly – mainly a key piece of energy legislation and the protection of minors regarding social media.

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Analysis: Minnesota Estimated Lifetime Earnings Losses Exceed $23.7 Billion

The Center Square

Learning losses for Minnesota students during the COVID-19 pandemic could result in a combined lifetime income loss exceeding $23.7 billion, according to research from Harvard and Stanford universities.

The Education Recovery Scorecard was released this week by Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research and the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford. The scorecard measures learning loss in 40 states between 2019 and 2022, and estimates how much earnings will be subtracted from students’ lifetime earnings.

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Pennsylvania Bill Would Exempt Corrections Officers from Paying Taxes on Pensions

The Center Square

 A Michigan bill seeking statewide allowance for some former public employees to pay income taxes on pensions has been introduced by state Rep. Kathy Schmaltz, R-Jackson.

House Bill 4578, if passed, would exempt pensions of Michigan Department of Corrections retirees from the state income tax. Michigan allows retired police, firefighters, and county jail corrections officers to fully deduct their pensions from the Michigan income tax.

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Opioid Settlement Shrinks After Pennsylvania Counties Forgo Participation

The Center Square

While Pennsylvania will receive more than $2 billion from a number of opioid-related settlements, the total amount will be less than what officials initially hoped.

During the latest meeting of the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust on Thursday, Trust Chairman Thomas VanKirk noted that the “Wave 2” settlement money will be at least $200 million less than previously anticipated.

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Connecticut to Spend $381 Million on ‘Baby Bonds’ Program

The Center Square

Connecticut leaders are moving ahead with plans to establish a “baby bond” program to provide every child born into poverty in the state with a $3,200 savings account to help close a racial wealth gap.

A tentative agreement reached this week between Gov. Ned Lamont, Treasurer Erick Russell and legislative leaders calls for spending $381 million to create the “first in the nation” Baby Bonds Trust, which would provide eligible newborns with a bond that would grow in value to upwards of $24,000 over time.

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Governor Katie Hobbs to Have Final Say on Bill Aiming to Provide Water to Rio Verde Foothills Area

Neil Jones

As the residents of the unincorporated Rio Verde Foothills (RVF) area have gone over five months without steady access to water, House Bill (HB) 2441 could provide a solution and arrived at Governor Katie Hobbs’s (D) desk Tuesday and is awaiting a final decision.

This bill, sponsored by State Representative Gail Griffin (R-Hereford), is an emergency measure that states if a city provides water service within a county with a population greater than 1.5 million that city must execute an agreement with “one or more third parties for at least three years, treat and transport water to a standpipe and allow use of the standpipe for water to be hauled to residences that are outside the city’s or town’s water service area[.]”

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Ohio House Republicans Introduce Legislation to Update School Social Studies Standards

Hannah Poling

Two Republican Ohio House Representatives have introduced legislation to create new social studies standards through a task force of appointed state officials.

House Bill (HB) 103, sponsored by State Representatives Don Jones (R-Freeport) and Tracy Richardson (R-Marysville), tries to create the Ohio State Social Studies Task Force to craft social studies standards to replace the existing standards in Ohio.

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Commentary: In Mao’s China, They Even Monitored Talking in Your Sleep

RealClearWire

When the recently deceased Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot sang, “I heard you talking in your sleep… from your lips there came that secret I was not supposed to know,” he was talking about marital infidelity.

Not long after Chairman Mao came to power in China, idealistic college students learned that political fidelity to Mao and the Communist Party was the most important virtue they needed to demonstrate. Party or Youth League members were present at every meal and in every dorm room. Historian Frank Dikötter described in his book The Tragedy of Liberation, “These Communists took notes on the day and night behaviour of every student. Even the words of a student talking in his sleep were recorded and considered for political significance.”

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Census: Arizona Cities Among Nation’s Fastest Growing

The Center Square

Arizona’s municipalities continue to grow as the COVID-19 pandemic waned, some at faster rates than nearly any other.

U.S. Census population estimates released Thursday show Phoenix increased by 19,053 people in the 12 months ending last July, more than any other city with a population over 1 million people. The only other city of comparable size to add population was Houston, Texas, which gained 11,223 in the same time period. Fort Worth was the only city with more than 50,000 people to add more people than the Arizona capital, adding 19,170 people.

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Illegal Border Crossings in First Four Months of Year Greater than Populations of Six States

The Center Square

The number of people illegally entering the U.S. solely through the southern border in the first four months of this year is greater than the population of Delaware, the home state of the president, and the populations of five other states.

So far this year, at least 1,047,528, people have been apprehended or reported evading capture, according to data analyzed by The Center Square. The total is greater than the estimated populations of Delaware (1,031,985), South Dakota (923,484), North Dakota (780,588), Alaska (732,294), Vermont (647,156) and Wyoming (583,279).

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Tennessee State Board of Education Defines Summer School Requirements for Third-Graders Facing Retention

TC Weber

As Tennessee school districts wait to receive scores from spring’s Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP), the State Board of Education (SBE) passed rules guiding the implications of those results.

The rules, crafted by the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE), and passed by the SBE on Friday, will determine how many Tennessee’s third-graders will spend their summer months.

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Durham: FBI Dropped Four Different Probes into Clinton Family Ahead of 2016

Admin

One of the claims made by Special Counsel John Durham in his official report is that the FBI dropped at least four criminal investigations into Bill and Hillary Clinton just before the 2016 election.

According to the New York Post, the FBI had previously been investigating attempts by multiple foreign nations and other foreign entities to influence the Clinton family through donations to their non-profit, the Clinton Foundation, as well as donations to Hillary’s failed 2016 presidential campaign.

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Justice Gorsuch Says Pandemic Created ‘Greatest Intrusions on Civil Liberties’ in America’s Peacetime History

Admin

Justice Neil Gorsuch called government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic the “greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country” on Thursday.

Gorsuch made his comments in reaction to the Supreme Court’s Thursday dismissal of a case dealing with red states’ attempt to keep in place a Trump administration policy, Title 42, which allowed the U.S. to expel over 2.5 million migrants from the border due to a public health emergency. In an eight-page long statement attached to the decision, Gorsuch slammed an array of emergency power abuses employed by local leaders during the pandemic, from lockdowns to church closures.

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California’s University System to Let Illegal Immigrant Students Work on Campus

Admin

The University of California Board of Regents adopted a policy on Thursday that will allow students to work on-campus jobs regardless of immigration status.

The policy, titled “Equitable Student Employment Opportunities,” will apply to all 10 University of California system campuses and states the University is “committed to providing equitable access to quality higher education for all of its students regardless of immigration status.” The policy emphasizes several “advantages” that stem from on-campus employment including academic growth, career advancement, financial stability, and professional mentorship.

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Exclusive: Left-Wing Agitators Say Ending Police Would Make Communities Safer

Peter D'Abrosca
Police Officer

In secretly obtained recordings of a training session for far-left activists held Saturday in Nashville, participants said communities would be safer without any police at all. 

During a part of the training hosted by Katia Carillo, who runs a small upstart community group called Conmigo, Carillo asked the trainees what their perfect utopian communities would look like. 

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Minnesota Legislature Repass Paid Family and Medical Leave with 2026 Implementation Date

Admin

The House and Senate voted this week to pass a conference report amending HF2, the Paid Family and Medical Leave Act, that will tax employers and employees to help fund a new, state-run paid leave insurance program.

As amended by a DFL-only conference committee, the version of the bill that will head to Gov. Tim Walz for signature now includes a provision agreed upon by conferees to implement payroll taxes for the program on Jan. 1, 2026. Conferees also agreed to dedicate nearly $650 million in existing state revenue in 2024 as “seed money” for the program so that the state can begin providing those benefits in 2026.

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Veteran Connecticut Journalist Questions Whether Abortion Has Become ‘Connecticut’s Highest Social Good’

Susan Berry, PhD

In the wake of news last week that Connecticut’s Wesleyan University has agreed to pay for all student abortions and emergency contraception, veteran journalist Chris Powell considers that the move by this “citadel of leftist groupthink” signals that the state may have spiraled downward to a point at which abortion has now become Connecticut’s “highest social good.”

As CT Mirror reported last week, the Wesleyan Democratic Socialists’ demands for abortion and contraception services following the Supreme Court’s ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade was met with approval by the school.  

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Norfolk Southern Commits to Compensating East Palestine Homeowners for Property Value Losses

Hannah Poling

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw has announced that Norfolk Southern Railroad will set up a fund to compensate East Palestine homeowners for losses in property value due to the catastrophic February 3rd train derailment that spilled hazardous chemicals into the community.

In a letter to U.S. Senators JD Vance (R-OH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Shaw said he would immediately launch the fund instead of waiting for litigation to end.

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Disney Scraps New $1 Billion Florida Project amid DeSantis Feud

Admin

The Walt Disney Company has canceled plans to build a $1 billion installation in Florida amid an ongoing legal and political fight with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The project, known as the Lake Nona Town Center, included plans to build office space for the company near Orlando, Florida, and would have created upwards of 2,000 jobs with an average salary of $120,000 a year, according to the state’s Department of Economic Opportunity. Its cancellation was announced in an email to employees by Disney’s chairman of Parks and Resorts, Josh D’Amaro, on Thursday.

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Staffing Shortages Force GDOT to Curtail Atlanta-Area Interstate Patrols

The Center Square

The Georgia Department of Transportation said it doesn’t have enough personnel to maintain 24-hour Highway Emergency Response Operator patrols, a mainstay of metro Atlanta’s busy interstates.

By July 1, the HERO team will “temporarily pause” its active overnight patrols on metro Atlanta interstates, though personnel will remain available for some calls, such as “high-level incidents.” The HERO units currently maintain a 382-mile coverage area.

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Top Wisconsin Senate Republican Unhappy with ‘Line in the Sand’ over Shared Revenue Specifics

The Center Square

The prospects for Wisconsin’s shared revenue plan got a bit dimmer Thursday after the top Republican in the State Senate said his half of the legislature wants a slightly different plan of their own.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu told reporters Thursday morning that the Senate will hold some public hearings, then vote on a version of the shared revenue proposal that Senators agree upon.

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Virginia Revenue Collections Remain Ahead by Nearly $500 Million

The Center Square

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin says the commonwealth is ahead almost $500 million for the year-to-date general revenue collections – consistent with a prior forecast.

The revenue collections in the first 10 months of the fiscal year were 2.7% higher – adjusted for policy or timing impacts. Although, the unadjusted revenue collections were down 8.2% in April, a 0.9% reduction for the fiscal year-to-date.

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