Ballot Questions: Election Post-Mortem

It was an even split on election day for questions on keeping a tipped wage as Portland Maine voters resoundingly rejected a ballot proposal to eliminate the tipped wage and hike the minimum within the city to $18 per hour. Question D, as the initiative was known went down to defeat by a 61-39% margin.…

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2022 Ballot Questions: Right to Work

We’ve emphasized in this space before the importance of getting out to vote and that elections do indeed have consequences. As the 2022 midterm elections come into greater focus, it’s important to take a look around at some of the ballot initiatives that voters will be deciding in a few weeks. On many topics, Illinois…

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On The Horizon with a Federal Trifecta

Well, it seems the unlikely has happened and Georgia voters turned the formerly-red state solid blue this week and with it, flipped the US Senate to democratic control. With the White House, US House of Representatives and now the US Senate all being in democratic control, what can we expect to see coming out of…

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Missouri Governor Signs Right to Work, Resigns

Hard to find the right category to put this one in, but former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens signed a right to work bill (HB.1413) into law in the “Show Me” state, then officially resigned as governor in the face of a long-simmering sex and corruption scandal. Greitens, who was a pro-business leader in Missouri, was…

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Right to Work Suit

Labor unions in Kentucky have filed suit formally challenging the legality of Kentucky’s new right-to-work law.  In January, the Bluegrass State became the 27th state in the union to adopt right to work when the governor signed the bill into law. (There are now 28 right to work states in the country after Missouri law…

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National Right-To-Work

While unions focus on trying to smear Andy Puzder as labor Secretary-nominee, the appeal of right to work legislation continues to grow with federal legislation now having been filed to make right-to-work the law of the land!  Earlier this week, Congressmen Steve King (R-IA) and Joe Wilson (R-SC) introduced H.R. 785, the National Right to…

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Court Strikes Local Right to Work Law

Well, we now have competing federal court decisions on the question of whether local communities and counties can establish their own right to work laws. This week, the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois struck down a local right-to-work law adopted by the town of Lincolnshire, approximately 30 miles north of Chicago.…

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Kentucky Becomes 27th Right-To-Work State

Notwithstanding the above, Kentucky effectively mooted the aforementioned Hardin County court case when Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin signed Kentucky right to work legislation into law last Saturday.  The newly republican-controlled Kentucky Senate moved quickly to get the bill before the governor after the House (also boasting a republican majority) passed the bill last week.  The…

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Local Right-to-Work Laws Upheld in Kentucky

There are currently 26 states (more than half the country) that have enacted right-to-work laws – prohibiting non-union members from being forced to pay union dues against their will – but Kentucky is not one of them.  And, with the Kentucky House controlled by pro-union democratic representatives, the votes were not there to enact right-to-work…

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Illinois Nonunion Member Fees Challenged Too

The flip side of the right to work debate is being resurrected in Illinois where two government employees are seeking to appeal a dismissal by the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  The case, Janus v. AFSCME, was originally brought by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner challenging government worker unions for requiring “fair…

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