Posts tagged taxpayers
In Philly, VP Harris details new labor rules for federal construction projects
August 9, 2023 // Vice President Kamala Harris, on Tuesday, visited Philadelphia to announce changes to labor rules that could give higher wages to construction workers on federal projects. At the headquarters of labor union DC 21, in Northeast Philly, Harris detailed the Labor Department's first update in decades to the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, a law that requires the payment of prevailing local wages on public works.
As Illinois budget comes together, total costs of migrant health care, union contracts not known
May 26, 2023 // For pensions, the state plans to spend $10.2 billion, short of the actuarial estimate of what should be paid. “I think that is somewhere in the neighborhood of $16 billion,” Sims said of the actuarial estimate. During a committee hearing on the budget, state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, asked how a looming union contract with state workers will impact the budget. “This is going to hit us eventually, right, presumably in ‘24,” Rose said. “So is it the … departments, plural, are gonna have to live within the means of this budget or are we anticipating another supplemental down the road whenever the contract is released?” Sims said it’s not uncommon for legislators to pass supplemental appropriations if issues arise. Rose said unless the governor is able to curb union employee cost increases, that’s going to be likely.
ILLINOIS: WHAT’S NEXT FOR AMENDMENT 1?
January 6, 2023 // Now that the Illinois Constitution has been amended to expand government union power, residents can expect to see costly government union demands, increased taxes and litigation to clarify its vague language.
PARSIPPANY NJ: Taxpayers Strike Back: Calls for Repeal of Project Labor Agreements
November 7, 2022 // During the meeting, multiple speakers saying they represented the town’s Indian-American community stated they were intimidated by the large presence of union members at the previous two meetings and were hesitant to speak out then. Some residents also expressed they couldn’t get into the meeting held on October 11.
Construction and Taxpayer Coalitions Opposes Biden’s Pro-Project Labor Agreement Proposal
October 21, 2022 // “The proposal will injure competition and increase costs on taxpayer-funded construction contracts included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and other measures passed by Congress that fund public works contracts without government-mandated PLA requirements or PLA preferences. The coalition’s website, BuildAmericaLocal.com, features a grassroots campaign and a number of educational resources such as studies, op-eds, letters, talking points and a social media kit exposing problems with government-mandated PLAs and the Biden administration’s policies promoting anti-competitive and inflationary PLA schemes. The letter was signed by the following organizations: American Concrete Pumping Association American Fire Sprinkler Association American Pipeline Contractors Association American Road & Transportation Builders Association Associated Builders and Contractors Business Coalition for Fair Competition Construction Industry Round Table HR Policy Association Independent Electrical Contractors National Association of Home Builders National Black Chamber of Commerce National Federation of Independent Business National Precast Concrete Association National Ready Mixed Concrete Association National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association National Utility Contractors Association Plastics Pipe Institute Power and Communication Contractors Association Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute Security Industry Association Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council U.S. Chamber of Commerce
N.J. public worker premium hikes, Murphy deal with unions will cost taxpayers. Leaders are baffled.
October 18, 2022 // Murphy, a Democrat, did strike a deal with several state worker unions to mitigate their costs, enraging local leaders and unions representing town and county workers who warn of higher property taxes and layoffs. In the end, New Jersey taxpayers will shoulder the lion’s share of the rise in costs, but exactly how much remains a mystery. The Murphy administration hasn’t provided an exact amount and did not answer questions from legislative officials during budget negotiations.
New California Law Forces Taxpayers to Pay for Union Members’ Dues
October 17, 2022 // On its surface, the law, Assembly Bill 185, provides $400 million of taxpayers’ money to a select group of people who purchase a private, optional service. (The so-called tax credit is refundable, or available to people who do not pay state income taxes, which makes it a payment instead of tax credit.) The stated intent “is to help individuals with the cost of being a member of a union.” But California lawmakers haven’t passed or proposed bills providing hundreds of millions of dollars to help individuals with the cost of becoming members of AAA or their local gym or farm bureau. So, why the special handouts for labor unions alone?
Congress’ Vote on Delphi Pensions Bailout Shows Problem With Putting Unions Above Law
July 28, 2022 // Congress is set to vote this week on HR 6929 to retroactively bail out the pensions of about 20,000 former Delphi auto-parts employees who had their pensions reduced beginning in 2009. This proposed bailout, the Susan Muffley Act of 2022, is different in a number of ways from the recent no-strings-attached $97 billion bailout of about 250 select union pension plans, but it highlights the problem of lawmakers putting powerful unions above the law and requiring taxpayers to pay for their wrongdoing. Delphi Salaried Retirees Association, Bruce Gump, James Sherk, Todd Zywicki, Auto Bailout or UAW Bailout? Taxpayer Losses Came From Subsidizing Union Compensation,
Still-Unreleased Union Deal Rains Cash on State Workers
June 28, 2022 // The still-unreleased deal between the Hochul Administration and the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), state government’s largest group of unionized workers, would award bonuses, backpay, and guaranteed raises the next three years, documents sent to union members show. The tentative agreement, which was negotiated behind closed doors, covers about 56,000 blue- and white-collar state employees in executive branch agencies, including SUNY.
Why the Biden administration’s new Davis-Bacon prevailing wage proposed rule is so troubling for Americans.
June 2, 2022 // Today’s Davis-Bacon requirements are already problematic — driving up overall federal infrastructure costs as high as 10 percent and wages over 20 percent — on top of shifting more work to union over non-union workers despite the fact that over 86 percent of construction workers are not members of a union.