Nevada Businesses Voice Hardships and Concerns »
(Victor Joecks/NPRI) – As the debate over Nevada fiscal policy continues to intensify, dozens of Silver State businesspeople are reporting the negative effects of government taxation and regulation on their ability to operate businesses successfully. The Nevada Policy Research Institute joined six other organizations today in releasing a collection of letters from members of Nevada’s business community describing the hardships they currently face because of excessive government interference — as well as their concerns that lawmakers [...]
Wisconsin to Unions: Collect Your Own Dues »
(Warner Todd Huston/The Union Label) – Pursuant to Governor Scott Walker’s new rules, as of Monday the State of Wisconsin is no longer taking union dues out of the paychecks of government workers. The state is also charging more for these employee’s healthcare and pensions. Even though there is still a question open of a compromised judge’s ruling to set aside the new law, the state is surging forward and implementing it anyway. Because of [...]
Faculty Unrest: New Campaign for Higher Ed »
(Lori Piotrowski) – The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), an organization founded in the early 1900’s to ensure the academic freedom of university professors, continues to actively work to ensure that the voice of educators is heard during this fiscal crisis. In today’s newsletter, the authors of “Campaign for the Future of Higher Education” advocate that faculty throughout the U.S. begin their own grassroots movement to counter efforts to rein in costs. In January, [...]
Misuse Of Independent Contractors Focus Of Legislative Hearing »
(Sean Whaley/Nevada News Bureau) – A hearing room was packed [March 30] with labor and business representatives for a legislative committee’s consideration of a package of bills aimed at curbing the misuse of independent contractors. The Senate Commerce, Labor and Energy Committee reviewed a package of bills generated from an interim legislative study seeking to clarify when it is appropriate for Nevada businesses to employ independent contractors. The inappropriate use of independent contractors is a [...]
Boulder City Councilwoman Responds to Attacks »
(Councilwoman Linda Strickland) – As a proud mother of 2 Naval Academy graduates now serving our country as Ensigns in the Navy, I am deeply disappointed that Veterans in Politics does not support my commitment to defending the first amendment freedoms of those wrongfully sued by the City. However after learning that Stephen Stubbs (and possibly our City Attorney) are involved in this, I am not surprised. BC politics are not something that one should [...]
When a Conflict is not a Conflict »
(Tracy Strickland) – Boulder City Mayor Roger Tobler & Co. claim that my wife, Councilwoman Linda Strickland, has a conflict of interest. Really? The Charter requires that elected officials represent all of the people of Boulder City because they are elected “at large” versus elected to represent district or wards. (Look at our Charter, Article II Section 4 “Number; Selection & Term; Recall”) This paragraph only reflects the “at large’ status of our elected officials, [...]
A Billion Here, A Billion There: The Cost of Prevailing Wage »
(Michael Chamberlain/Nevada Business Coalition) - One thing that most everybody can agree on is that it doesn’t make sense to overpay for something. If you were at a gas station and noticed gasoline at one pump selling for one price and the same grade and type of gasoline in the pump right next to it selling for twice as much, would you buy the higher-priced gas? We would hope not. Yet the state of Nevada and [...]
Union Employees Continue the Rabble-Rousing »
(Lori Piotrowski) – The Clark County Education Association (that’s the teachers union) continues to actively lobby and campaign for a larger piece of the budget pie. It wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t use resources paid for by taxpayers. Ruben Murillo, Jr., the CCEA president, sent out a flyer via his CCSD e-mail account yesterday afternoon (let’s not even go into why a nonteacher has a school e-mail account). I ask that you take [...]
Unions Prevail While Most Nevadans Struggle »
(Geoffrey Lawrence/NPRI) – In the 2011 Nevada Legislature, lawmakers in the majority are again carrying water for organized trade unions — from the Keynesian “jobs fund” proposal to the mercantilist “Nevada Jobs First” proposal. Longtime Nevada residents know this is nothing new. It began in the 1930s, when legislators first adopted the state’s prevailing wage requirements on public works projects. Prevailing wage laws in Nevada are adapted from federal language contained in the Davis-Bacon Act [...]
We All Pay the Price for Collective Bargaining »
(Jim Clark) – The stranglehold that public employee unions have over elected officials seems headed for a perfect storm. Recent events in Wisconsin associated with a GOP legislative effort to greatly curtail the lawful scope of collective bargaining seems to have educated the public. Scenes of unionized teachers playing hooky to storm the state capitol day after day, doctors from the University of Wisconsin on the streets dispensing phony written excuses and Democratic state senate [...]
   |
  |