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Ohio Governor: Collective Bargaining Law Saves $1.3 Billion
Last Updated on Tuesday, 5 April 2011 02:09 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 5 April 2011 02:09
From Cleveland.com:
As union groups on Monday took the first step to blocking Ohio’s controversial new collective bargaining law, Gov. John Kasich’s administration released its fiscal analysis of the measure, claiming it will save state and local governments almost $1.3 billion a year.
The fiscal analysis of the law, which was known as Senate Bill 5, was done by officials in Kasich’s Department of Administrative Services (DAS). It claims the state would see $191 million in savings if the provisions of the law were implemented — a drop in the bucket compared to the $120 billion all-funds budget proposed by Kasich.
By far, the analysis shows the biggest chunk of savings would benefit local governments which would net some $1.1 billion a year, the projections show
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Mississippi Lawmakers Pass Budget
Last Updated on Tuesday, 5 April 2011 02:01 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 5 April 2011 02:00
From SunHerald.com:
Mississippi lawmakers on Monday easily passed dozens of bills that make up the state’s $5.5 billion budget for the year that begins July 1.
The bills cover everything from public schools to mental health to prisons. Money is tight because the pace of economic recovery is uncertain. Many programs – including elementary and secondary education – will receive roughly the same amount of money as this year.
The budget has no pay raises for state employees. It does not increase or decrease taxes.
There was little discussion about details of the budget in either chamber Monday because most of the tough decisions were made last week by a small group of negotiators.
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Stateline: State Budgets Explained
Last Updated on Tuesday, 5 April 2011 01:56 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 5 April 2011 01:56
From Stateline:
Not only has 2011 been the toughest budget year in a long time for many states. It’s also been one of the most confusing in terms of understanding how big the budget gaps really are.
In Texas, some people talk of a $15 billion budget shortfall. Others put it vastly higher, at $27 billion. Statehouse reporters, unwilling to pick sides, often describe the shortfall as “between $15 billion and $27 billion.”
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Iowa: Senate Pushes Tax Credits for Wind and Solar Energy
Last Updated on Tuesday, 5 April 2011 01:53 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 5 April 2011 01:53
From Quad City Times:
Iowa senators approved refundable tax credits for solar and wind energy Wednesday, despite an argument that the state would be subsidizing those installations.
Senate File 516 would provide a tax credit of up to $15,000 of the cost of construction or installation of commercial or agricultural wind or solar energy systems and $3,000 for residential systems. The program is capped at $10 million in credits annually.
Iowa is a leader in biofuels and “big wind,” Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, said, “but we haven’t done much in solar or small wind systems.”
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RSLC: With Washington Democrats Out of Gas, RSLC Launches Ad Taking Them to Task
Last Updated on Friday, 1 April 2011 12:25 Written by rslcpol Friday, 1 April 2011 12:23
Alexandria, Va. (April 1, 2011) – With a Democratically led Washington State Legislature yet to roll out a budget, Democratic Senators “resisting” efforts to scale back $2 million the state spends on artwork, and a fiscal situation worsening by the week, the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) launched a web video today, taking the party to task for relentlessly attacking Attorney General Rob McKenna rather than focusing on solutions.
“Washington Democrats are clearly in a position where they can’t get their act together, they’re afraid to make difficult decisions, and are already running against a non-existent 2012 campaign,” said RSLC Chairman Ed Gillespie. “In the last election, voters overwhelmingly showed they are tired of leaders who simply want to keep things as they are and protect the status quo, and Washington Democrats are risking a great deal by attacking Rob McKenna rather than problem solving.”
The video, “Out of Gas,” notes that despite the fact that McKenna is not even a candidate, “Washington State Democrats are racing to 2012” and “revving up attacks against Republicans instead of seeking real solutions to the state’s problems.”
The ad cites recent comments from Seattle P-I columnist Joel Connelly – not exactly a Republican cheerleader – that said, “State Democrats — have fired off boilerplate attacks a full 20 months before the 2012 election. It’s the usual clumsy, guilt-by-association stuff.” The column went on to say “When a party has held power for a long time, and is running low on gas, there’s an old, oft-deployed survival strategy: Gin up fears and try to drag down the promising alternative. … The current Democratic administration in Olympia IS out of gas.”
“After watching Washington Democrats attack Republicans and mislead the voters about their positions, it comes as no surprise that Republicans picked up legislative seats in the last election, and that those on the left are criticizing the party’s tactics,” said Gillespie. “The Democrats’ tank is empty.”
About the RSLC
The RSLC is the largest caucus of Republican state leaders and the only national organization whose mission is to elect down ballot, state-level Republican office-holders. Since 2002, the RSLC has been working to elect candidates for the office of Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State and State Legislator. The RSLC has more than 100,000 donors in all 50 states. The RSLC raised more than $30 million for the 2009-2010 cycle as part of an effort that picked up 20 legislative chambers, six Attorneys General, three Lieutenant Governors and seven Secretaries of State.
The RSLC includes The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) whose mission is electing Republicans to the Office of Attorney General. Since its founding in 2000, the impact of the RAGA has been significant as the number of Republican Attorneys General has increased in five of the past ten elections, growing from fourteen to twenty three nationwide. In 2010, Republicans won 16 out of 30 Attorneys General races, including pick-ups in Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Ohio, and Oklahoma. All previously held Republican seats were successfully defended and maintained.
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RSLC: The Groups that Helps Fight Back
Last Updated on Thursday, 31 March 2011 01:02 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 31 March 2011 01:02
From the Politico:
“We generally are welcomed when we come in because we bring resources and a level of sophistication,” said Chris Jankowski, president of the Republican State Leadership Committee, the GOP’s state campaign arm.
The committee primed Wisconsin for conflict by spending more than $1 million to flip both chambers last November — and $31 million overall in a national effort that cost Democrats more than 700 legislative seats across the nation, the most ever by either party. Democrats lost control of 20 legislative chambers on election night, a number that grew to 21 when party-switchers handed the Louisiana Senate to the GOP.
“The Democrats started this. They got better at it quicker further down the ballot,” Jankowski explained. “The Republicans we work with feel like, ‘Thank God. Finally I’ve got a group that can help me fight back.’”
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Wisconsin Democrats Set New Hypocrisy Bar
Last Updated on Thursday, 31 March 2011 12:11 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 31 March 2011 12:02
RSLC Calls Out Democratic Party of Wisconsin over Efforts to Pull Ad from Airwaves
Alexandria, Va. (March 31, 2011) –Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) President Chris Jankowski issued the following statement today after the Democratic Party of Wisconsin sought to pull an RSLC issue ad that portrayed a Wisconsin teacher with every reason to leave the state if Senator Dave Hansen, in collusion with union bosses, had their way over the educational system:
“The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has set a new bar when it comes to hypocrisy in politics. They silently stood by while former Senator Russ Feingold fabricated an entire person and did not disclose file footage, but now attack the RSLC for portraying a Wisconsin teacher and making this portrayal abundantly clear.
“The fact of the matter is that we took the extra step of adding “File Footage” to the ad to make it clear to Wisconsin voters that this was a vivid representation of the teachers in Wisconsin that could leave the state if Senator Hansen succeeded in continuing to tie the best teachers’ pay to that of the worst.
“Furthermore, after witnessing the abhorrent actions on the part of union-backed protestors at the state house, we would never put a teacher in an ad for fear that his or her safety would be endangered and because no teacher should be subjected to outrageous comparisons to unseemly figures.”
The RSLC plans to continue running the issue ad at a rate of approximately $50,000 weekly.
About the RSLC
The RSLC is the largest caucus of Republican state leaders and the only national organization whose mission is to elect down ballot, state-level Republican office-holders. Since 2002, the RSLC has been working to elect candidates for the office of Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State and State Legislator. The RSLC has more than 100,000 donors in all 50 states. The RSLC raised more than $30 million for the 2009-2010 cycle as part of an effort that picked up 20 legislative chambers, six Attorneys General, three Lieutenant Governors and seven Secretaries of State. The RSLC spent $1.1 million in Wisconsin to help take control of the Senate and Assembly, including spending nearly $500,000 to target Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker. The RSLC was the only group to target Decker who was defeated soundly by Republican Pam Galloway.
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Democrat Groups Drop Big Money in Wisconsin; RSLC Fighting Back
Last Updated on Tuesday, 29 March 2011 12:35 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 29 March 2011 12:35
From the Politico:
Republicans have fired back with recalls and an ad campaign of their own. The Republican State Leadership Committee, the national GOP’s down-ballot campaign arm, last week targeted two Democratic senators with an ad campaign the committee said would run for weeks with a six-figure price tag.
The liberal groups say they are putting more than $100,000 behind their new ad, which is being funded through their Wisconsin local affiliates. The two groups have spent more than half a million dollars on television in Wisconsin to date.
“This new TV ad captures the grassroots magic of the campaign to recall Republican senators,” said Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “It also shows that folks in Wisconsin of all ages and political stripes are coming together to reject Republican policies that give millions to big corporations in tax cuts while forcing middle-class families, schools, and communities to pay the price.”
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Fox News: RSLC in Wisconsin
Last Updated on Tuesday, 29 March 2011 12:32 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 29 March 2011 12:32
The RSLC is fighting back liberal interest groups that just dropped $100,000 in Wisconsin on TV. See what you can do to help the RSLC here: http://www.rslc.com/Wisconsin
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WI: Republicans’ Bill would block Federal Health Care Law
Last Updated on Thursday, 24 March 2011 01:16 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 24 March 2011 01:16
From postcrescent.com:
Two Wisconsin GOP legislators will try to block the state from implementing parts of the federal health care reform law.
A bill being circulated by Sen. Joe Liebham of Sheboygan and Rep. Robin Vos of Racine would amend the state Constitution to prohibit passing any law requiring residents to participate in a health care plan.
The new health care law requires each state to create a health care exchange by 2014. Atty. Gen. J.B. Van Hollen claims the law is unconstitutional and joined a multistate lawsuit against the law in January. Wisconsin also is looking into private alternatives to the health care exchanges.
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