Archive for the ‘State Legislature News’ Category

From Dayton Daily News:

Only two states – Maine and Oregon – have lower tax burdens for new business investments than Ohio, according to a new study released by the Council on State Taxation, a business-backed group, in conjunction with Ernst & Young, the professional services firm.

“Competitiveness of State and Local Taxes on New Investment” found that Ohio has an effective tax rate of 4.4 percent on new investment, lower than all states and the District of Columbia, except Oregon, with a 3.8 percent rate, and Maine, with a 3.0 percent rate, the lowest nationally.

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Are Massachusetts Democrats realizing that colluding with Unions is bad for their state?

From Boston.com:

House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly last night to strip police officers, teachers, and other municipal employees of most of their rights to bargain over health care, saying the change would save millions of dollars for financially strapped cities and towns.

The 111-to-42 vote followed tougher measures to broadly eliminate collective bargaining rights for public employees in Ohio, Wisconsin, and other states. But unlike those efforts, the push in Massachusetts was led by Democrats who have traditionally stood with labor to oppose any reduction in workers’ rights.

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Will former speaker Kirk Adams run for Congress?

From AZCapitolTimes:

House members will be coming to the floor Thursday to elect a new speaker as Kirk Adams, R-Mesa,will be soon stepping down from his position.

House spokesman Daniel Scarpinato said members were notified about the meeting this afternoon.

“He called some members to inform them personally, and staff called everyone else to make sure they could be there,” he said.

Scarpinato would not offer any information about why Adams was stepping down, but the common speculation is that Adams will be pursuing a bid for Congress.

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The RSLC has released a new ad in the Wisconsin 94th Assembly race. The ad targets Democrat Steve Doyle and his “bad decisions.”
Be sure to visit RSLC.com and donate to keep us in the fight in Wisconsin.

Politicians like Democrat Steve Doyle are pushing Wisconsin to the brink. He sponsors a bill to give himself a pay raise and foots taxpayers with the bill. Politician Steve Doyle, doesn’t get it:

From the Washington Post:

The measures are among the thousands of bills proposed as newly empowered GOP statehouses take advantage of their first opportunity in decades to have such a broad impact on policy. Twenty legislative bodies across the country flipped from Democratic to Republican control, and the party picked up governorships in 10 states.

“There’s been a real seismic change in the states, and the effect will be felt for many years,” said Ohio State Rep. Bob Mecklenborg, a key player in Ohio’s voter ID measure. “However, we must be very smart in our approach on many measures and not overplay our hand.”

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Looks like some of the Democrats who fled the state are going to have to deal with a recall. Wisconsinites aren’t happy.

From wsau.com:

Organizers plan to file a petition tomorrow demanding a recall election against Democratic state Senator Jim Holperin.

The Northwoods Patriots group says it has gathered more than 21,000 signatures from residents in Holperin’s 12th Senate district. That’s more than the 15,960 signatures they need.

The petition will be filed with the state Government Accountability Board. If the signatures are validated, the board would schedule an election where Holperin would have to defend his seat.

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Also, an article from Fox11.com says Dave Hansen may have a recall fight on his hands by the end of the week.

A group working to recall State Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, has also told FOX 11 it has enough signatures to force a recall election. More than 13,000 are needed in Hansen’s district. The group has said Winter Storm Gabe delayed its trip to Madison. No date has been announced for the petitions to be filed.

Recall petitions must be filed with the state Government Accountability Board at its offices near the state Capitol. The GAB then works to confirm and certify the signatures, and if there are enough, a recall election is set.

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Check out the ad the RSLC is running in Wisconsin:

Donate to the RSLC!

From NJ.com:

Republicans today challenged the state Senate candidacy of Olympic track and field star Carl Lewis, saying he voted in California as recently as May 2009 and does not meet the state constitution’s four-year residency requirement.

“By voting in 2008 and 2009, Mr. Lewis confirmed that by law, he was a ‘resident’ of the State of California,” the complaint alleges. “Accordingly, Mr. Lewis cannot also have been a ‘resident’ of New Jersey at that tim

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From the Wall Street Journal:

It’s not often that states turn their back on money from Washington, but at least two states may say no thanks to federal grants to implement the new federal health-care law.

In February the federal Department of Health and Human Services selected seven states to get $240 million in demonstration grants this year to kick start the health-care plan. But Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin announced last week that the Sooner State will decline $54.6 million from the feds to establish new insurance exchanges.

And as early as this week the New Hampshire state house is expected to pass a bill rejecting $666,000 the feds bequeathed to that state to start up exchanges. Two other grant recipients—Kansas and Wisconsin—may also turn down the funds as well as request Medicaid waivers to design their own health-care law for low-income residents.

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From Courier-Journal.com:

With the election less than five weeks away, Senate President David Williams holds a commanding lead over his two opponents in the Republican primary race for governor of Kentucky, according to a Courier-Journal/WHAS11 Bluegrass Poll.

But the poll also found that Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear would defeat Williams by 12 percentage points if the general election were held today.

Williams and his running mate, Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer, are favored by 49 percent of Republicans likely to vote in the May 17 primary.

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From PilotOnline:

A House committee Monday approved a revised redistricting map after Gov. Bob McDonnell last week vetoed a bill with plans drawn by the House GOP and Senate Democrats.

The new legislation sponsored by Del. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, resembles the previously adopted House plan, though it reunites some precincts split on the old map.

Senate Democrats also received the governor’s message, which questioned the legality of their map and critiqued it for a lack of compact districts and the division of localities between districts.

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