The Right’s Stealth Plan to Kill Unions: Do It County by County - The Daily Beast

 

In Kentucky and now Illinois, pro-right to work forces are skipping statewide pushes to gut organized labor in favor of local battles that they hope will upend the entire state.

CHICAGO — If there was an item in the Painters District Council 30 monthly newsletter regarding “right to work” in Illinois, Dave Schmidgall must have missed it. The longtime union painter, living in Peoria and approaching 50, has a mindset that many of his union brothers and sisters his age have:

“It’ll never happen,” he said.

Unless a union-busting lawyer from Florida and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner get their way, that is. Unable to pass a bill statewide with a Democratic supermajority in the legislature, Rauner and others are pushing for counties to enact their own “empowerment zones,” where right-to-work would become law. In Brent Yessin, the lawyer who runs a nonprofit called Protect My Check, unions have a powerful foe.

Union advocates argue that collecting dues from members who don’t wish to be represented by the union is essential to keeping the organizations alive. In right-to-work states—and in the “empowerment zones” Rauner and others like Yessin are pushing for—unions wouldn’t be allowed to collect these “fair share dues” from members who opt out of union membership. (As union membership declines, poverty increases.)

While many in Illinois, like Schmidgall, consider right to work impossible, they might want to start paying attention before counties begin turning anti-union one by one like they have in neighboring Kentucky. In last six months in there, Yessin has been instrumental in implementing right to work in 12 of Kentucky’s 120 counties. While he wouldn’t say who exactly he’s working with, Yessin made clear his organization is taking the fight to Illinois.

Yessin and Rauner contend that the Illinois constitution grants “home rule” powers to any municipality with more than 25,000 residents, letting cities and counties the right to decide for themselves if they want to become right to work.

“The goal would be to pass enough of them that you have an influence on state policy,” Yessin told The Daily Beast of local right to work ordinances. In Kentucky, Yessin and his allies believe they are reaching a “tipping point,” where lawmakers will pass right to work at the state level simply because so many counties have already done it.

“I think downstate Illinois gets a lot more interested as we push into Kentucky and Missouri.”

He may be correct. In June, Effingham, just a two-hour drive from the Kentucky border, broached the subject. The city council introduced a resolution to support Rauner’s agenda, which calls for cities and counties to decide for themselves whether to enact right-to-work. Dexter Sloan, a union worker, spoke against the resolution at a city council meeting.

“Almost five years ago, my firstborn son had a brain aneurysm and died in my arms—because I didn’t have insurance,” Sloan said, according to the local paper. “That’s when I left and went union.”

While union members like Sloan have been vocal in their opposition to right to work, those who support it are less likely to speak up. Cue Yessin and Protect My Check.

“Union people think it’s a bunch of millionaires sitting around in a room and deciding to push this,” he said. “Contrary to the union’s opinions on this, if there’s not a grassroots support, we’re not going to shove it down their throat.”

 

It’s virtually impossible to tell how true Yessin’s claim is. Protect My Check is a non-profit that isn’t required to disclose its donors. Like many political action committees, Protect My Check is designated as a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization by the IRS. Such organizations are technically designed to promote social welfare, like charities and local church groups, but often serve partisan ends. Yessin said the group accepts donations from local business people who support right to work, but it also receives big donations and grants from larger groups, although he wouldn’t say whom.

Through Protect My Check, Yessin helps to craft right to work ordinances and, in some cases, defend them when they come under attack in court. This is currently the case in Kentucky, where some of the 12 right to work counties are now in a legal fight with unions who contend the ordinances violate state and federal labor laws.

Yessin has been involved in similar battles for decades, and his connections in the business community combined with his legal expertise make him a formidable ally for small town legislators looking to enact right to work. Yessin and his group give local governments the legal and financial muscle to defend their actions, muscle that is often only available to the unions they’re fighting against.

Rauner’s staff didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment, and the governor’s administration denied a Freedom of Information Act request that called for the release of emails related to right to work.

“I never comment on communications with elected officials unless it helps them,” Yessin said when asked whether he’s been in talks with the Rauner administration.

Democratic Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said that the National Labor Relations Act does not allow local units of government like cities and counties to enact right to work. The Rauner administration told the Chicago Tribune that it “respectfully disagrees” with Madigan.

Schmidgall hadn’t heard of Yessin, and while he certainly has his gripes with the union and the dues he has to pay, he said right to work simply isn’t feasible for him. He’s almost done paying off his house. A new-but-used Harley Davidson sits in his garage next to a truck with just a few payments left on it. His pool is clean, full and ready for summer; his fridge is stocked with beer.

“It’s never going to happen here, dude,” Schmidgall said. “Besides, I only have eight years until retirement. There’s no way in hell it’ll happen before then.”

From:  The Right’s Stealth Plan to Kill Unions: Do It County by County - The Daily Beast

Out on the piss? Danish festival recycles urine to make beer | World news | The Guardian

 

Organisers of Roskilde festival plan to collect 25,000 litres of waste liquid to fertilise barley crops that will ultimately be ‘beercycled’ into pilsner

Beer served at The Sinking Ships stall at the Roskilde festival in Denmark. Punters in 2017 could sup lager made with the help of urine from this year’s attendees. Photograph: Torben Christensen/EPA

Helen Russell in Aarhus

Under a cloudless sky, shirtless Vikings with plastic cups of beer in hand are queuing excitedly along a patch of sawdust-covered earth to urinate in a metal trough. Their “contributions” are being collected in specially designed storage tanks, which will then be transported to nearby fields to fertilise malting barley for brewing beer.

“From piss to pilsner” is a new initiative being launched at Roskilde – northern Europe’s largest music festival – in Zealand, Denmark, this week. Organisers hope to collect 25,000 litres of urine from more than 100,000 festivalgoers.

If everything goes to plan, guests at Roskilde 2017 will be served beer from barley fertilised by their own urine. “It’s about changing our approach to waste, from being a burden to being a valuable resource,” says Leif Nielsen from the Danish Agriculture & Food Council (DAFC), which is partnering with festival organisers to promote “beercycling”. …

Read the rest of the article by clicking on the following:   Out on the piss? Danish festival recycles urine to make beer | World news | The Guardian

APNewsBreak: US South getting its first big wind farm soon

 

On a vast tract of old North Carolina farmland, crews are getting ready to build something the U.S. South has never seen: a commercial-scale wind energy farm.

The $600 million project by the Spanish firm Iberdrola Renewables LLC will put 102 turbines on 22,000 acres (8,900 hectares) near the coastal community of Elizabeth City, with plans to add about 50 more. Once up and running, it could generate about 204 megawatts, or enough electricity to power about 60,000 homes.

It would be the first large onshore wind farm in a region with light, fluctuating winds that has long been a dead zone for wind power.

After a years-long regulatory process that once appeared to have doomed the plan, Iberdrola spokesman Paul Copleman told The Associated Press that construction is to begin in about a month.

Right now, there's not a spark of electricity generated from wind in nine states across the Southeast from Arkansas to Florida, according to data from the American Wind Energy Association, an industry trade group.

But taller towers and bigger turbines are unlocking new potential in the South, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, and the industry is already looking to invest.

And with the electricity system in the region undergoing a period of change as coal plants are phased out, some experts believe the door is open for renewables like wind.

Federal energy researchers have found stronger winds at higher elevations that can be tapped by new towers and bigger rotor blades. New federal maps of onshore wind flows at higher elevations than were previously available indicate that this new technology significantly increases the areas that wind can thrive, especially in the Southeast.

"If you go higher, the wind is better," said Jose Zayas, director of the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office at the Department of Energy. "The question is how you get there responsibly and economically."

The average tower height now in the U.S. is about 260 feet (79 meters); the new technology allows turbines to mine air at 460 feet (140 meters).

The project in North Carolina was not viable just a decade ago, company officials said. But the new, larger turbines unlocked the area's potential.

Wind farms in 36 states already generate about 5 percent of U.S. energy — low compared to other countries like Denmark (28 percent), Portugal, Spain and Ireland (16 percent each). South Dakota and Iowa already derive about 20 percent of their electric energy from wind, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The Energy Department believes the U.S. can generate 20 percent of the country's power with wind by 2030, and opening up the Southeast and other new areas is a key to achieving that goal.

There are hurdles: Utilities in most Southern states have not invested heavily in renewable energy. Also, only North Carolina has adopted a state law mandating utilities to increase their renewable energy portfolios.

But other factors are already forcing change in the region's energy market. Abundant natural gas, coal being phased out and aging nuclear plants are creating a potentially robust market for wind power as utilities seek the next best investment to add to their energy mixes, said Jonas Monast of Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.

Still, without state renewable energy mandates like North Carolina's, the growth could be slow going, experts said.

Another issue facing wind farms in the Southeast is protecting the region's birds and bats.

The danger of wind turbines to birds like rare golden eagles and bats has plagued or derailed major projects in the West. Avian research is now factored into decisions on where to put wind farms, and can make or break a project.

Because no wind farms exist anywhere in the South, little research has been done on the issue. Researchers and developers will have to catch up.

___

Dearen reported from Gainesville, Florida.

APNewsBreak: US South getting its first big wind farm soon

Some Republicans not cashing checks from Rauner : News

 

•  Kurt Erickson and Jordan Maddox The Southern Springfield Bureau

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SPRINGFIELD -- Republican lawmakers may be following Gov. Bruce Rauner's lead when it comes to his battle with House Speaker Michael Madigan, but some members of the minority party say the governor's decision to dole out $400,000 in campaign contributions to them during the final days of the legislative session was unusual and possibly inappropriate.

In what amounts to a rare departure from the unity GOP lawmakers have shown in Rauner's first six months in office, a handful of downstate Republicans say they have not cashed the checks Rauner's political fundraising arm made to their campaign funds because it could be viewed as him buying their votes.

"I don’t want to make it look like someone is influencing me from the administration. So, it’s setting in a drawer and we’re going to hold it," said state Rep. David Reis, a Willow Hill Republican, speaking of the checks worth $3,000 to $10,000 that Rauner sent to each Republican member of the House and Senate.

“I thought the timing was unusual. So while we are debating issues, I thought it inappropriate to accept it," state Rep. Keith Sommer, R-Morton, said last week.

In May, as the Legislature's regular spring session was lurching toward an uncertain end, Rauner sent checks worth a total of $400,000 to the 67 Republicans in both chambers. The first-term governor, a wealthy private equity investor before seeking the state's top office, had previously said he would back lawmakers who support his agenda, as well as use his considerable campaign fund to beat up on those who oppose him.

The move clearly made some lawmakers uncomfortable.

In the days after the checks went out, state Sen. Sam McCann, R-Plainview, told the (Springfield) State Journal-Register, that Rauner might have waited until after the dust settled from the spring session.

In June, an expert on state campaign finance laws told Illinois Issues magazine that the contributions were "unprecedented."

“The idea of a governor making contributions to a whole caucus is something I don’t remember ever happening," retired University of Illinois-Springfield professor Kent Redfield told the magazine.

According to a review of the contributions as of last week, six members of the Senate had still not cashed their checks, including state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet.

In the House, 16 of the 47 GOP members had not cashed Rauner's checks.

In all, the lawmakers have collectively left $119,000 of Rauner's money on the table.

Rauner, the first Republican governor in a dozen years, has locked horns with the Democrats who control the House and the Senate, leading to a stalemate over the state budget that has left the state on the verge of a potential shutdown. The governor also has blasted state labor unions, putting some GOP lawmakers -- who represent unionized workers at state prisons, retirees and university employees -- on the hot seat.

Along with Reis and Sommer, state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, was among those who said the contributions felt odd.

"While we appreciate the donation, I haven’t made a final decision of where, if and when, that I’ll do with the check," Brady said.

Brady said he may even give away the money Rauner gave him.

"As far as depositing the check, as far as possibly using the check to go towards other charities, or to other areas that might be beneficial, that’s what I’m looking at," Brady said.

State Rep. Don Moffitt, R-Gilson, also said he's unsure what he'll do with Rauner's cash.

“I’ve received a few contributions here during the session and I’ve just put them aside rather than to open them and deposit them while there was still legislation going through the process. Timing is a bit unusual,” Moffitt said.

Although Moffitt said he'd "probably" cash the check after lawmakers end their impasse over the budget, he said the contribution made him uncomfortable.

"I just thought to receive it while there is still pending legislation, I’d feel more comfortable after the session is over. And this one just doesn’t want to end," Moffitt said.

Those who have accepted the cash include Republican state Reps. Tim Butler of Springfield, Adam Brown of Champaign, Tom Bennett of Gibson City, Terri Bryant of Murphysboro and Bill Mitchell of Forsyth,

In the Senate, those who took the money include state Sens. Tim Bivins of Dixon, Bill Brady of Bloomington, Dave Luechtefeld of Okawville, Neil Anderson of Rock Island, Dale Righter of Mattoon and Jason Barickman of Bloomington.

Rauner spokesman Lance Trover did not return messages seeking comment about the contributions.

kurt.erickson@lee.net

Some Republicans not cashing checks from Rauner : News

10 Things You Should Know About Gov. Rauner's Pension Reform Proposal | Reboot Illinois

 

Reboot The pension reform plan proposed by Governor Rauner could impact more than just public pensions. State and local public workers in Illinois would lose collective bargaining rights for pensions, wages, work hours and tenure through this single reform.

The plan, which Rauner announced Wednesday, contains significant pension reforms, but also contains other measures that Rauner has tried unsuccessfully to get through the legislature. A higher standard of proof for employee injury claims and bankruptcy eligibility for Illinois municipalities are among them. It also allocates funds from a Chicago casino for Chicago police and firefighter pensions even though legislation for a city casino has not been debated during Rauner's time in office.

While Rauner said his bill includes suggestions from Senate President John Cullerton and Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, it quickly became clear that it was not a collaborative effort.

From Natasha Korecki of the Chicago Sun-Times, who quotes Cullerton's spokeswoman, Rikeesha Phelon:

President Cullerton recognizes that the governor is accepting of many of the principles he's outlined but the specifics that the governor is advancing is far away from policies that Cullerton could support.

To simply co-opt language that the Senate President has used and call that negotiation, really does change the definition of negotiation and compromise. You can't simply co-opt language and pay lip service to someone's leadership and call that a negotiation.

Here are the main points of Rauner's proposal:

1. Removes pensions, wages, hours of work and employee tenure from the collective bargaining process.

2. Applies changes to items removed from collective bargaining:

Wages would not decline for five years.
Vacation resets to two weeks for members with less than 15 years of service, and three weeks for those who have more than 15 years of service.
Adjusts vacancy and overtime rights.
Overtime pay would kick in at 40 hours instead of 37.5 hours, matching federal law.

3. Offers incentives for employees to move to the lower benefit plan:

Salary package - $2,000 transition bonus, one-time $3,000 salary increase, overtime pay at 37.5 hours and no additional vacation days.
Vacation package - $2,000 transition bonus, one-time $2,000 salary increase, overtime pay at 37.5 hours and two additional weeks of vacation
Overtime/vacancy package - $2,000 transition bonus, no salary increase, overtime pay at 37.5 hours, two additional weeks of vacation; priority rights in work schedule, vacation, overtime and "bumping."

4. Those now eligible for the highest pension benefits (in the Tier 1 plan that applies to employees hired before 2011) would have to choose between switching to a reduced cost of living adjustment in retirement or agreeing that all future salary increases will be excluded from their pension calculations. Under current law, they receive a 3 percent, annually compounded increase in their pension every year. The new formula would grant annual, non-compounded increases of the lesser of 3 percent or half the U.S. Consumer Price Index.

5. Employees in Cook County would have to choose between the pension plan introduced by the county-except for the aforementioned collective bargaining changes-or choose between a reduced COLA benefit or agree that all future salary increases are excluded from pension benefit calculations.

6. The funding schedule for Chicago Police and Fire pensions would change from the current target of 90 percent by 2040 to 90 percent by 2055, including a five-year period from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2021 where mandatory pension payments are set in statute.

7. Downstate police and fire pension funding schedules would also change to 90 percent funded by 2055.

8. Transfers the investment assets of 642 individual downstate police and fire pension funds to the $35.6 billion Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. The state's police and fire pension funds would remain independent entities administered apart from IMRF.

9. Changes the definition of catastrophic injury in the Public Safety Employee Benefit Act so it clearly states that such an injury would preclude the injured employee from performing gainful work.

10. Newly hired public safety employees would receive Tier 3 benefits, which is a hybrid defined-benefit and defined-contribution plan with local control on defined contribution benefits.

Check out Reboot Illinois to see four more ways Rauner's pension reforms could impact you, including effects on schools

10 Things You Should Know About Gov. Rauner's Pension Reform Proposal | Reboot Illinois

Illinois budget impasse seen lasting for weeks

 

By Karen Pierog

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The standoff in Illinois between newcomer Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and long-time Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan showed no sign of abating as the state approached a second full week without a budget for the fiscal year that started July 1.

"This could go on for weeks. Or a few months? It’s all uncharted waters at this point," Christopher Mooney, director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois, said on Friday.

He said pressure to pass a budget eased with Rauner's signing last month of a funding bill ensuring schools will open on time in September. The pressure could ease further if state courts ultimately allow state workers to be paid without a budget.

While Rauner and Madigan exchanged barbs this week, Illinois continued to have the worst funded pension system and the lowest credit ratings among the 50 states.

The budget battle has not triggered any rating action that could push Illinois into the low-investment grade level of triple-B rarely assigned a state. That could change.

Moody's Investors Service analyst Ted Hampton said the longer the impasse continues, the harder it will become for Illinois to balance its budget.

"At a certain point, the impasse, the gridlock does matter," he said. "The question is who's going to blink first."

Standard & Poor's warned this week it could take "rating action within the next two months, even in the absence of an adopted budget if, in our view, there is limited progress in budget deliberations or if credit fundamentals weaken."

On Wednesday, Rauner dared Madigan to use his Democratic House majority to pass a tax hike, a move the speaker later said was "not realistic." The governor also reintroduced a package of controversial reforms, including a property tax freeze and legislative term limits, that he wants before he considers new revenue.

Madigan shot back, releasing a list of seven House hearings that Rauner's Administration failed to attend to answer questions despite the governor's campaign pledge for an open and transparent government.

"We have considered the issuance of subpoenas but we haven't done it because we want to be reasonable," Madigan told reporters on Thursday.

Overtime legislative sessions have given lawmakers a stage to vent frustration at the impasse and each other.

During a Thursday House debate on a one-month budget, Republican State Representative Chad Hays suggested that lawmakers be locked in the capitol.

"This is ridiculous. Day after day after day we're no closer to a budget," he said.

(Reporting By Karen Pierog; Editing by David Gregorio)

Illinois budget impasse seen lasting for weeks

These 20 schools are responsible for a fifth of all graduate school debt - The Washington Post

 

These 20 schools are responsible for a fifth of all graduate school debt

By Danielle Douglas-Gabriel July 9

In this Oct. 6, 2011 photo, Gan Golan of Los Angeles, dressed as the “Master of Degrees,” holds a ball and chain representing his college loan debt during Occupy DC activities in (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Getting an advanced degree doesn’t come cheap, which is why graduate students carry nearly half of all student debt. But it turns out that a handful of schools are responsible for a large share of that money.

A new study from the Center for American Progress (CAP) found that 20 universities received one-fifth, or $6.5 billion, of the total amount of loans the government gave graduate students in the 2013-2014 academic year. Those schools, however, only educate 12 percent of all graduate students.

What’s striking about the Center’s findings is that a majority of the debt taken to attend the 20 schools on its list is not for law or medical degrees that promise hefty paydays. Most graduate students at those schools are seeking master’s degrees in journalism, fine arts or government, according to CAP.

[It’s about to get cheaper to borrow for college]

Still, at two foreign medical schools, St. George’s University in Grenada and Ross University in Dominica, students borrowed more than $200 million in a single school year. Medical schools in the Caribbean are often a refuge for students rejected from top American schools, but their tuition easily rival schools in the United States. Tuition for one semester at Ross, for instance, costs up to $21,710.

It’s not exactly shocking that pricey private schools like New York University, Georgetown University and George Washington University made the list–tuition alone at all three schools is well over $40,000 a year. But the eight for-profit colleges, including University of Phoenix and Capella University, may raise some eyebrows.

Indeed, students borrowed the most amount of money, $756 million, to attend Walden University, a for-profit school that specializes in offering graduate degrees in education, healthcare and business. The second highest loan balance on the list is attributed to Nova Southeastern University, a private college in Florida where 59 percent of students are working toward graduate degrees online.

Although online programs are billed as time and cost effective, schools like Nova and Liberty University prove otherwise. About 98 percent of graduate students at Liberty, founded by evangelical leader Jerry Falwell, are enrolled in online programs that led them to borrow $351 million in a single year.

These 20 schools are responsible for a fifth of all graduate school debt - The Washington Post