21 States Challenge New Obama Overtime Rules; Mich.’s Rural Mental Health Care Crisis
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad Patrick Semansky / AP Photo
Connecting state and local government leaders
Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Virginia state police workforce crunch; Pa. school dispute over ‘lunch-shaming’ policy; no charges for Texas Ag commissioner.
DES MOINES, IOWA
STATE AND FEDERAL RELATIONS | Iowa has joined 20 other states suing the federal government over new overtime regulations. Announced by the U.S. Department of Labor in May, the new rules will make salaried employees earning $47,476 or less annually eligible for time-and-a-half overtime pay if they work over 40 hours per week, that salary threshold is up from $23,660. Republican Gov. Terry Branstad argues that the rules will burden the state with additional costs, and could result in state and local government layoffs. “The proposed rule would add $19.1 million of additional costs on the State of Iowa government and our public universities in the first year,” Branstad said in comments submitted on the regulations. “Quite simply, the proposed rule would be an unfunded mandate upon states.” [Des Moines Register]
UPPER PENINSULA, MICHIGAN
GUN SUICIDES | Upper Peninsula gun suicides exceed the state average by 50 percent due to higher rates of gun ownership, alcohol abuse and depression. Those factors coupled with limited access to mental health services is a recipe for tragedy. Residents report having to wait half a year to get an appointment with a psychiatrist in some cases, and the story is the same across rural America. Community health programs reducing the stigma around mental health illnesses while helping people identify symptoms are in short supply. "The state needs to fill that gap," said Bob Sheehan, Michigan Association of Community Mental Health Board executive director. "The need to reach these people is dire." [MLive|
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
STATE POLICE | Highway safety is unsustainable given the manpower shortage Virginia State Police is experiencing, officials say. So far, in 2016, 103 sworn employees and 76 civilian employees left the agency—leaving 116 sworn vacancies. “The majority of those leaving are doing so to seek better-paying employment in other local, state and federal agencies,” said Col. W. Steven Flaherty, the department’s superintendent. Salaries start at $36,207 for troopers, the lowest for police agencies in the state. Within six months 104 troopers are set to graduate, but the vacancies come in addition to those positions being filled. [Richmond Times-Dispatch]
CANONSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA
SCHOOL LUNCH | A policy enacted by the Canon-McMillan School District to deal with a backlog of 300 parents who owed tens of thousands of dollars for school lunches has come under fire. Stacy Koltiska, a public school cafeteria worker in the district says she quit last week over what she calls a “lunch shaming policy.” According to the rule, students from kindergarten through sixth grade lose their hot lunch and get a sandwich and fruit instead if their parents owe more than $25. Older students lose their lunch entirely. Koltiska says her resignation came after having to take a hot lunch away from an elementary school child. While the school district has said the policy is merely about dealing with deficit lunch accounts, Koltiska doesn’t seem moved, “these people pass these laws and regulations,” she said. “But we are the ones taking that food from that child, not you.” [The Washington Post]
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
LEAD | Cities across the country—from Milwaukee to Boston, Philadelphia to Denver—are overhauling their water infrastructure, with many of these places making extra efforts to deal with the legacy of lead service lines connecting homes to street mains. Many of these places are adding pipe replacements to city projects in a variety of ways, with even more cities set to start projects of their own. Yet, Chicago homeowners will get no assistance with their lead pipes. Administration officials from Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office say it’s up to individual homeowners to replace those pipes at their own expense. And, none of the $412 million the mayor borrowed from a federal-state loan fund for water infrastructure projects will be paying for lead pipe replacement. [Chicago Tribune]
TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS
TRAVELS | Prosecutors here will not press charges against Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller for using taxpayer funds on a pair of trips that involved personal activities. On one trip Miller appeared at a rodeo in Mississippi. There were also indications that a trip Miller took to Oklahoma was planned around getting a medical injection known as a “Jesus Shot,” which some believe can cure all pain for life. “Our office has determined that criminal intent would be difficult to prove in this case,” Assistant District Attorney Susan Oswalt wrote in a memo to the Texas Department of Public Safety. She also noted in the memo that Miller had fully repaid campaign and state funds used to pay for the trips. [The Texas Tribune]
NEXT STORY: A New Push to Clamp Down on the Wage Gap in Cities, States