Missouri Gov. Signs Anti-Union Bill; St. Petersburg Mayor Makes Sanctuary City Declaration
Connecting state and local government leaders
Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: More sanitation troubles in Michigan prisons; Baltimore minimum wage bill; and lieutenant governor position may be axed in Illinois.
STATE LEGISLATURES | Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican, signed legislation on Monday that makes Missouri the nation’s 28th right-to-work state, meaning employees at unionized workplaces can opt out of paying unions for the cost of representation. [The Kansas City Star]
A Republican state lawmaker in Illinois wants to eliminate the position of lieutenant governor. “We have a new deputy governor, I have no idea why we need a lieutenant governor too,” according to state Rep. David McSweeney. [CBS Chicago]
An effort in the New York State Assembly to fund a living wage for direct-care workers, like those who assist the mentally disabled, has bipartisan support. There have been increasing concerns that highly-skilled caregivers are leaving those positions because of low pay from non-profit providers. [New York Daily News]
“Right to Rest” legislation, which includes a Homeless Bill of Rights, will be re-introduced in Colorado this month after failed attempts in recent years. The legislation would restrict the ability of municipalities to institute anti-homelessness ordinances. [Westword]
Republicans in Alabama are lining up behind a state legislative proposal to eliminate permitting requirements to carry a concealed handgun. [AL.com]
CITY HALLS | The mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida, has declared that his city will not cooperate with federal immigration authorities. “Immigration, and the provision of shelter for those who arrive here, is hardwired into our national DNA. It is, in fact, the very foundation of America,” Mayor Rick Kriseman wrote in a blog post. The move prompted local Republicans to label the mayor’s sanctuary city declaration as a “liberal stunt.” [Medium; WFTS-TV]
City College of San Francisco tuition will be free beginning next semester for city residents under a deal reached Friday. Mayor Ed Lee has agreed to put $5.4 million of city funds toward the tuition program, which will cover some book costs for low-income students. Members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and others had pushed for a $9 million plan that would have also covered tuition for international students and paid higher book costs. [San Francisco Examiner]
The president of the Baltimore City Council, Jack Young, plans to support new legislation to incrementally increase the city’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2022. A previous attempt to raise the minimum wage failed last year. [Baltimore Business Journal]
PENSIONS | There are more red flags surrounding Rhode Island state pension fund’s investment in a venture fund “than at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.” [Forbes]
INSURANCE REGULATION | In a move being watched by the insurance sector across the nation, the Minnesota Department of Commerce forced the nation’s largest provider “of an obscure but lucrative form of insurance to dramatically overhaul the way it does business in the state.” At issue is the regulation of force-placed insurance where mortgage lenders will obtain expensive homeowner coverage—often 10 times more expensive than a typical policy—to protect their collateral when the homeowner lets their policy lapse. [Star Tribune]
CORRECTIONS | The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration is looking into complaints of raw sewage backups at Parnall Correctional Facility near Jackson, as well as whether human waste and maggots came up through shower drains. There are also questions about whether inmates and prison staff were given adequate protective gear for cleaning up sewage. One corrections employee said that a cleanup effort at one point “involved throwing thousands of pounds of human waste into the facility Dumpster.” [Detroit Free Press]
NEXT STORY: Unpaid State Employee Health Care Bills Mount in Illinois; L.A. Police Worry About Trump Order