Posted: February 17, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, February 16, 2010
Contact: Josie Albrecht (515) 419-1038
House Republican Leader Comments on Budget Targets
(DES MOINES)—House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) released the following statement following the Democrats’ release of the partial budget targets:
“These targets give the public an incomplete picture of the Democrats’ spending plan. However, based on what I’ve seen, it appears that legislative Democrats plan to carry forward Gov. Culver’s property tax increases.
“House Republicans will not support a budget that spends more money than the state takes in. Republicans have outlined over $600 million in cost-savings during the last two years. We will continue to fight for limited government and responsible budgeting as the bills move through the process.”
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Posted: February 12, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, February 12, 2010
Contact: Josie Albrecht (515) 419-1038
Democrats’ Plan to Gut Iowa’s Right to Work Law Moves Forward
(DES MOINES)—House Democrats’ plan to gut Iowa’s right to work law cleared another hurdle on Thursday as it received Labor Committee approval. House File 2420 forces non-union employees to pay a portion of their salary to a union. The bill applies to approximately 30,000 executive branch employees. However nothing prevents the bill from being expanded to included private sector employees.
“House Republicans do not support stripping Iowans of their liberties and rights,” said House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha). “Under this proposal, not only will Iowans have to pay to keep their job, they’ll have to hire a lawyer too.”
The legislation forces non-union state government employees to pay up to 75% of union dues. If they do not pay the forced union fees, the union can sue them to collect the fee.
According to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency currently, the 12,000 union members pay $5.6 million to the union. Under this bill, the 18,000 non-union members would be forced to pay $5.3 million to the union.
“House Republicans will continue to stand up for Iowans’ freedoms and protect their right to work,” said Paulsen.
A public hearing will be held Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 from 5pm to 8pm in the House Chamber. Iowans can contact the Legislative Information Office at (515) 281-5129 to testify.
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Posted: February 4, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, February 04, 2010
Contact: Josie Albrecht (515) 419-1038
Democrats File Bill to Gut Iowa’s Right to Work Law
(DES MOINES)—Today in the House Labor committee, Democrats assigned a bill which would gut Iowa’s right to work law. House Study Bill 702 an attempt by House Democrats to take away Iowans’ choice to join a union.
Iowa’s right to work law guarantees that no person can be compelled, as a condition of employment, to join, not join or pay any fees to a labor union. Iowa’s right to work law has been in place since 1947. This bill is a direct attack on hard-working Iowans’ liberties.
“It is simply wrong to tell someone they must give their hard-earned dollars to an organization they have chosen not to be a member of,” said House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha). “A union is not forced to represent non-members. They choose forced monopoly bargaining and now they want to force payment for providing those unwanted services.”
Under the Democrats’ plan, public employees who are non-union would be forced to pay a fee to the union as a condition of their employment, thus completely gutting Iowa’s right to work law.
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