Thursday, March 25, 2010

“Tennessee begins layoffs of 853 state employees - Knoxville News Sentinel” plus 3 more

“Tennessee begins layoffs of 853 state employees - Knoxville News Sentinel” plus 3 more

Tennessee begins layoffs of 853 state employees - Knoxville News Sentinel

Posted: 25 Mar 2010 02:31 AM PDT

NASHVILLE - Tennessee will begin mailing out layoff notices this week to 853 state employees, Gov. Phil Bredesen said Wednesday.

The Democratic governor said another 317 layoff notices will be sent over the next six months as the state shuts down the Clover Bottom long-term care facility for the mentally disabled in Nashville.

Bredesen said the first round of layoffs are being made for "business reasons" amid budget pressures, mostly in the intellectual disabilities and children's services fields.

"It's unfortunate this has to happen, but I'm just trying so hard to guide the state through this very difficult economic time," Bredesen said. "To do that we've got to keep our expenses matched to the revenues that come in."

Workers will be given three months' notice that their jobs are being eliminated. They will also be paid $3,200 in severance and be eligible for college tuition credits.

"So much of this stuff has been deferred because of things like the stimulus," Bredesen said.

The layoff notices must be sent out now so the positions will be vacant by the time the state's next budget year begins on July 1, he said.

Tennessee employs about 45,000 full-time workers.

Phil Morson, president of the Tennessee State Employees Association, said in a statement the organization is "disappointed" that Bredesen is beginning the layoffs.

"While we realize these are difficult times and all of the jobs cannot be saved, we feel that through the judicial use of our rainy-day funds - and alternate methods suggested by TSEA - some of the jobs can be preserved," he said.

Bredesen has rejected proposals for furloughs and pay cuts to help preserve jobs.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner of Nashville said he will try over the next 90 days to avert some of the cuts, but warned that opposition from Republicans to Bredesen's revenue proposals could lead to even more layoffs.

Bredesen's proposals would raise about $49 million and save about 200 jobs among prosecutors, public defenders, foresters and probation and parole officers.

The proposals include lifting sales tax exemptions on the first $15 of cable bills and eliminating a tax break on free hotel breakfasts.

Republicans, who hold majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, have voiced opposition to the tax measures but have argued that the jobs can be preserved in other ways.

Clover Bottom is the state's oldest long-term care facility for the mentally disabled. Closing the facility is projected to save about $36 million per year in state and federal dollars. Officials say the facility's approximately 100 residents can be moved to another state-run facility in East Tennessee or to private facilities.

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Business briefs - Dubuque Telegraph Herald

Posted: 25 Mar 2010 07:39 AM PDT

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Business Groups Urge Obama Against Naming Becker to Labor Board - BusinessWeek

Posted: 23 Mar 2010 02:51 PM PDT

March 23, 2010, 5:52 PM EDT

By Holly Rosenkrantz

March 23 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce led 20 business lobbying groups in urging President Barack Obama not to use his executive power to appoint union lawyer Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board.

"We urge you to respect" the "overwhelming sentiment of our members throughout the business community," groups including the American Trucking Association, the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Retail Federation said today in a letter to the president. Tens of thousands of members have written to oppose Becker, the letter said.

Becker, a lawyer for the Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO, failed to win Senate confirmation last month after two Democrats joined Republicans in blocking a vote on his nomination. The groups told Obama "not to disregard the bipartisan Senate vote against moving forward" on Becker.

U.S. presidents have the power to circumvent the Senate by making appointments during a congressional recess. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis told the AFL-CIO this month that unions "will be very pleased" by Obama's actions on Becker in the next congressional recess, which begins next week.

The National Labor Relations Board was created in 1935 to remedy unfair labor practices and certify union elections. The five-member board has had three vacancies for more than two years, and has more than 200 cases pending, including a matter involving MGM Mirage's New York New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Business groups oppose Becker over a 1993 Minnesota Law Review article saying union-election rules should be rewritten in favor of labor, and that the NLRB can do this through regulation, without the consent of Congress.

Becker, at a Senate confirmation hearing in February, said that his views 17 years ago were those of a "scholar" and he will respect Congress's wishes on labor laws if he joins the board.

--Editors: Steve Geimann, Romaine Bostick

To contact the reporter on this story: Holly Rosenkrantz in Washington at hrosenkrantz@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Larry Liebert at lliebert@bloomberg.net

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Illinois House OKs small-business tax credit offered by ... - San Francisco Examiner

Posted: 24 Mar 2010 02:43 PM PDT

SPRINGFIELD, ILL. — The Illinois House has approved $50 million in tax breaks meant to help small businesses create jobs.

The tax break was proposed by Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. His Republican opponent, Bill Brady, supports a similar plan.

The legislation applies to businesses with up to 50 employees. If a small business hires a new worker in the upcoming fiscal year, it can get a tax credit of $2,500.

The measure passed unanimously Wednesday and now goes to the Senate.

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