Latest news with #stateemployees


Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
PETER HITCHENS: This is the sinister motivation behind the plans to change our legal system. They must not be allowed to happen... or we'll all be at risk
The British state has for centuries hated jury trial, which grew up here by accident and is a great obstacle to naked power. Without a jury, a criminal courtroom is just a chamber full of state employees, trying to work out how long the defendant should go to prison for. With a jury, it is a place where the Crown has to prove you are guilty beyond reasonable doubt. If it can't, you stay free.


NHK
04-07-2025
- Business
- NHK
US job market remains steady despite Trump's tariffs
Data from the US Labor Department shows the country's job market remains steady. That's despite concerns the Trump administration's tariff policy could weigh down the economy. The data was published on Thursday. It shows that the number of workers in the non-farm sectors increased by 147,000 in June from the previous month. The figure is well over market expectations of more than 100,000. The unemployment rate edged down by 0.1 percentage point from May to 4.1 percent. The Trump administration has been cutting federal government jobs in a push to slash public spending. 69,000 have been lost since January. Even so, the number of state government employees was up 47,000 in June. Some analysts believe the states are hiring people who leave federal jobs, contributing to the improved employment situation.


CBS News
30-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Pennsylvania governor anticipates a deal "very soon" as lawmakers blow through the budget deadline
Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania's politically divided Legislature will miss Pennsylvania's legal deadline to pass a budget for the new fiscal year, amid closed-door talks to try to produce a compromise on a spending plan. Without the Democratic governor's signature on a new spending plan, the state loses some of its spending authority starting Tuesday, particularly on discretionary payments, such as those to vendors, counties, public schools and grant applicants. The impact of such missed payments generally takes until August to be felt by schools and counties. The biggest issues swirling around budget talks are absorbing a massive increase in Medicaid costs and a push to regulate and tax tens of thousands of slot machine-like "skill" games that are popping up everywhere. Shapiro said at a news conference Monday that talks between top lawmakers went through the weekend and that he anticipates negotiators will agree on a plan "very soon." Shapiro proposed a $51.5 billion plan for the 2025-2026 fiscal year beginning July 1. It would increase total authorized spending by 9% for state operations, or by about $3.8 billion, including a $230 million request for the current year's spending. In a budget stalemate, the state is still legally bound to make debt payments, cover Medicaid costs for millions of Pennsylvanians, issue unemployment compensation payments, keep prisons open and ensure state police are on patrol. All state employees under a governor's jurisdiction are typically expected to report to work and be paid as scheduled during a budget stalemate. Under the state constitution, the budget must be balanced. For Shapiro, it will be his third straight budget that failed to get across the finish line by the legal deadline of July 1.


CBS News
10-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Two of Colorado's biggest unions join a state employee in suing Gov. Jared Polis
Colorado WINS, a union representing 27,000 state employees, and the AFL-CIO say they are joining a top official in the Department of Labor and Employment in suing Gov. Jared Polis after they say he ordered state employees to commit illegal acts. "We are outraged as state employees that our governor wanted us to actively support that assault on our community and make us as state workers accomplices in an illegal and morally reprehensible act," says Diane Byrne, President of Colorado WINS. At issue is a subpoena for information -- including addresses and phone numbers -- on 35 individuals who the Department of Homeland Security says are listed as sponsors of unaccompanied children who are in the U.S. illegally. The agency has apparently lost track of the kids and says they may be subject to crimes of human trafficking or other forms of exploitation. While two laws, signed by Polis, bar state employees from sharing personally identifying information for immigration enforcement, they make an exception for criminal investigations. The governor ordered employees at the Department of Labor and Employment to comply with the subpoena. CBS A spokesperson for the governor says, "The decision to respond to this federal subpoena due to concerns about potential crimes against vulnerable minors was carefully considered in accordance with Colorado law, which allows for sharing information to support timely criminal investigations." Scott Moss, a director at the Department of Labor and Employment, disagrees. He notes the subpoena wasn't issued by a judge and is titled "Immigration Enforcement Subpoena." He sued the governor. State Sen. Julie Gonzalez went a step further, suggesting Polis should step down. "I don't know about you but, Jared Polis has broken my trust," she said. She says Polis has also broken the trust of individuals who were promised their information would be protected from immigration agents. David Seligman is Executive Director of Towards Justice, a civil rights organization that has also joined the lawsuit. He says the Governor's directive doesn't make sense. "So why is the governor going out of his way to help Donald Trump and ICE?" Seligman said. The governor's spokesperson says: "Helping federal law enforcement partners locate and, if necessary, rescue children being abused and trafficked is not only in line with the law but also a moral imperative." It's estimated 75%-80% of unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border are victims of human trafficking. The lawsuit was filed in Denver District Court and will be heard in a couple weeks.


CBS News
03-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Minnesota lawmakers continue to finish work behind the scenes, layoff notices go to most state workers soon if they don't pass budget
Minnesota lawmakers continued their behind-the-scenes work on Tuesday as they eye a partial government shutdown next month if they don't complete the next two-year state budget by July 1. Most state employees will receive layoff notices next Monday if a special session approving those spending plans isn't over by then, Gov. Tim Walz's office said. Walz won't officially call lawmakers back to the capitol until all of the remaining bills are ready to go. Lawmakers have been in mostly private meetings to make that happen, finding agreement and then sending it to the revisor's office for drafting. Key lawmakers have been meeting in "working groups" since the May 20, after the regular session ended, to sort out the details of each unifinished bill. Some broader agreements and actual proposals are posted on the Legislature's website, including a K-12 spending package. If they don't complete their work by the deadline at the end of the month, state services and programs would only partially shut down because some parts of the budget did pass before adjournment last month, including funding for the courts, attorney general's office, and agriculture and veterans departments. State workers in those agencies would be held harmless. The last time there was a government shutdown was in 2011. Four years ago in 2021, lawmakers in a divided capitol narrowly avoided one, passing the remaining parts of the budget June 30 during a special session. DFL Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy told WCCO Sunday she hopes there will be a special session this week, but legislative leaders and key negotiators have blown past other self-imposed deadlines the last few weeks. What's unclear is how the Legislature will approve a part of a budget deal between legislative leaders and the governor that would remove undocumented immigrant adults from a state program providing health care coverage, which is sparking outcry among several DFL lawmakers. Murphy has said it needs to be a stand-alone bill, while GOP House Speaker Lisa Demuth wants it to be part of a broader health package.