Author: Janie Valentine

  • Nine candidates running in Republican primary for governor of Nebraska

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    Nine candidates are running in the Republican Party primary for governor of Nebraska on May 10. Incumbent Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) is term-limited. Candidates Charles Herbster, Brett Lindstrom, and Jim Pillen lead in endorsements, funding, or media attention. Herbster, who served as the chairman of former President Donald Trump’s (R) Agriculture and Rural Advisory Committee,…

  • Twenty-four top 100 cities holding mayoral elections in 2022

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    Twenty-four of the 100 largest U.S. cities by population are holding mayoral elections in 2022. In 15 of those cities, the incumbent is a Democrat. Five incumbents are Republicans, one is independent, and three are nonpartisan. Two of those cities hold partisan elections, and the rest hold nonpartisan elections. In cities where mayoral elections are…

  • Florida Senate committee declines to take up House-passed public-sector union bill

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    Florida Senate committee declines to take up House-passed public-sector union bill   The Florida House of Representatives passed HB 1197 on March 4. It was referred to the Senate Rules Committee, which did not take the bill up during its last scheduled meeting of the session on March 8.  About the bill Republican Reps. Cord Byrd…

  • SCOTUS won’t hear two public-sector union cases

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    Supreme Court says it won’t hear two cases related to public-sector union policy The U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected petitions in two cases related to public-sector union policy. The last such case the court heard was Janus v. AFSCME in 2018.  Woods v. ASEA On Feb. 22, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal…

  • Sid Miller wins Texas Agriculture Commissioner Republican primary

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    Incumbent Sid Miller defeated Carey Counsil and James White in the Republican primary for Texas Commissioner of Agriculture on March 1, 2022. With 98% of polling locations reporting, Miller received 59% of the vote, followed by White with 31% and Counsil with 10%. Miller was first elected agriculture commissioner in 2014 and was re-elected in…

  • Washington Legislature considers collective bargaining for legislative staff

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    Washington Legislature considers collective bargaining for legislative staff A new bill that would give state legislative staff the right to bargain collectively was introduced in the Washington House of Representatives after two similar bills missed the cutoff to be passed to the opposite chamber last week. Around 100 legislative staffers called in sick after the…

  • Virginia House passes five public-sector union bills

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    On Feb. 15, the Virginia House of Delegates passed five Republican-sponsored bills dealing with public-sector union policy. The bills are now in committee in the Senate, where Democrats hold a majority.  About the bills The Virginia House of Delegates passed the following five bills on Feb. 15:  Virginia HB336: This bill would require a 51%…

  • D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns two FLRA rulings

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    Two three-judge panels of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently issued rulings affecting federal employee collective bargaining.  Jan. 28 ruling on midterm bargaining On Jan. 28, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the Federal Labor Relations Authority’s (FLRA) 2020 decision that federal employers were…

  • Incumbent and two challengers running in Republican primary for Texas Commissioner of Agriculture

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    Three candidates are running in the Republican primary election for Texas Commissioner of Agriculture on March 1, 2022. Incumbent Sid Miller and James White lead in fundraising, endorsements, and media attention. Miller was first elected agriculture commissioner in 2014 and won re-election in 2018. He represented District 59 in the Texas House of Representatives from…

  • Conflict in Colorado over potential bill to expand public-sector collective bargaining

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    Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said he won’t support the current version of a public-sector collective bargaining bill Democratic leaders are drafting.  The conflict  The not-yet-introduced bill, which Colorado Politics’s Marianne Goodland described as “the brainchild of [House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar (D) and Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg (D)],” would expand public-sector collective bargaining…