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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Union Leaders See Red Over Corbett Spending Blueprint

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Monday, February 13, 2012   

HARRISBURG, Penn. - Pennsylvania's working class carries the burden of Gov. Corbett's latest budget proposal, according to union leaders representing thousands of health care, public services and hospitality workers in the state. Michael Brunelle, executive director of the Service Employees International Union Pennsylvania State Council, says the Corbett package shows an allegiance to corporations and the state's wealthiest 1 percent.

He points to a call to slash higher education funding by 30 percent as a sign Corbett does not have a clear picture of how to spur Pennsylvania's economic recovery.

"Our recovery is still fragile, and the need for services in these types of times is still at an all-time high. Putting programs for these individuals on the chopping block is not a solution for the issues we face, it's a recipe for disaster."

Corbett defends the cuts, saying they're difficult but necessary to "right-size" the system and change the way Pennsylvania delivers all aspects of public education.

Brunelle says solutions to restoring those education cuts don't have to break the bank. He points to tax loopholes that could help ease the deficit, like the Delaware tax, the Amazon sales tax and a tax on companies that drill for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale.

"When they have the opportunity to do something real on Marcellus Shale, they side with the big oil corporations instead of making sure that they pay their fair share and that that money goes to the general fund to pay for critical services."

Brunelle says another opportunity to maximize revenue involves taking a long, hard look at the management-to-worker ratio in state government. It's a move, he says, that could realize $1 billion in savings.

"That money, while not seeing anybody's taxes increase on personal income, could go toward protecting our children, our veterans and our seniors, and toward really moving forward on the future of this state."




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