Higher minimum wage to be subject for negotiations, By Doug Finke, May 16, 2012, State Journal-Register: “Illinois’ minimum wage would climb to more than $10 an hour by 2015 and then be indexed to inflation under a bill sent to the state Senate Wednesday. However, it is unclear if the measure will come to a vote before lawmakers conclude their work this spring. Sponsoring Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, said she still wants to negotiate with business interests who oppose the increase and groups pushing for it. The Illinois minimum wage is $8.25 an hour. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour…”
Day: May 17, 2012
High School Graduation Rates – Wisconsin
State, MPS post improved high school graduation rates, By Erin Richards, May 17, 2012, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Wisconsin’s public high school students posted a graduation rate of 87% in 2011, a figure that’s higher than the average graduation rate of students in 2010, according to data released Thursday by the state Department of Public Instruction. The new data is based on a four-year rate calculation that counts only students who earn a regular high school diploma within four years of starting high school. It’s the second year that Wisconsin has had to calculate rates in the method, which is required by the U.S. Department of Education. Wisconsin’s average high school graduation rate looks more favorable under the old method the state used for making such calculations. Known as the legacy rate, it counts other students who took longer than four years to finish high school…”
Drug Testing and Assistance Programs – Ohio, Oklahoma
- Ohio Senate Republicans pass budget bill without controversial drug testing language, By Aaron Marshall, May 16, 2012, Cleveland Plain Dealer: “Ohio Senate Republicans dodged one fight Wednesday as they pulled back for now on a controversial proposal to drug test welfare applicants that had advocates for the poor and Democrats ready to rumble. But another showdown looms as GOP senators approved a $30 million pot of nursing home funding that puts them on a collision course with Republican Gov. John Kasich. As quickly as the drug testing language appeared Tuesday afternoon — slipped into a wide-ranging budget and policy bill — it dropped out of sight Wednesday after GOP Sen. Tim Schaffer of Lancaster offered to remove the it, according to Senate President Tom Niehaus, a Clermont County Republican. After the Senate passed the midterm budget review bill by a vote of 25-8, Niehaus told reporters that Schaffer retreated before questions on the proposal started to fly from Kasich’s office, including how it could be implemented in rural areas without drug testing facilities…”
- Welfare drug-screening bill is signed into Oklahoma law, By Michael McNutt, May 17, 2012, The Oklahoman: “Welfare recipients who test positive for drugs or refuse to be tested would have their benefits withheld under a bill signed into law Wednesday. The measure makes practices mostly already used by the state Department of Human Services a state law, an agency spokeswoman said. ‘The bill authors worked with us to understand our current process and what we were doing, and we worked with them to find out what the goals were that they wanted to achieve,’ said Sheree Powell, a DHS spokeswoman. ‘It basically puts into law our current practice…'”