This petition was created because legislation is needed to stop local businesses from taking advantage of a loophole that allows for unreasonable decreases in property taxes and is a violation of the state tax law. These tax cuts will result in budget cuts to publicly funded programs and services such as education, libraries, road maintenance and repair, search and rescue, senior services, veterans affairs and recreational facilities that are an essential part of our community.

Basic Income is the best solution available today to free workers from dead-end wage-slavery and empower ordinary people to experience real, meaningful freedom in their working lives and career choices. Basic Income is scientifically proven by numerous studies to improve many different measures of cultural health, improve education, reduce crime, and prevent civil unrest - all without costing more than today's inefficient welfare system or discouraging work incentives. With automation and technological unemployment on the rise, Basic Income is the next logical step toward responsive community economics.

While the Family and Medical Leave Act allows eligible workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, too many workers today can not afford to take unpaid time off and no one should have to choose between a paycheck and taking care of a newborn baby or sick parent. The FAMILY Act would establish a national paid leave fund through nominal contributions by both employer and employee amounting to .02% of one's paycheck. For the average worker, that comes to about the cost of a cup of coffee a week. It's outrageous that the U.S. is the only industrialized nation in the world not to guarantee paid leave to its workers. It's long past time that we caught up with the rest of the world and offered financial security to our workers just when they need it the most. That's not only good for working families, it's good for our businesses and economy as well.

While the Family and Medical Leave Act allows eligible workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, too many workers today cannot afford to take unpaid time off and no one should have to choose between a paycheck and taking care of a newborn baby or sick parent. The FAMILY Act would establish a national paid leave fund through nominal contributions by both employer and employee amounting to .02% of one's paycheck. For the average worker, that comes to about the cost of a cup of coffee a week. It's outrageous that the U.S. is the only industrialized nation in the world not to guarantee paid leave to its workers. It's long past time that we caught up with the rest of the world and offered financial security to our workers just when they need it the most. That's not only good for working families, it's good for our businesses and the economy as well.

What is wage theft? Wage theft is any form of illegal underpayment or non-payment of wages earned by workers and can take various forms. • Overtime: employer fails to pay 1 ½ times the regular pay rate after 40 hours of work in a week. • Minimum wage: employer pays less than the minimum wage. • Being required to “work off the books:” working through lunch breaks or other required breaks, forced to work after having “clocked out” or after work hours are done, being compelled to attend meetings or events as part of the job, but not being paid to do so. • Not giving a final paycheck: this type of wage theft often happens with employers who go out of business or who move. • Stealing some (or all) of an employee’s tips: the employer is not entitled to any of an employee’s tips, which are part of his or her wages. • Falsifying the records of hours worked: shortening the official record of hours worked to be less than the actual hours. • Misclassifying an employees as an “independent contractor:” classifying an employee as an independent business steals from that employee by requiring him or her to lose benefits such as unemployment compensation and workers compensation, and transfers extra taxes onto him or her.

Businesses and homeowners on LBI will suffer if vacation time is cancelled due to non-accessible beaches. Please change dates to end replenishment by Jun 20th and start up again August 29th, 2015. Our economy thanks you!

For the past 6 days, farm workers in Baja Norte’s San Quintín Valley have been on strike denouncing abysmally low wages, 12-hour days with no overtime, obligatory 7-day work weeks, and maltreatment. Worker Ana López says, “It is time for us to stand up… There are people who think that because we come from pueblos, we are ignorant about our rights.” The United Farm Workers of America is standing in solidarity with the workers from San Quintín and we ask that our supporters do the same. Ana works for Driscoll supplier Berrymex, whom workers claim that in addition to violating wage and hour laws, also fails to pay into workers’ social security (which is supposed to give workers access to healthcare and a pension), leaving them with nothing when they go to make a claim. Demand that the grocery retail industry hold powerful agribusiness companies such as Driscoll accountable. Please sign this petition. We will be turning this in to top grocery retailers around the country, including Target, Walmart, Krogers, and Albertsons/Safeway.

Working people should not have to depend on the government to care for themselves. Forty hours of honest work should equal a fair wage.

Maine's current minimum wage is $7.50/hour. Over fifty-two 40-hour weeks, that adds up to $15, 600/year. The Federal Poverty Guideline for 2015 is $15, 930 for a household of 2. This could mean a single parent of 1 child, a working senior citizen with a disabled spouse, or many other situations. If we as a society want people to work for their living, then the very possibility of doing that must be legislated. For a family of 3 (eg. single parent, two children), the Federal Guideline is $20 090. Divided by fifty-two 40-hour weeks, this comes to an hourly wage of $9.66. Minimum-wage employers pay minimum wage because it's required. Decent employers pay more. This should be done because it's basic human decency. This is not even accounting for daycare, nor for people getting sick or having time off to spend with their families and friends. Raise Minimum Wage to a Living Wage.

Please require all Michigan employers to provide paid sick days. It's the right thing to do!

On February 12, those making a million dollars a year reached the annual tax cap. After that day, none of their income will be taxed to pay for Social Security. Meanwhile, 94% of Americans -- those who make less than $118,500 a year -- will chip in a portion of every single paycheck, all year long. That’s right. A single mother working as an ER nurse pays 6.2% of every paycheck toward Social Security, 12 months out of the year. Meanwhile, a wealthy investment banker on Wall Street isn’t paying a dime into the system for the rest of 2015. They say we can’t afford Social Security. No. We can’t afford to keep giving unfair tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires! Add your name. Sign the petition and tell Congress it’s time to end the Social Security tax break for millionaires!

This petition was created because legislation is needed to stop businesses from taking advantage of the loophole that allows for unreasonable and incomparable decreases in property taxes and is a violation of the state tax law. These tax cuts require budget cuts to publicly funded programs and services such as education, libraries, road maintenance and repair, search and rescue, senior services, veterans affairs and recreational facilities that support thriving communities.