We have a serious pension issue in the state of IL and it is that we have a 96 trillion dollar deficit and our beloved governor of IL wants to consider cutting money out of half of the pension system instead of telling our IL Congress to find a way to fix the pensions problem. I have a relatives and friends who work for school districts and government employers in this state and i do not want their pensions cut out out.

My intention of this petition is make our IL Governor, our state senators, State House members, and US house and senate members to pass a minimum wage increase of $10.15 per hour for the 50 states and a minimum wage increase of $11.15 per hour for the state of IL, because we need higher wages to work with and we need the minimum wage to include the cost of poverty with it. It will help our citizens in IL and other other 49 states and be able to live easier and better.

Education, public safety, infrastructure, courts, libraries, and social services in California have been slashed year after year since 1978, when Proposition 13 amended the state Constitution to lower property taxes and prevent them from rising more than a small amount per year. Property is reassessed to market value only when it is sold, but a sale is defined as a transfer of 50% or more to one owner. Big businesses now structure sales to multiple owners, so that no one buyer owns 50%, the property avoids reassessment, and taxes stay artificially low. Homeowners now bear a larger share of property taxes than corporations, reversing the proportions before Prop 13 passed.

It's simple. Separation of chuch and state. If these right-wing churches want to push politics, make them pay by removing their tax exempt status. I am so tired of hearing how a person's right to choose his or her religion is above my fundamental rights as a citizen of this great country. By allowing churches to preach politics from their pulpits, they infringe on my rights and should have to pay taxes. They want to "vote" by opening their mouths and telling their congregations who to vote for and what to support, they need to pay with their pocketbooks, just like the rest of us.

We have not raised the minimum wage in Hawaii in seven years. While our cost of living is higher than almost any other state, our minimum wage is behind 19 other states. Our people have a hard time getting by and most work two jobs. Raising the wage floor will help a lot of families do a little better. In addition to the wage itself there are two other important issues addressed by this bill: We are concerned with talk about not fully including tipped workers in this increase. The so called "tip credit" is unfair to restaurant workers who make up a big portion of Hawaii's work force. Second we'd like to make sure the wage keeps pace with inflation in the future and we want to include an automatic increase tagged to inflation.

In 2011, the Michigan Legislature cut the state earned income tax credit (EITC) from 20% of the federal EITC to 6%. That reduction is taking effect for the first time this tax season, and taxpayers across the state are getting a big surprise. The average eligible family saw its taxes increase by more than $300 with the reduction of the state EITC, and the reduction is estimated to plunge 9,000 Michigan children into poverty. The Michigan EITC helps reduce poverty, provides an economic stimulus in low-income communities, and helps veterans return to civilian life. Please join us in calling on the Michigan Legislature to support HB 4266 and SB 128, which would restore the Michigan EITC to 20%. You can learn more at SaveOurEITC.com

In 1999, the California Legislature signed into existence the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers and Mountains Conservancy. Then, the battle began for state tax money, Bond monies and the power to manipulate the public and the "open handed" Bond laws, and slack oversight cost that State of California millions, perhaps billions, of dollars. One director stepped down in 2011 after an audit by the California Attorney General found monies transferred from one Joint Powers Authorities to another that had the same Director for all ad hoc groups. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has been audited but, its back room - not for public - meetings has been the "joke" of the state; "California is such an environmentally concerned state." Voters are constantly asked to vote to tax themselves for "heart pulling" issues like, the condition of the Sacramento Delta levees. After Katrina in New Orleans, the Bond Measures 1-E and Prop 84 were passed in 2006 yet the levees are still not fixed and much of the $9.4 Billion is gone.

If you are out of work, injured, sick, or just plain do not make enough money to sustain yourself your credit WILL become bad. Why are we being checked for credit to work or get auto insurance rates? Credit checks have NOTHING to do with work ethic, education, special talents or driving records. Stop this...the jobless rate would go down if ALL applicants are looked at, not just the ones with good credit.

I am a full time student and I am being affected by this erratic gesture whereby the army tuition assistance is being cut off. Me and thousands of my comrades are strongly being affected by this budget cut. Education is not something that should be cut and this should be stopped.

It is time for the American public to make a stand against the stalemate that has been created in Washington. It is a lack of communication, cooperation and leadership that has brought about the chaos that exists in Washington today. It is the President, House of Representatives and the Senates responsibility to create a budget. They have not done so. If it can happen now it can happen in the future. We owe it to our children, and our grandchildren to stop this maddness and hold them accountable.

Students at University of Arkansas - Fort Smith (UAFS) are concerned about potential education funding cuts! If UAFS and higher education in the state of Arkansas are important to you, please help send this message to our state legislators. A decrease in funding will increase our tuition and cut valuable programs and services!

It should be simple: if you’re sick, you can stay home from work so you don’t get your co-workers and customers sick too. Yet thousands of people are forced to come to work sick in restaurants, child care centers, and other workplaces because they lack paid sick leave. It makes our workplaces and communities less healthy for all of us. Some cities, including Seattle, give workers the right to earn leave for sick days, preventative care, or to care for a sick child or family member. These laws also help businesses maintain healthier, happier, more productive employees. Unfortunately, Republicans in our state Legislature are trying to undermine Seattle's sick leave law. (http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5726) They're following in the footsteps of Wisconsin’s far-right Governor, Scott Walker, who passed similar ALEC legislation to override Milwaukee’s sick leave law in 2011. Tell our legislators to save Seattle's sick leave law!