Property taxes are wrong and are often applied inequitably, to the detriment of the poor.

I am a retired public school teacher. I worked for 27 years in a public school district Ohio. I am also a widow. My late husband paid into Social Security and was fully vested. Because Ohio is one of the states affected by the Government Pension Offset (GPO), I cannot receive widow's benefits. If I had worked in a state not affected by GPO, I would be eligible to receive widow's benefits. Many retired public employees in the states listed above cannot receive Social Security benefits that were paid for by themselves or their deceased spouses. We are asking the 115th United States Congress to repeal GPO and WEP.

My son has an incredibly rare seizure disorder and autism. The Regional Center in our area has been part of his life since age six months. Because of their help, he's been able to attend early intervention pre-school and receive physical and speech therapy. The regional center will also provide home aides where necessary for his care. Yet in Los Angeles County, where we live, minimum wage is $2.25 more per hour than the state minimum wage. AB 2623 would allow Regional Centers to pay providers at local minimum wage, something they can't currently do. This is crucial for autism families and crucial to continued functioning of the Regional Centers. We need to change this law to keep up with the times.

My petition is to let everyone know that as an CNA We have been talked to with no respect. We are getting the lowest pay ever and there are some places where we can't get a raise or holiday pay. We the Cna's do most the caring for loved ones and feel how the residents feel that hands on care that we give. We make it possible for the family to come see their loved ones looking good and stay clean.

This petition is to show that the United States citizens can stand up for what they believe in. The people of this nation deserve jobs and and the steel tariff destroys jobs. Put an end to this madness. Sign the petition!

The City of Takoma Park is planning to raise the property tax rate (again), add 5 new positions, and increase the total budget from +/- $30 million to $32.5 million on July 1, 2018. Property owners in the City are to provide most of that revenue and at a time when the economic future is indeed uncertain. We simply can't afford it.

About the labor reform that governor Ricardo Roselló and the Fiscal board intent to implement which would only hurt the working class and the poor of PR.

Hard working families and individuals are suffering because of taxation and excessive rent practices. The people's rent shouldn’t be calculated on the gross income, but by the net. Income tax refunds aren't guaranteed to a lot of poor families and minorities. What happens to the families and individuals who don’t get tax refunds because they owe student loans, but yet their rent is still calculated by the gross? The people are fed up; the government and states bail everybody out in these huge corporations, but not The People. It’s time we start listening to The People. Do you know how many working families and single parents this would help as much as the economy if this were to happen? We were not meant to just work and pay bills, but this is what calculating on the gross does. Let’s change this; let’s make this happen and bail The People out. Rent calculated by net, not gross.

We, the undersigned, members and retirees of Teamsters Joint Council 42 participating in the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust Fund (WCTPT) urge you to oppose the Give Retirement Options to Workers (GROW) Act (H.R. 4997). This legislation weakens the entire multiemployer pension system, putting our retirement security, and that of millions of other Americans, at risk. WCTPT is the largest and most successful multiemployer defined benefit pension plan in the nation. WCTPT provides retirement security to over 600,000 families in all 50 states and nearly every congressional district. We rely on the WCTPT and the current multiemployer pension system as critical components to support the financial well-being of our families. The GROW Act would change the rules for multiemployer pension plans in a way that weakens the system as a whole and threatens our retirement security: • First, the bill would drain contributions from existing multiemployer plans to fund new composite plans—setting up both plans for failure and putting our retirement benefits at risk. • Second, the bill would permit draconian cuts to workers’ promised benefits and subject retirees to devastating cuts to their pensions. • Third, the GROW Act would make it easier for employers to withdraw from pension plans without paying their fair share of the plan’s liabilities. • Fourth, the bill undermines the solvency of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) because composite plans would be exempt from paying premiums, despite creating significant new liabilities for the PBGC due to the plan failures that would result from weakening plan funding. • Finally, under the GROW Act, workers lose the safety net of PBGC insurance coverage and face the prospect of total benefit loss in the event of a plan failure. We strongly urge you to oppose the GROW Act and to instead support efforts to sustain and strengthen the multiemployer pension system in a way that protects the retirement security of millions of American workers and retirees, including those of us who depend on a healthy WCTPT for our financial future.

When $100 can make or break you, parking tickets can set off a series of events that completely destroy your life. I've seen vulnerable people forced into even more extreme vulnerability by Oakland's exploitative parking enforcement system.

Lobbyists from Handy, an online gig economy platform, are trying to rush through a bill that would give them - and other online platforms - special treatment when it comes to how they treat their workers. Georgia lawmakers are only in session until March 29th, so we need to act now to stop this bill! A similar bill in Florida recently passed after less than 10 minutes of discussion by lawmakers , and in Tennessee it has passed both houses even though the Senator behind the called the gig economy the "gigabyte economy" in his testimony. Similar bills have already been introduced in 9 states by Handy, a company that just announced a partnership with Walmart, has the same lobbyist as Uber, and is facing five lawsuits for employee misclassification. The bill allows gig economy companies to treat workers as independent contractors, even if they don't receive the benefits of being an independent contractor, such as setting their own rates. Independent contractors should be just that -- independent. And if a worker doesn’t receive the benefits of being independent, they should receive the rights and protections of being an employee. Handy is pushing this legislation because it will save them from the lawsuits they are facing in five states for employee misclassification. Handy CEO Oisin Hanrahan is on record saying that changing the laws "would definitely help with some of the litigation that's in play." Lawmakers should be looking for solutions to extend rights and benefits to gig workers, not trying to save tech companies from lawsuits. There is a long history of excluding domestic workers from rights and protections, which is rooted in the legacy of slavery. Workers' voices need to be heard in these debates, but instead lawmakers are only listening to those like Handy lobbyist and venture capitalist Bradley Tusk. Tusk recently confessed that Handy chose Georgia and other states to introduce these bills because they believe they can pass them faster here than in states with stronger labor protections. With Handy pushing these bills across 9 states, we have a chance to stop the legislation in Georgia, stand up for workers, and be an example for the rest of the country. Sign today to tell your state legislators that Handy shouldn’t get special treatment. Sources: http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/03/12/florida-lawmakers-approve-last-minute-change-on-behalf-of-powerful-lobbyist/ https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/19/594792952/in-push-for-convenience-walmart-wants-to-help-shoppers-assemble-furniture-mount- http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/14/news/economy/handy-gig-economy-workers/index.html https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-10/it-s-a-new-game-for-uber-drivers-if-new-york-passes-this-law

REPEAL or AMEND THE 2015 UPCOUNTRY WATER BILL Public Documents now reveal that in 2015, Gladys Baisa, then Chair of the Water Resources Committee, Corporation Counsel, and Director of Public Works David Goode, apparently pulled a classic Bait and Switch on the rest of the County Council and the people of Maui County. THE BAIT: The Upcountry Water Bill was said to aid residents on the Upcountry Water Meter Priority List eligible to get a second water meter, which would allow them to subdivide their property into two lots. All public notices of the bill specified its intent to exempt those 2 lot subdividers from having to perform costly infrastructure improvements related only to water connections for fire protection. SWITCH #1: After numerous committee hearings, at the Council’s first reading for the proposed bill, Public Works Director David Goode testified that in addition to fire protection, costly roadway improvements could also prevent residents from building a second home for their family. So, responding to Director Goode’s suggestion, language was added to the bill that significantly extended the exemption for 2 Lot Subdivisions beyond fire suppression, to include all roadway improvements as well. Contrary to our County Charter, no public notice has ever been made of that significant change to the bill’s scope and intent. THE BIGGER SWITCH: Certainly not the public, and perhaps not even the Council Members, were made aware that when Corporation Counsel’s Jennifer Oana (who has recently been nominated for a judgeship) added David Goode’s suggested roadway exemption, the language Oana added to the bill to amend the County Code's Title 18 Subdivision Ordinance was not specific to ‘Family” Residential Subdividers on the Upcountry Priority List. Instead, Oana’s significant language change is today allowing professional residential and commercial developers, island-wide, to inappropriately avoid performing roadway improvements along their two-lot subdivisions, effectively shifting their financial burdens into Maui's taxpayers. Public documents, received through Freedom of Information requests, reveal that by virtue of the “Upcountry Water Bill”, Alexander and Baldwin has been awarded a roadway improvement exemption for a 1200 acre parcel just south of Puunene and Dairy Rd. and that Snorkel Bob's got an exemption for a commercial development on Front St. in Lahaina and that the Blue Golf Course got an exemption for 60 acres in Wailea. That’s just not fair. So far Public Works has admitted to 20 exemptions awarded to approved 2 lot subdivisions, we don't know yet how many more have their preliminary subdivision approvals. In fact, the specifics of this "mistake” and the potential for this abuse was communicated in July of 2016 to Water Committee Chair Baisa, Council Chair White, Council Member Guzman, Council Member Hokama, Council Services’ David Raatz, Corporation Counsel’s Jennifer Oana and Mayor Arakawa. None of them has ever responded, nor has anyone initiated any action to correct and stop the growing harm that public documents now prove is being done to our community. The County Council must act immediately to repeal or amend the Upcountry Water Bill and stop this extraordinary exploitation of Maui County Taxpayers.