Minnesota lawmakers are considering a measure which would force employers to properly classify certain trade union workers and others as employees rather than independent contractors.

The bill aims to ensure worker's rights to overtime, minimum wages, safe workplaces and other benefits are protected.

Richard Kododziejski, director of government affairs for the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, said fraud and wage theft is rampant among certain employers.

"It maximizes the ability to fight employer misclassification fraud in Minnesota," Kododziejski stressed, as he explained the union's support for the measure. "While it was already illegal to misclassify employees, the law was not as strong as this bill will make it."

Versions of the bill have been filed in both the Minnesota House and Senate. Kododziejski noted both measures have cleared relevant committees and he expects them to go to a floor vote next week.

Kododziejski emphasized while misclassifying employees has always been illegal in Minnesota, the new law would give state regulators a stronger hand in dealing with bad actors.

"The Department of Labor and Industry has not had the ability to enforce it to the extent that they would through this piece of legislation," Kododziejski pointed out. "It levels the playing field for honest contractors who are not cheating the system and are properly treating their workers as employees."

Kododziejski observed when workers are improperly misclassified as independent contractors, it deprives them of overtime, minimum wages, safe workplaces and other benefits. He believes the bill will make it too expensive for employers to cut corners on paying their employees.

"Significant elements of this bill provide large fines to employers that definitely is steeper than what we've seen in the past," Kododziejski added. "When you say, well, why can't they make a dent in this? Why can't we stop this once and for all?"

Leaders of some nonprofit organizations in Arkansas are not happy with a recent tax cut package passed by the Legislature.

The law reduces the tax rate for people who make more than $25,000 a year. The corporate tax rate was also reduced from 4.8% percent to 4.3%. Opponents of the cuts said they only benefit the wealthy.

Syard Evans, CEO of the Arkansas Support Network and co-chair of the Arkansas Coalition for Strong Families, said elected officials are not addressing issues affecting quality of life services for Arkansans and they are concerned the cuts will affect programs.

"Day in and day out we face the challenges of people not having enough resources to meet their basic needs," Evans pointed out. "And to really live a legitimate quality of life that we want and expect for all of our citizens."

Supporters of the tax cuts said Arkansas is expected to have a surplus of more than $700 million annually and community programs will not be affected.

The new rates are retroactive to Jan. 1 and the action mean Arkansas has one of the lowest tax rates in the South. It also has the highest maternal mortality rate in the nation, the second-highest teen pregnancy rate, and the third-highest infant mortality rate. Evans argued the cuts reduce money that could go to programs addressing childhood poverty or incentives for affordable housing.

"It's not even to say that the tax cuts don't need to happen," Evans emphasized. "What we're saying is that in order for things like that to happen we have to be responsible for meeting the needs that the state is obligated to meet."

The tax cut legislation requires almost $300 million to be put into an emergency fund in case the money is needed to make up for any revenue shortfalls.


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Some Michigan mayors are out of the office this week - but still working for their cities.

They're at the 92nd meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors, with more than 200 from across the nation gathering to tackle some of the most urgent issues facing their communities. They're discussing infrastructure investment, housing and homelessness, and public safety.

After the recent mass shooting in Rochester Hills that wounded nine people, including two children, at a splash-pad event, the city's Mayor Bryan Barnett said the tragedy has shifted his priorities at this year's meeting.

"This terrible intersection of mental health and gun violence is where my focus and attention is - both in bringing healing to my community and trying to understand how we can be more effective moving forward," he said. "And I don't think there's any better group of people in America that understands personally and professionally, really, than America's mayors."

In preparation for the November election, the mayors are also expected to address their priorities for the next administration. This year's conference runs through Sunday.

Rochester Hills, a community of nearly 76,000 residents, was rocked by the shooting, and Barnett shared how his colleagues from around the country showed support.

"I've had almost 70 mayors reach out to me personally, many of them having their own stories about mass shootings," he said. "In the aftermath, they've proven to be incredibly helpful."

High-ranking administration officials and key leaders from both the public and private sectors are at the conference, including representatives from FEMA and the federal departments of Transportation and Justice.

Barnett said being the kind of leader who sets a good example for his community is important to him.

"One of the reasons I love being mayor is because I've seen so many of my colleagues, and hopefully myself as well, exhibit a different kind of leadership," he said. "The kind of leadership that says, 'OK, we're not going to point fingers, but instead we're going to try and just get things done. Move the ball down the field.'"

As the presidential election approaches, Barnett said, there will be a lot of loud, angry rhetoric - but he's convinced America is looking for a different kind of leadership.


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The stage is set for a massive investment in Oregon's plans to bring high-speed internet to everyone in the state. The second volume of Oregon's Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment proposal has been approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, laying out its plan for investing nearly $700 million in federal funding.

Nick Batz, Oregon Broadband office director says the goal is internet for all.

"This is a historic investment. We've never seen this much money invested in broadband by the federal government before. I'm not sure that we're ever going to see it again, and if we're successful, we're not going to need it again," he explained.

Batz notes that high-speed internet connectivity is crucial, enabling everything from remote work to telemedicine appointments, and is especially important in rural parts of the state.

Batz added the state will now begin the process of selecting the grantees that will build the infrastructure to locations that are unserved or underserved.

"The goal of this challenge process is to identify every location in Oregon that is eligible to receive BEAD funding. So, by the end of this challenge process, we will have a master list of all these locations. It's going to be somewhere in neighborhood of 120-,130-,140,000 locations," he explained.

Funding to increase broadband access has become available through the passage of Congress's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Biden Administration is currently in the process of distributing more than $42 billion to states to increase high-speed internet connectivity.


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