6.30.18 SCOTUS Deals Unions Devastating Blow

We’ll be discussing the Supreme Court ruling that teachers, police officers and other public employees cannot be forced to pay dues or fees to support their unions. The decision changes employees’ rights in 22 states and could end the financial structure and political power of unions as we have known. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy has launched MyPayMySay.org to educate employees of their new rights to opt-out of unions.

Joining us at 7 am will be Patrick Wright, Vice President for Legal Affairs at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, where he directs the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. He joined the Center in June 2005 after serving for three years as a Michigan Supreme Court commissioner, a post in which he made recommendations to the court concerning which state appeals court cases it should hear.

Prior to that, Wright spent four years as an assistant attorney general for the State of Michigan, where he gained significant litigation and appellate advocacy experience. He joined the state Attorney General’s Office after one year as a policy advisor in the Senate Majority Policy Office of the Michigan Senate. Wright also spent two years as a law clerk to Hon. H. Russell Holland, a United States district court judge in Alaska.

Wright received his law degree at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He graduated with honors in 1994. He received his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Michigan in 1990.

Wright lives in Midland, Mich., with his wife and sons

Save Notre Dame Alliance seeks to pack tonight’s Worcester City Council meeting

MEDIA ALERT

Save Notre Dame Alliance seeks to pack tonight’s Worcester City Council meeting
Alliance calls on city’s 11 councilors to have the courage
to keep their word, and save Notre Dame
Big, vocal turnout being organized for Council meeting,
which begins at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall
Hey, Worcester City Council! Have the courage to keep your word! Save Notre Dame!

No risk, no reward! The Save Notre Dame Alliance calls upon the Worcester City Council to keep its promise to this city, and do what it can to save Notre Dame des Canadiens. We ask the City Council to acquire Notre Dame, secure it from further decline, and aggressively market it to private developers with the added incentive of a tax-increment-financing package, or TIF, as well as the possibility of direct public subsidy (in exchange for public participation and use) and the support of a philanthropic campaign led by the Save Notre Dame Alliance and Preservation Worcester.

Most of the city councilors agree that if we fail to save Notre Dame, downtown would lose one of its best buildings, and we would regret it. Many have promised they will fight this battle to the end. Now is the time for them to back up their words with action. Notre Dame is irreplaceable. They can take the easy, safe path, and settle for mediocrity downtown. Or, they can take a risk, aim high, and demonstrate the leadership and vision to preserve what’s great about Worcester.

The mayor’s recent statement has been reported in North Carolina, Kansas, Texas, California, Washington state, the United Kingdom, and Germany. And, we hope our response will be, too. This should be news far beyond Worcester-and now it is-because this is one of the most spirited preservation battles underway anywhere in the country right now. And, for good reason. Just look at Notre Dame.

Historic, Denzel Martinez, 2018
The world is watching, Worcester. Are we really going to destroy this irreplaceable landmark, in front of everyone? Really? We should be better than that. We call upon the City Council to show that we are!

“If Notre Dame is destroyed, we lose something irreplaceable and uniquely ours, and all involved will go forward forever diminished by its loss,” states Ted Conna, co-leader of the Save Notre Dame Alliance. “If we unite and work together to save Notre Dame, Worcester shows the world what we’re made of, and what is possible when Hanover, the city, and its passionate citizens decide to work together. I would much prefer to be telling the latter story, and to be joining forces to breathe new life into Notre Dame, rather than fighting over its death sentence.”

Direct quotes from eight of Worcester’s 11 city councilors:

Cathy Weaver Taylor, Save Notre Dame, 2018

Mayor Joe Petty: “There isn’t a person in this city who wants to see Notre Dame come down. Not one person.” (4/24/18)

Mo Bergman: “I look at downtown as if you’re meeting somebody and making your first impression. When you take a building like Notre Dame away, it’s like meeting someone and seeing that their beautiful teeth now have a hole in them. Without Notre Dame, downtown Worcester will never be the same. Modern architecture in no way replaces the architecture of yesteryear. I’ve never heard a regret that we shouldn’t have saved a building. I have heard many regrets on buildings that we didn’t save.”

They are coming for your guns in the Commonwealth!

ALERT – PLEASE CALL GOVERNOR BAKER IMMEDIATELY, URGE ERPO VETO!

Massachusetts legislature targets licensed MA gun owners, approves bill aimed at stripping rights, confiscating property. Please call Governor Baker immediately at 617-725-4005 and urge him to veto ERPO.

The Massachusetts State Senate last week approved ERPO legislation, H.4539, “An Act Relative to Firearms”. A bill specifically crafted to be used only against licensed gun owners.

The legislation will be reconciled and then head to Governor Baker’s desk to be signed into law.

Following the lead set by their colleagues in the MA House, the senate stripped every amendment that would have provided due process protections, mental health services for those in need, and protections for licensed gun owners who may suffer from a false report.

The senate also refused to support increased penalties for filing a false ERPO. Additionally, they struck down another amendment that would have prevented a petitioner from filing an ERPO if the petitioner has a history of harassing the respondent.

Before the final vote, Senator Chang–Diaz took the floor, and spoke about the vast majority of murders committed with firearms in MA being in urban areas, “the underlying bill does little to prevent gun violence that affects many across the commonwealth”. She also stated “the bill will have no effect on illegal guns”. But then again, neither will her legislative proposals, also aimed only at restricting what licensed gun owners can do.

By stating this, Senator Diaz acknowledged that ERPO would only enable the state to confiscate firearms from licensed gun owners. We certainly hope that Governor Baker, who ran as a “friend of sportsmen” will recognize ERPO for what it is and veto it as written.

Take Action!

Please call Governor Baker’s office immediately at 617-725-4005 and urge him to send the ERPO bill back to the legislature to provide protections for licensed gun owners, and mental health services for those in need, who may be dragged into court by this process.