Virginia's Stalwart Supporter of Right to Work: Gov. McDonnell

Virginia's Stalwart Supporter of Right to Work: Gov. McDonnell

Virginia is prospering more than most states in the nation, thanks in part to its Right to Work law -- and Gov. Bob McDonnell is not hesitate to acknowledge the fact.  He recently wrote a letter outlining his position on the issue and made it clear -- he is a proud and ardent supporter of the state's Right to Work law.  Read and enjoy: There’s much more separating Richmond and Washington than just 100 miles of interstate. It’s a Tale of Two Cities. In Washington they’re bogged down in red ink, spiraling debt, expanding government and overspending – all while the difficult decisions are left to future generations. Here in Richmond, for the second straight year, we’ve reached the end of our fiscal year in the black —with a surplus this year of more than $500 million. What does it take to create jobs and bring economic development to Virginia? It’s really common sense and a focus on getting results, something that is in short supply in Washington. Businesses want consistency and a level playing field, low taxes, reasonable regulation, good schools and a world-class transportation system. We are unapologetic supporters of Virginia’s Right-to-Work laws and fighting off the union excesses that is hurting businessmen across the United States. We’ve kept taxes low on businesses in Virginia. We’ve worked to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses here in the Commonwealth. Contrast that with how Washington does businesses. In Washington, the Administration is using unelected people in appointed boards to do what Congress can’t, like using the NLRB to prohibit companies like Boeing from relocating some of their workforce to Right To Work states.
Virginia's Stalwart Supporter of Right to Work: Gov. McDonnell

Virginia's Stalwart Supporter of Right to Work: Gov. McDonnell

Virginia is prospering more than most states in the nation, thanks in part to its Right to Work law -- and Gov. Bob McDonnell is not hesitate to acknowledge the fact.  He recently wrote a letter outlining his position on the issue and made it clear -- he is a proud and ardent supporter of the state's Right to Work law.  Read and enjoy: There’s much more separating Richmond and Washington than just 100 miles of interstate. It’s a Tale of Two Cities. In Washington they’re bogged down in red ink, spiraling debt, expanding government and overspending – all while the difficult decisions are left to future generations. Here in Richmond, for the second straight year, we’ve reached the end of our fiscal year in the black —with a surplus this year of more than $500 million. What does it take to create jobs and bring economic development to Virginia? It’s really common sense and a focus on getting results, something that is in short supply in Washington. Businesses want consistency and a level playing field, low taxes, reasonable regulation, good schools and a world-class transportation system. We are unapologetic supporters of Virginia’s Right-to-Work laws and fighting off the union excesses that is hurting businessmen across the United States. We’ve kept taxes low on businesses in Virginia. We’ve worked to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses here in the Commonwealth. Contrast that with how Washington does businesses. In Washington, the Administration is using unelected people in appointed boards to do what Congress can’t, like using the NLRB to prohibit companies like Boeing from relocating some of their workforce to Right To Work states.

Right to Work Wins Again

Development Counselors International (DCI) ranked the top five and the bottom five states, in terms of what states provide an economic climate most favorable to business. The rankings show that states following right-to-work laws held the top five spots, while states following more union-friendly rules held the bottom five spots. DCI asked corporate executives and representatives to name the three states they thought provided the "most favorable business climates," and the three states least favorable to business. Texas ranked #1 in the final survey results, while California ranked dead last at #50. DCI provided this commentary on the results: Common themes of low operating costs and a pro-business environment emerge for the top five [original emphasis]. Positive responses emphasized costs, low taxes and incentive offerings, while negative opinions cited high taxes, anti-business climates and fiscal problems/state deficits. Here are the top five states, in order: Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida. Here are the bottom five states, starting with with the worst ranked: California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Michigan.
Time for Kentucky to Get Right to Work

Time for Kentucky to Get Right to Work

Enacting a Right to Work law in Kentucky would be a boon for jobs and economic prosperity -- but don't just take our word for it.  The Bowling Green Daily News agrees: Gov. Steve Beshear and the Democrat-controlled House are beholden to labor unions in this state and for that reason, year after year we continue to lose companies and jobs to other Southern states because Kentucky is not a right-to-work state. Right-to-work laws protect workers’ freedoms by not forcing them to pay dues to a union upon becoming employed or throughout employment. Nearly any citizen in a right-to-work state is protected by a state’s right-to-work law. Labor unions make up less than 9 percent of Kentucky’s workforce, so it would make sense that Beshear and the House would have more concern for the majority of the workforce. Sadly, they don’t. They need the unions, who contribute millions of dollars every election year through political action committees or other ways to encourage the governor and those in the House to follow part of their agenda, which is not allowing Kentucky to become a right-to-work state. Kentucky is the only Southern state not to have a right-to-work law. For that reason, many companies don’t even consider our state when choosing plant locations. Business 101 would tell you that this is simply bad business. The governor and House are hindering our state because they ignore reality. Shame on them. It reflects poor leadership and it holds our state back when competing for jobs that could be coming to Kentucky. Simpson County Judge-Executive Jim Henderson is a strong supporter of the right-to-work concept. Henderson said on a number of occasions during the process of trying to get a company to come to Franklin, it was eliminated because of not being a right-to-work state. He said it was communicated through correspondence and other means of communication that not having a right-to-work law is why companies aren’t coming to his city.One only has to look at companies such as Nissan North America. The company admitted that one reason it decided to move its headquarters from California to Tennessee and not Kentucky was because of the lower business costs. Interestingly enough, the average Kentuckian has to work 13 months to make what an average Tennessean can in one year.