I'm offering a slight redraft before I sign this. I of course am in support of making sure this whole region stays intact (especially after the civil uprisings last year in Moxie and Bluster). I also respect other governor's regions, and our region will stay loyal to the federal government.
But one of the statements here inadvertently gives the federal government the sole power and jurisdiction over the Midwest. They do have jurisdiction over all region's, but that pre-amended statement basically says that the Midwest regional government and state and municipal governments within the state have no say in the affairs, judgment and laws of the Midwest.
I'll sign this if the legislature passes this amended version.
I'm offering a redraft on this as well. The sponsor of the raise in the minimum wage had the wage being increased quarterly, while the passed amended version was only annually. I'm personally a very strong proponent of raising the living wage, and according to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act the wage is set to increase to $15 in July 2015, $16 in 2016 and so forth, but I think we can do better.
By raising the minimum wage for workers, it not only gives them sustainability and the urge to work harder and for others to join the work force, but by also giving our workers a fair wage, they have more money to spend which helps bring in revenue for some of these businesses. Our government itself will also gain revenue as workers who have a living wage will have less of a need to be enrolled in social programs. By doing this, businesses will need to raise sales prices, but only slightly, and this redrafted bill if passed is sure to make our workers happy.
Granted, if the same, annual increase bill is sent back to my desk again after this, I will still enthusiastically sign it, but I just feel our workers deserve better.
x LeBron FitzGeraldThe 2014 budget had a surplus of about $16B, and I don't want to make any cuts in this upcoming budget, but with some modest tax reform, this fund will definitely be helpful down the road in quickly approaching natural disasters common to our region like flooding and tornadoes, and any future aid needed if there's ever any future civil conflicts.
This is to make sure though that funds are left aside for other programs that wouldn't be covered under this fund such as the child allowance or WAMSR construction programs, so it is important that we work on getting as large a surplus as possible for the next budget.
x LeBron FitzGerald For those who don't know, the Midwest Bank Chair, created during Lumine's time as Governor
is met with the task of providing loans. I'm deciding between two names on who to appoint to this position, but a decision will be made soon enough and my name isn't one of them.