Free Republic

Connecticut’s governor has directed the National Guard to replace state employees who will be placed on unpaid leave starting next week due to their non-compliance with the COVID-19 vaccination mandate.Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, announced on Wednesday that he has directed executive branch state agencies to prepare for placing their employees on unpaid leave between Oct. 5 and Oct. 11 if they do not provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or comply with weekly testing requirements, according to a statement.Lamont instructed the Connecticut National Guard’s Maj. Gen. Francis Evon to prepare for the deployment of the National Guard if state agencies...

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced Thursday that her staff was banned from traveling to Alabama after the state signed into law the toughest abortion law in the nation. "I’m calling for a boycott of Alabama," Griswold wrote in a tweet. "Until Alabama allows for safe & legal access to health care for women, I will not authorize spending of state resources on travel to Alabama. I call on other state and local leaders in CO and across the country to join me in this boycott."

Josh Hawley, the Republican candidate for Senate in Missouri, on Saturday, demanded an FBI probe of a dirty-tricks campaign mailer that wrongly accuses him of opposing gun rights. The mailers urge voters to back a Libertarian or Independent voter over Mr. Hawley and do not include required disclaimers identifying who paid for them. “Voters telling me about fake & illegal mailers pro-Dem group is putting out. There should be an FBI investigation,” Mr. Hawley, the state attorney general, wrote on Twitter. He called for Democrat incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill to cooperate in a probe.

A year after Judicial Watch reported a rise in illegal aliens using fake Puerto Rican birth certificates to obtain authentic U.S. passports and drivers’ licenses, the feds have busted a Massachusetts operation run by corrupt state workers. The state employees sold drivers’ licenses and state identification cards to illegal immigrants who bought Puerto Rican documents on the black market, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The operation perpetuated voter fraud because some of the false identities and addresses were used to vote in Boston, the state’s capital and largest city. The case is the latest of many illustrating that...

Report finds widespread misuse of state resources and other improprietiesA Fresno State University employee was paid an estimated $22,000 for time he was playing online games and watching YouTube videos at work, according to a state auditor's report released Thursday. The case was one of 10 highlighted in the report on investigations into improper activities by state employees during the second half of last year. The state employees, who were investigated after whistleblower tips, cost the state nearly $40,000 through misuse of state resources, improper payments and other issues, according to the report. The report also identified instances where state...

California officials say the state overpaid at least $700,000 to state employees last month and the government is working to get the money back. The Sacramento Bee reports about 20,000 state employees got too much money in their paycheck -- ranging from $37 to $101 per employee. State Controller's Office spokesman John Hill says the mistake was limited to workers covered by two unions, including 12,689 employees in the California Correctional Peace Officers Association and "about 7,000" workers in the International Union of Operating Engineers Bargaining Unit 12. ...

WIBW – Gov. Sam Brownback issued an executive order Tuesday removing gender identity and sexual orientation from the protected classes of state employees. His order rescinds a prior order from former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, which expanded the protections. Brownback also issued a separate order which includes language to encourage employment practices of veterans and people with disabilities. Executive Order 15-02 reaffirms the commitment of the State of Kansas to employment practices which do not discriminate based on race, color, gender, religion, national origin, ancestry or age. It further establishes that state entities will implement employment management practices for veterans and...

In recent arguments against states requiring voters to show a photo ID, the United Auto Workers Local 6000 has compared concerns about voter fraud to belief in the fictional Loch Ness monster and Yeti. The union wrote on its Facebook page that requiring a photo ID for voting is the goal of the “billionaire funded” American Legislative Exchange Council, and is intended to create obstacles for voters who might support a more “progressive” agenda. When its own members, however, want to exercise their freedoms under the new right-to-work law in Michigan to opt out of paying union dues as a...

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) -- Connecticut state employees have been given an early release from work today in advance of the snow storm. The workers will be given a staggered release beginning at 3 p.m. "Given the impending snow and the severe cold, I’ve asked all executive agencies to enact their early dismissal plans," Gov. Dannel Malloy said in a statement. "Private sector companies may want to consider similar plans, so that we are not bogged down during the usual evening rush, right when the snow is forecasted to pick up.” Up to nine inches of snow or more is in...

Reaction to the news about Jeff Cogen's alleged pot and cocaine use runs the gamut from outrage to a lack of concern best summarized as, as long as he got his work done. /snip/ Recent polls show most Americans think pot should be legal, and many states including Oregon are taking steps in that direction. But what does that mean for public officials? Should public officials be allowed to smoke pot while holding office? Is cocaine a different matter? Take our reader poll to weigh in.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — In a quest to save money, political leaders in Washington state are exploring a plan that would shift some government workers out of their current health plans and onto the insurance exchange developed under President Barack Obama’s health care law. Lawmakers believe the change, which could affect thousands of part-time state employees and education workers, would save the state $120 million over the next two years. It would consequently push more health care costs onto the federal government because many of the low-income workers would likely qualify for federal subsidies. Washington state appears to be the first...

Roughly 100 students, alumni and government officials gathered in Linsly-Chittenden Hall Friday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of “Witness,” an anti-communist manifesto written by conservative columnist Whittaker Chambers. The event, hosted by the William F. Buckley Program, aimed to examine “Witness” from both historical and present-day perspectives through three panels and a dinner with Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. Panelists such as John Gaddis, a history professor, and Elliott Abrams, former assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian affairs, discussed the book’s controversial history in sparking the beginning of the conservative movement. Daniels said he agreed with the book’s...

Jerry Sandusky will reportedly still receive a state pension payment of more than $4,900 per month despite being found guilty last week on 45 molestation charges, according to Pennsylvania law. Reuters reports that, by law, the former Penn State assistant football coach would only forfeit his pension after being sentenced for an Act 140 state crime. Crimes such as extortion and bribery by a public employee are covered by that act, but not violent crimes or sexual abuse.

FALL RIVER (CBS) — There’s another strange twist after a woman’s body was found floating in a public pool in Fall River, possibly going unnoticed for days. The mayor of Fall River says “that health inspectors from the City visited the pool on Monday and on Tuesday and inspected the facilities,” which was during the time that body was believed to be in the water. Marie Joseph was at the pool on Sunday and hadn’t been seen since. It wasn’t until Tuesday night, when some kids broke into the Veteran’s Memorial swimming pool and found Joseph’s body floating in the...

The Wisconsin state senate has passed legislation limiting collective bargaining for state employees. This was accomplished via legislation that did not involve fiscal matters, thus lowering the threshold for a quorum. The remainder of the current dispute, involving wages and benefits, have already been agreed to by the unions, who can be expected to withdraw the offer. There is talk of a recall campaign to punish Republican legislators, and unions have access to millions of dollars and large numbers of people. But the facts on the ground have changed in Wisconsin tonight, as the GOP in effect called the Democrats'...

This poll needs attention

The union representing nearly 95,000 state workers has reached a tentative labor deal with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration that includes only one unpaid furlough day off per month instead of the two the governor had ordered.

SACRAMENTO — – Fed up with large pay raises for executives of California's public universities, the chairman of the Assembly's higher-education committee introduced legislation yesterday that would freeze salaries of state employees who make more than $150,000 a year. The measure specifically includes executives and other high-paid officials at the California State University system. It urges the University of California system – which enjoys constitutional autonomy – to impose the same restraints. “I've been pretty outraged by CSU's and UC's continued executive-compensation practices during a time of, first, budget uncertainty and now full-blown crisis,” said committee Chairman Anthony Portantino, D-Pasadena....

Job and Family Services made several checks on Joe the Plumber Wednesday, October 29, 2008 5:56 PM By Randy Ludlow The Columbus Dispatch Document * Read the letter from Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, about background checks made on Joe the Plumber [pdf] Multiple checks on "Joe the Plumber" were made through state computer systems at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Agency Director Helen Jones-Kelley disclosed early this evening that computer inquiries on the presidential campaign figure were not restricted to a child-support system. The department also checked on Samuel...

ANNAPOLIS (AP) -- Maryland added $100 million to this year's budget to help pay future health care costs for retired teachers and state employees, but it was little money toward solving what could be a $20 billion problem. New rules imposed by the Government Accounting Standards Board will require state and local governments across the country to change the way they account for health care costs in their employee-retirement systems.