September 22, 2023

Friday, September 22, 2023. Annette’s News Roundup.

I think the Roundup makes people feel not so alone.

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Joe is always busy.

President Zelenskyy was in Washington.

Touch to watch the video.👇

One more thing.

To repeat what even the New York Post said in its editorial, “Kevin McCarthy made a huge mistake in dissing Ukraine’s Zelensky.”

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Kamala is always busy

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The young people will save Democracy. Report from Gen Z.

The Vice President believes this, as her tour for voter registration at College campuses shows.

The President believes this, as he sets his policies on Climate Control, the top issue for Gen Z, including establishing the newly American Climate Corps (ACC).

We also heard this. 👇

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Wednesday. In the House of Representatives.

Led by Representative Gym Jordan of Ohio, Republican Representatives on the House Oversight Committee attacked Attorney General Merrick Garland over his role in the investigation of President Biden’s son Hunter, begun five years ago under Trump. 

The District Attorney answered him.👇

Representative Eric Swalwell, Democrat of California, then mocked Jordan with an amazing review of what Jordan and the GOP have done to our Democracy. Watch below. 👇 Swalwell starts at 2 minutes 3 sec. For about 5 astonishing minutes.

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Minimum wage was FDR’s idea.

In 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act established it at $0.25 an hour.

California fast food workers will earn at least $20 per hour. How's that minimum wage compare?

Unions representing health care workers, fast food workers and other industries are increasingly flexing their power, as employees take to the picket lines this summer. 

Across industries, workers are seeking improved benefits, better working conditions and most commonly, increased wages.  

In California, nearly 1 million fast food and health care workers are set to get a major raise after a deal was announced earlier this week between labor unions and industries. 

Under the new bill, most of California's 500,000 fast-food workers will be paid at least $20 per hour next year. And a separate bill will increase health care workers' salaries to at least $25 per hour over the next 10 years. 

How does minimum wage for health care and fast-food employees compare in other states? 

Minimum wage varies across the US

Fifteen states have laws in place that make minimum wages equivalent to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, according   to the Department of Labor. Another five states have no minimum wage laws. 

Which states have the lowest minimum wage?

The following states require businesses to pay employees a wage that’s equivalent or higher to the federal minimum wage of $7.25:

◾ Georgia

◾ Iowa

◾ Idaho

◾ Indiana

◾ Kansas

◾ Kentucky

◾ North Carolina

◾ North Dakota

◾ New Hampshire

◾ Oklahoma

◾ Pennsylvania

◾ Texas

◾ Utah

◾ Wisconsin

Which states have the highest minimum wage?

Washington, D.C., has the highest minimum wage of any state or territory in the U.S. at $16.50 an hour. Washington state has the highest minimum wage of any state in the country at $15.74 per hour, followed by California at $15.50. The following states and Washington, D.C., have minimum wages higher than the federal level:

◾ Washington, D.C., $16.50

◾ Washington, $15.74 

◾ California, $15.50

◾ Massachusetts, $15.00 

◾ New York, $14.20 

◾New Jersey, $14.13 

◾ Connecticut, $14.00 

◾ Arizona, $13.85

◾ Maryland, $13.80 

◾ Maine, $13.80 

◾ Colorado, $13.65

◾ Oregon, $13.50 

◾ Vermont, $13.18 

◾ Rhode Island, $13.00 

◾ Illinois, $13.00 

◾ Missouri, $12.00 

◾ New Mexico, $12.00 

◾ Virginia, $12.00

◾ Delaware, $11.75

◾ Arkansas, $11.00

◾ Florida, $11.00

◾ Hawaii, $11.00

◾ Alaska, $10.85 

◾ South Dakota, $10.80 

◾ Minnesota, $10.59 

◾ Nebraska, $10.50 

◾ Nevada, $10.50 

◾ Michigan, $10.10 

◾ Ohio, $10.10 

◾ Montana, $9.95 

◾ West Virginia, $8.75 

Which states have no minimum wage laws?

There is no minimum wage law in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, or Tennessee, so minimum wages default to federal law at $7.25. In Georgia and Wyoming, the state minimum wage is lower than the federal minimum wage at $5.15 an hour. But, many employers are subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act and must pay the Federal minimum wage.

Do minimum wage laws vary within a state?

Nevada has two tiers of minimum wage: Employers that provide health benefits must pay workers at least $9.50 an hour, while employers that do not provide health benefits must pay at least $10.50 an hour.

How many workers make federal minimum wage or less?

According to the Department of Labor, 78.7 million workers 16 and older were paid at hourly rates, making up 55.6% of all wage and salary workers. Of those hourly workers, about 1 million were paid wages at or below the federal minimum wage, making up 1.3% of all hourly paid workers. (USA Today).

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In case you were wondering what makes the House Republicans tick.

Orders from on high.

One more thing.

https://twitter.com/tomiahonen/status/1704946237449920702?s=61&t=I_Od53CbnPTsbLcD0baXPg

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With Covid on the rise, Covid tests are back. Do you need some?

Federal government to start providing free coronavirus tests once again.

Just as a summer covid wave shows signs of receding, the Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is reviving a program to mail free rapid coronavirus tests to Americans.

Starting Sept. 25, people can request four free tests per household through covidtests.gov. Officials say the tests are able to detect the latest variants and are intended to be used through the end of the year.

The return of the free testing program comes after Americans navigated the latest uptick in covid cases with free testing no longer widely available. The largest insurance companies stopped reimbursing the costs of retail at-home testing once the requirement to do so ended with the public health emergency in May. The Biden administration stopped mailing free tests in June.

The Department of Health and Human Services also announced Wednesday that it was awarding $600 million to a dozen coronavirus test manufacturers. Agency officials said the funding would improve domestic manufacturing capacity and provide the federal government with 200 million over-the-counter tests to use in the future. (Washington Post).

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There's no sign of widespread COVID-19 mandates in the US. Republicans are warning of them anyway.

NEW YORK (AP) — As Americans fend off a late summer COVID-19 spike and prepare for a fresh vaccine rollout, Republicans are raising familiar fears that government-issued lockdowns and mask mandates are next.

It’s been a favorite topic among some of the GOP’s top presidential contenders. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters that people are “lurching toward” COVID-19 restrictions and “there needs to be pushback.” South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott posted online that the “radical Left” seeks to bring back school closures and mandates. And former President Donald Trump urged congressional Republicans to stop the Biden administration from bringing back COVID-19 “mandates, lockdowns or restrictions of any kind.”

“The radical Democrats are trying hard to restart COVID hysteria,” Trump told supporters in Rapid City, South Dakota, during a recent campaign stop. “I wonder why. Is there an election coming up by any chance?”

While some individual schools and colleges have implemented temporary mask requirements, there is no sign that anyone in federal or state leadership is considering widespread COVID-19 restrictions, requirements or mask mandates. The administrations of several Democratic governors denied that any such moves are even under discussion. The overriding sentiment is to leave the decisions to individuals. (Associated Press).

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