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What I've Been Reading This Week


As I finish up this note, I am at the beach.  Well, in full disclosure, I am looking out a window outside the courtroom at the beach...I suppose that is as close as I will get for the time being.  Before I head back inside the courtroom, I wanted to highlight a few articles for readers that jumped out at me.  Some readers might have heard that President Trump's nominee for Labor Secretary, Alexander Acosta, had his confirmation hearing this past Wednesday.  As a result, I wanted to lead things off with a nod to that confirmation hearing and what to expect going forward in regard to the nomination.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.



On Wednesday, Alexander Acosta went before the Senate HELP Committee for his confirmation hearing to become the next Labor Secretary.  As Jonnelle Marte at The Washington Post writes, Acosta received a relatively easy going hearing (at least in comparison to what would have likely face the prior Labor Secretary nominee, Andy Puzder).  Notably, a question did come up in regard to how Acosta viewed the proposed new overtime regulations which have been challenged in court.  While Acosta did not directly address whether he was for or against the new overtime regulations, he stated that it was "unfortunate" that the overtime rules had not been updated in more than a decade but thought that the proposed salary increase proposed by the Obama administration would "create a stress on the system".  At this point, it does not appear that Acosta's nomination has been derailed at the confirmation hearing.  I would expect the Senate HELP committee to approve his nomination shortly and then get passed along to the Senate thereafter.


Will Illinois Follow Suit & Become a Right to Work State?

A few years ago, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner had attempted to make right to work a reality in traditionally liberal (and pro-union) Illinois.  Unfortunately for him, those efforts largely proved to be unsuccessful and Illinois has yet to become the next right to work state.  Glenn Minnis at The Sangamon Sun wrote a good article recently in which he suggested that now that both Kentucky and Missouri have become right to work states, Illinois might eventually manage to pass similar right to work legislation.  With many businesses leaving Illinois and moving to right to work states, concern has risen about how the Illinois economy and job market will be able to compete.  As experts have pointed out, data shows that right to work states are exhibiting faster wage and job growth than their unionized (and non right to work) counterparts in Illinois.  I think this is still going to be an uphill fight for some time (as traditionally middle of the road New Hampshire could not manage to pass a right to work bill this legislative session), but perhaps there is some "hope" on the horizon.

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