Monday, June 23, 2014
WPKN News Team
This is —— —– with the WPKN local news for Connecticut and Long Island.
In the news tonight: The Family Medical Leave Act, The Working Families Party hears from gubernatorial candidates in Wallingford, republican voters head to the polls tomorrow, and the New York State Assembly and Senate both approve a tax relief bill.
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Article 1 | Connecticut News – White House Summit on Working Families – FMLA
Contributor: Melinda Tuhus – Original News Article – Edited
Connecticut ranks high among the states in supports for working parents, according to a new study released in time for the White House Summit on Working Families.
Vicki Shabo is vice president at the National Partnership for Women and Families, which has just released a report, “Expecting Better: A State-by-State Analysis of Laws That Help New Parents.”
She says Connecticut’s Family and Medical Leave Act and workplace accommodations, both for pregnant women and nursing mothers, are some of the laws that gave the Nutmeg State a B-plus ranking, going beyond the federal protections that are in place.
And, she adds, “Connecticut is the only state in the nation to have a paid sick day law, which guarantees some workers in service industries the ability to earn paid sick time.” Workers can use sick days to care for themselves or their family members.
Advocates also want to add a child tax credit to the existing state earned income tax credit as an effective way to help low- and middle-income families, and to index the state’s minimum wage to inflation. The minimum wage is set to rise to $10.10 an hour by 2017.
191 Words | Source: Connecticut News Service – Melinda Tuhus
Article 2 | Connecticut News – Working Families Party – Gubernatorial Candidates
Contributor: Melinda Tuhus – Original News Article – Edited
The Working Families Party heard from three candidates for governor at its forum on Saturday at a union hall in Wallingford. Governor Dannel Malloy, who won a tight race for governor four years ago with support from the party, reminded party members why they should support him again. He has pushed through pro-labor policies like paid sick days for some workers and an increase in the minimum wage.
Jonathan Pelto is a former state rep who is running as a third party candidate. He said Malloy’s anti-teacher statements and proposals and his support for “corporate education reform” pushed him to run, though he’s only about halfway to collecting the 7,500 signatures he needs to get on the ballot by August 6.
Former republican Party chair Chris Healy gave Pelto a $100 donation and is helping him gather signatures, which is feeding the accusation of Democratic Party members that Pelto is a spoiler who could throw the election to the endorsed republican candidate, Tom Foley, who declined to respond to the invitation to appear at the forum, according to the head of the Working Families Party.
185 Words | Source: Connecticut News Service – Melinda Tuhus
Article 3 | New York News – Republican Voters – Lee Zeldin – George Demos
Contributor: Wilfredo
Tomorrow Republican voters will decide whether Lee Zeldin or George Demos will be their candidate to oppose democratic incumbent Congressman Tim Bishop in the fall.
Lee Zeldin, 34, is a New York state senator who lives in Shirley with his wife and two children. Zeldin is an attorney who spent four years of active duty in the U.S. Army and was deployed to Iraq in 2006 as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. He established his law practice in 2008 and he has been a member of the Army Reserves since 2007. Zeldin currently holds the rank of Major.
In 2010, Zeldin was elected to the state Senate, when the incumbent, Brian Foley, was the deciding vote in approving the MTA Payroll tax. Later, Zeldin voted against that measure, helping to overturn a large part of the tax.
Zeldin has the support of the Suffolk County Republican Committee; Mr. Demos has launched a primary challenge.
Mr. Demos, 37, is an attorney who lives in Stony Brook with his wife and young son. He is a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Enforcement Attorney, where he worked from 2002 to 2009 prosecuting corporate fraud cases.
195 Words | Source: http://suffolktimes.timesreview.com/2014/06/49527/republican-voters-head-to-the-polls-for-primary-tuesday/
Article 4 | New York News – Tax Relief Bill – First Time Home Buyers
Contributor: Wilfredo
The New York State Assembly and Senate both approved a tax relief bill sponsored by Republican state Senator Ken LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) in the upper house, and Republican Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) in the lower house last week.
Assemblyman Palumbo said, “It is certainly no secret that taxes are of greatest concern to Long Islanders. The out migration of 18-to-25-year olds is staggering in the Town of Southold, and in general Suffolk County. We need to provide all the relief we can.”
The legislation aims to help low and moderate-income residents purchase their first home by eliminating certain income requirements and exempting them from the 2 percent real estate transfer tax that funds the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund, which is a conservation program designed to preserve open space and farmland in the five East End townships. The tax is levied on the cost of the mortgage taken out to buy homes.
Southold Town is the latest East End municipality to benefit from the tax exemption. Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island also currently offer the tax break.
Riverhead is the only East End town without the first-time homebuyers’ exemption.
Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter said, “Unless revenue increases dramatically, I don’t see it happening anytime soon.”
208 Words | Source: http://riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com/2014/06/55452/new-tax-breaks-for-first-time-homebuyers-in-southold-town/
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The WPKN LOCAL NEWS is prepared from various sources, including original news articles by Melinda from the Connecticut News Service, the Riverhead News Review, and The Suffolk Times.
This newscast can be found online at: https://mynews895.wordpress.com.
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