International Operating Engineer - Winter 2018

Politics & Legislation
Missouri Voters Will Decide Fate of “Right to Work” Law
New Tax Law Brings Changes to Rates and Deductions
FOR MORE THAN five years, antiunion
politicians and corporate special
interests have been spending millions
of dollars in Missouri to pass so-called
“right to work” legislation. In 2015 there
was a close call when the Republicanled
Missouri House of Representatives
passed so-called “right to work” by
a 92-66 vote and the state Senate
vote was 21-13. Then-Governor Jay
Nixon vetoed the legislation, stating,
“Right-to-work is wrong for Missouri,
it’s wrong for the middle-class - and
it must never become the law of the
Show-Me State.”
Despite an aggressive campaign
by Operating Engineers and others
in the labor movement to support
Attorney General Chris Koster in his
bid for Governor, the November 2016
election saw anti-union gubernatorial
candidate Eric Greitens surge in the
last days of the election to swipe victory
away from Koster.
Greitens did not waste any time
on following through on his antiunion
platform. On February 6, 2017,
Greitens signed so-called “right to
work” legislation into law. The Show-
Me State was on its way to enabling free
riders to take advantage of other union
members by demanding services from
the union, but not paying a dime for
them. The law was set to become
effective on August 28, 2017.
However, Missouri labor unions
did not give up the fight. IUOE Local
Unions 101, 148 and 513, along with
other unions, created the We Are
Missouri coalition. Through that
organization, they worked diligently
collecting signatures to place the
legislation on the ballot for a “citizens
veto,” allowing voters to decide the
issue.
The Missouri Secretary of State
requires 108,467 signatures to certify
a voter referendum. Ten days before
the law’s effective date, the coalition
delivered a record number of signatures
to the Secretary of State, placing a
referendum on the ballot in 2018 and
“staying” the right to work law. We Are
Missouri collected 300,000 signatures!
On November 22, 2017, the Secretary of
State certified that the referendum had
sufficient support.
We are Missouri is continuing the
campaign to educate the public on
the impact to the middle class if this
proposal becomes law.
At press time, the vote is scheduled
for the general election ballot this
November. But the Legislature and the
Governor believe that they would have
an advantage by placing the anti-union
measure on the August primary ballot.
They expect a lower turnout in August,
and they expect a strategic advantage
with fewer voters. It is just one more
attempt to silence the voices of working
people.
The Legislature must pass a law to
change the election date to August,
so the Missouri labor movement is
preparing for either election date. No
matter when the election occurs, the
IUOE will be working hard to mobilize
the middle class against these antiunion,
anti-worker policies.
To learn more about the campaign,
please visit the We Are Missouri web
site at http://www.wearemissouri.org
ENGINEERS
ACTION &
RESPONSE
NETWORK
REGISTER TODAY!
WWW.IUOE.ORG
ON A STRICTLY party line vote,
Congress passed H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts
and Jobs Act, which made significant
changes to the nation’s tax law.
President Trump signed the bill at the
end of 2017. The changes will go into
effect for tax year 2018; these changes
won’t affect your filing for 2017.
INDIVIDUAL TAXES
In a nutshell, the bill modestly lowers
individual tax rates for most American
households. The bill also increases the
standard deduction available to most
tax filers. (See a tax professional about
how the changes may affect you and
your family.) But the legislation also
eliminated key deductions for working
people and middle-class Americans.
In particular, the bill eliminated the
following deductions:
• Purchase of travel, transportation,
meals, and local lodging related to
work;
• Union dues and expenses;
• Work clothes and uniforms if
required and not suitable for
everyday use;
• Work-related education; and
• Limited the state and local tax
exemption to $10,000;
• The mortgage interest deduction
will be capped for homes up to
$750,000
Those will be big hits for many
middle-class taxpayers, including
thousands of Operating Engineers.
For many taxpayers, the increase in
the standard deduction will more than
make up for the loss of those workrelated
and other deductions. Again,
consult a tax professional about your
personal situation.
CORPORATE TAXES
The bigger changes to tax law took
place on the business and corporate
tax side. The corporate rate goes from
35% to 21%. The bill allows businesses
to immediately write off the full cost
of new equipment. The bill reduces
rates on “pass through” companies –
a major boon to professional service
companies and real-estate developers
like the Trump Organization. The bill
lowers the rate on foreign-sourced
income and is expected to “repatriate”
those profits back to the U.S. The
legislation lowers the repatriated tax
rate to 15.5%. That’s down from the
traditional corporate tax rate of 35%.
Past legislation has proposed to use
these international tax changes to
finance public-works investments. But
this tax law swallows up the revenue
and fails to assist financing investments
to rebuild American roads, bridges,
and infrastructure.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The tax legislation basically
eliminated the ability of state and local
governments to refinance municipal
bonds. Eliminating that tool will save
taxpayers about $18 billion over ten
years. But eliminating it also raises the
cost of financing roads, bridges, schools
and other infrastructure. About onethird
of all municipal bond issuances
in 2016 used these refinancing tools.
The legislation also eliminates three
small tax credit bond programs that
help finance school, energy, and other
infrastructure projects. Other changes
were proposed throughout the process,
but public-works advocates fought off
bigger attacks on infrastructure.
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INTERNATIONAL OPERATING ENGINEER
WINTER 2018 11