joseph Bishop-henchman

Today marks the anniversary of the first U.S. President filing an income tax return. On March 14, 1923, President Warren G. Harding filed his income tax return for the 1922 year, paying about $17,000 in tax on his presidential salary of $75,000, although further details were not released.

The income tax had been enacted in 1913, but then-President Woodrow Wilson was protected by Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, which states that the President’s salary “shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected.” From the 1860s until 1939, it was held that a new tax or tax increase diminished salary, and thus could not go into effect for presidents and federal judges (judges have a similar provision protecting them).

The New York Times of February 15, 1921 reports that then-President-elect Harding spoke against a proposed bill that would make the President permanently immune from the income tax, effectively killing it. (Interestingly, many European and international organizations have such an exemption.)

Press Release
(March 11, 2019, Washington D.C.) U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue issued the following statement after President Trump submitted his FY 2020 budget proposal to Congress:

“Our economy is booming, and unemployment is the lowest it’s been in decades. While the agriculture community still faces challenges, the Trump economy is creating new opportunities for all Americans to thrive,” said Secretary Perdue. “President Trump’s budget is fiscally conservative and lays out a vision for an accountable federal government that cuts spending. With our national debt soaring to over $22 trillion, we can no longer kick the can down the road. The time to act is now and USDA will actively do its part in reducing federal spending. We are stewards of other people’s money and must be diligent in spending it more carefully than we would our own when it comes to delivering our programs. At the same time, we will maintain a safety net for farmers, ranchers, foresters, producers, and people who need assistance in feeding their families.”
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Respond ASAP!  Last week the Trump administration said they’re updating overtime rules to say that as long as you get a salary of least $35,000/year, your employer can make you work overtime hours without any overtime pay. Not so great.

But L&I is updating our state rules too — and we’re pushing for a rule that goes a lot farther than Trump did. Let us know what you want to see — and what you expect!

Let us know! workingWA.org 

What do you want to see happen with overtime rules?

OK yeah if you’re thinking that’s sort of a dumb question you’re right,  It does seem pretty obvious $35,000 is not in fact enough money to work endless additional hours for zero additional dollars.

And yet… earlier today the Trump administration announced plans to finally update the salary threshold for overtime exemption… to $35,000/year. That would mean that it’s ok for an employer to pay you just $35,000/year, make you overtime-exempt, and require you to work limitless overtime hours with no additional overtime pay.
No it’s not good enough and yes the federal government needs to do better but of course we’re not just going to wait for that to happen.
Here in Washington, we’ve been pushing for the Department of Labor & Industries to update our state overtime rules too. The big difference: we’re aiming quite a bit higher than $35,000.

We’re calling for new state rules which say that if you get paid less than about $75,000/year, you should get overtime pay when you work overtime hours, no matter what your job title is, and no matter whether you’re classified as salaried or hourly.
It’s quite a difference. The federal Department of Labor said $35,000 is enough to make it ok to work overtime hours without overtime pay. We’re pushing our state to restore overtime rights all the way up to $75,000.

And given this latest news, where do you think Washington is going to end up?

In the end it’s pretty simple: our time counts, too. That’s why we’re fighting to restore overtime rights here in Washington state.
Thanks for helping get it done, and for letting us know what you think.
Working Washington