(UPDATE) Minnesota GOP legislator asks firms against ‘right to work’ to move to Minnesota

[lutefisk]

Last edited Tue Mar 10, 2015, 07:32 PM - Edit history (1)

Probably not a bad idea. Future's looking a little bleak here. It's working Wisconsin!

A Republican Minnesota legislator wants Wisconsin business owners who are opposed to the Badger State Legislature’s likely passage of what’s known as “right-to-work” legislation to move to Minnesota....

In a letter to two Wisconsin construction businesses that hire union members, Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, sent a letter to the firms offering assistance in relocating their businesses to Minnesota.

He said the government shouldn’t get involved in how private companies do their work.

“In Wisconsin, you have private sector business owners who are telling the government this is going to hurt their businesses model,” Garofalo said. “Those are the businesses we want in Minnesota.”

LINK to MPR

[midnight]

1. When Republicans don't support RTW, how did it pass here?

[lutefisk]

2. My guess is that Walker ordered it

The timing was odd, with Fitzgerald seemingly caught of guard by having to do it on short notice. It was announced right after Walker's meetings with big donors, or maybe they asked for it and he promised he could deliver? In any event, it just doesn't seem that Fitzgerald suddenly decided to fast-track it because "he had the votes".

[midnight]

3. It seems using the public legislature as a personal gain should be illegal?

Perhaps that is what the John Doe 2 and 3 will demonstrate.

[lutefisk]

4. Hoffman Construction takes Minnesota legislator up on his offer

Have to admire this James Hoffman guy. I'm guessing he knows substantially more about what works for businesses as well as employees than Scott Walker or any Republican in the legislature. Time for a new sign, Governor Walker: "Minnesota is Open for Business"

Hoffman announced Monday night — not long after Gov. Scott Walker signed the bill — that he's taking Garofalo up on his offer.

It's not just right-to-work driving Hoffman's decision, he said. The possibility of repealing the prevailing wage, as some Republican lawmakers have indicated, also has him concerned, as does the level of bonding proposed in Walker's transportation budget.

"This isn’t a political decision, it is a business decision," Hoffman wrote in his response to Garofalo. "I understand the MN Governor & Legislature are debating a funding INCREASE for transportation investments, while the Wisconsin Governor has proposed bonding (i.e. credit card) to solve the transportation funding problems. That, combined with Right to Work and proposed repeal of Wisconsin’s Prevailing Wage statute lead to my plans to relocate a portion of our business to Minnesota." ....

.... "'Our Company is Our People' – that’s our company motto," Hoffman wrote. "I am a fourth generation family owner and am proud to say we have 5th generation workers. We are a union shop by choice, with agreements with the Operating Engineers local 49 and the MN Laborers unions. Over time, Right to Work legislation interferes with my company’s ability to have access to skilled, productive workers which I depend upon when I submit my bid to the DOT."

LINK to Cap Times story

[midnight]

5. Owner says the move is Business…. Not Political… That is correct. Everyone knows that right to work

is a big loser...