1 min read

Season 4, Episode 52

Multiple pieces of legislation aim to improve railway safety

Ohio AFLCIO

 

Guest Name:

Tim Burga

Guest Website:

https://aflcio.org/get-local/ohio 

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Tim Burga, President of the Ohio AFL-CIO, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed two new pieces of legislation designed to make railways safer, a newly proposed tax cut and a proposed amendment to the Ohio State Constitution to change the threshold to pass future amendments. 

Ohio legslators have introduced the Transportation Safety Bill, which includes two common-sense measures to ensure safer railway operations. Meanwhile, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) introduced the bipartisan Railway Safety Act, which will create stricter safety standards for U.S. rail carriers. Both pieces of legislation may prevent any future incidents like the East Palestine derailment, Burga added.

Burga then discussed a plan to create a flat tax on state income tax and increase property taxes. He feels that if enacted, these new taxes would greatly impact lower-income households in Ohio and create a larger gap between middle-class and lower-income families.

Several months after a failed attempt to increase the required voting threshold to amend Ohio’s constitution, state Republicans are again seeking the increase the percentage of votes needed to change the state’s constitution. Currently, the voting threshold is 50 percent, plus one vote. If the proposed increase passes, it would require 60 percent of voters to approve a change. Burga noted most states have an amendment under 60 percent. In his opinion, this would make it more difficult to pass an amendment. He added that over 150 organizations marched on the State Capitol last year to share their displeasure with the measure.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Communication Workers of America, Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Kelley & Ferraro, LLP, & Labor Citizen magazine, Laborers International Union of North America, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Maritime Trades Department, Ohio Federation of Teachers-American Federation of Teachers, United Auto Workers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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