February 8, 2013
Binding and Bound by Legislation
Interesting things happen when news producers order wall-to-wall coverage of a storm set to arrive in a day or two and visibility of anything but snow moves toward zero. Over the last twelve hours, two such things came flashing out of the blizzard of pre-blizzard forecasting and caught in my eye via email.
The first was in the humdrum yet esoteric area of legislative rules for the Rhode Island House of Representatives. ...
The other bit of legislative shrapnel to pierce the snow coverage is the annual bid to give union employees of public schools (teachers and others) access to binding arbitration in matters of money.
Continue reading on the Ocean State Current...
Nobody who is familiar with how binding arbitration works in practice could actually believe it is fair to taxpayers. Why would labor be pushing so hard for it - often at the expense of other interests - if it didn't so overwhelmingly favor them? It's a one-way ratcheting device that guarantees steady pay raises and job security in perpetuity. The fact that the arbitrator "considers" ability to pay as "a factor" instead of treating it as a ceiling on negotiations imposed by economic reality should be the first indication to a detached observer that something is amiss.
Posted by: Dan at February 8, 2013 10:20 AMRelated but not related;
I want to give a shout-out of thanks to (I think it was) Max-D that pointed out The Pension Income Tax Limits Act, 4 USC Section 114 [P. L. 104-95 (Jan. 10, 1996)] Paragraph; “(a) No State may impose an income tax on any retirement income of an individual who is not a resident or domiciliary of such State (as determined under the laws of such State).”
State of Rhode Island Division of Taxation has finally responded to me with a judgment that I am domiciled in the State of Hawaii and not State of Rhode Island therefore I am subject to Hawaii taxes.
I was also advised by RI taxation that I must file amended RI-1040NR (Non Resident) forms and my RI income taxes paid will be rebated to me.
So Justin here is another reason why people are leaving RI and taking their money with them:
Rhode Island Retirement Income Taxes: Railroad Retirement benefits are exempt. Out-of-state government pensions are fully taxed. Social Security is taxed to the extent it is federally taxed. All pensions in Rhode Island are fully taxed.
Seven states (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming) do not tax personal income.
Ten states exclude all federal, state and municipal pension income from taxation. These include Alabama, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New York and Pennsylvania.
The District of Columbia and 27 states with income taxes provide a full exclusion for Social Security benefits — Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin.
"Nobody who is familiar with how binding arbitration works in practice could actually believe it is fair to taxpayers."
Correction, anyone familiar KNOWS it isn't fair to taxpayers.
You're welcome Ken.
Posted by: Max D at February 11, 2013 1:53 PM