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Sanders’ request comes after he met with Los Angeles port truckers to discuss the exploitative labor practices exposed by USA Today.
“The federal government should not be rewarding trucking companies that exploit and abuse their own workers,” Sanders wrote in a letter to Trump. “If you are serious about your support for our nation’s truck drivers, I would urge you to sign an executive order to deny government contracts and subcontracts for trucking companies that misclassify workers as independent contractors, force workers to lease the trucks they drive, and engage in other abusive labor practices.”
“Truck drivers are the backbone of the American economy. They deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, not like modern-day indentured servants,” Sanders added.
Trucking companies are misclassifying drivers as independent contractors, requiring them to lease their own trucks and trapping them in a vicious cycle of debt.
Companies are using this debt as leverage to force drivers into working long hours for starvation wages.
At the end of the month, some workers end up owing more on the lease than their paycheck is worth, forcing them to essentially work for free.
Sanders also called on Trump “to direct the Labor Department to conduct an audit of all federal contracts and subcontracts awarded to port trucking companies to ensure sure that they are in compliance with the prevailing wage and labor requirements of the McNamara - O’Hara Service Contract Act. Those companies that are not in compliance with our nation’s labor laws should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and required to pay back wages to their workers so that they receive all of the benefits they are legally entitled to receive.”
Read Sanders’ below.
111017 Sen. Bernie Sanders letter to President Trump on truck drivers by LakeCoNews on Scribd
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The State Treasurer’s Office offers low-cost financing and tax incentives for construction, manufacturing equipment, waste hauling, recycling and more.
“The wildfires that recently ravaged North Bay’s wine country and Southern California have caused deaths and injuries, destroyed and damaged property and uprooted people’s lives,” Chiang said. “But the people of California are resilient. When disaster strikes, we rebuild our communities even better than they were before. That is why my office is providing additional financing tools and making it easier and faster to access them.”
His offerings include:
– Increasing by 50 percent state funding to spur lending and guarantee private bank loans to small businesses. Protecting lenders against defaults will make it easier for business owners to borrow money to rebuild more quickly.
– Redirecting state deposits to qualified community banks to encourage recovery lending. The Treasurer will deposit hundreds of millions of dollars to any qualified community bank or credit union that agrees to actively participate in the reconstruction and recovery of their local communities.
– Reimbursing certain fees charged to private waste haulers and recyclers for bond financing to pay for the cost of removing rubble before rebuilding can begin.
– Fast-tracking applications to exempt manufacturers from paying sales tax on new equipment purchases, and exploring application fee waivers and prioritizing manufacturers that are rebuilding.
– Assisting community and rural, non-profit health clinics by refinancing and deferring payments on existing Treasurer’s Office loans as well as exploring the issuance of up to $2 million in available funding from an existing loan program. The loans could be used for working capital, infrastructure, building purchases, renovations and equipment.
– Supporting small business lending for recovery efforts by aggressively purchasing government-guaranteed portions of Small Business Administration loans.
Some of the Treasurer’s financing opportunities already are available while others could be in place by December or early next year.
“It is critical to public health and safety for small businesses and health clinics to be up and running as soon as possible,” Chiang said.
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A strong month for retail sales made up for most of the shortfall.
For the first four months of the 2017-18 fiscal year, total revenues of $32.65 billion are outpacing budget projections by $544.8 million, or 1.7 percent, with all of the “big three” – personal income, retail sales and use, and corporation taxes – in the black.
Sales tax receipts of $936.1 million for October were $45.0 million higher than anticipated in the budget. For the fiscal year, sales tax receipts of $6.86 billion are $195.3 million above budget estimates.
Personal income tax, or PIT, receipts for October totaled $5.38 billion, falling $49.8 million short of budget estimates.
For the fiscal year to date, total PIT receipts of $22.97 billion are $166.4 million above assumptions in the 2017-18 Budget Act.
Corporation tax receipts for October totaled $285.6 million, $78.1 million below projections – or 21.5 percent – after beating expectations for three consecutive months.
For the fiscal year, corporation tax receipts of $1.81 billion are outpacing budget projections by 8.6 percent.
Outstanding loans of $19.54 billion in October were $1.26 billion more than 2017-18 Budget Act estimates. This loan balance consists of borrowing from the state’s internal special funds. Unused borrowable resources in October exceeded projections by $1.78 billion, or 8.3 percent.
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As part of program development, CDFA identified specific soil management practices eligible for initial funding through the HSP.
Some of these practices include no or reduced tillage, planting cover crops and compost application.
Earlier this summer, CDFA announced that it will begin accepting new proposals in order to provide additional opportunities to stakeholders.
“As we continue to develop the Healthy Soils Program, we want to consider new and innovative contributions from our stakeholders,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “Improving soil health in California must be a collaborative effort, and our continued efforts with stakeholder groups, sister agencies and federal partners is instrumental to the program’s success.”
The HSP stems from the California Healthy Soils Initiative, a collaboration between state agencies to support the development of healthy soils in California. By providing funds to incentivize management practices and on-farm demonstration projects, HSP helps build soil organic carbon and reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHG’s).
Proposal requirements, process for consideration and other details on the submission process can be found at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/efasap/docs/HSP_NewPractices_RFP.pdf.
Proposals are due by 5 p.m. PST on Dec. 18 and must be submitted to