Author: The Center Square

KC Fed Analysis: Migrants Cooled Overheated Labor Market, Slowed Wage Growth

The Center Square
Farm Workers

The increase of migrant workers during the last two years cooled an overheated labor market and slowed wage growth across industries and states, according to an analysis of government statistics.

“The influx of immigrant workers appears to have helped alleviate the severe staffing shortages in certain industries that were pervasive during the pandemic’s volatile period,” Elior Cohen, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, wrote in the organization’s Economic Bulletin. It serves Colorado, Kansas, western Missouri, Nebraska, northern New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

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Venezuelan Gang Members Arrested Thousands of Miles from Border

The Center Square
ICE arresting suspect

Venezuelan Tren de Aragua prison gang members are being arrested thousands of miles from the border after having illegally entered the U.S. in Texas.

The Venezuelan prison gang is well-known for orchestrating murders, bribery schemes and money laundering, drug and arms trafficking, and kidnappings for ransom money. In March, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Maria Elvira Salazar, both Florida Republicans, called on the president to officially designate Tren de Aragua as a Transnational Criminal Organization.

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Texas Sues Biden over ‘Gender Identity’ Guidance in Workplace

The Center Square
Business Meeting

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued three federal agencies Tuesday to “stop an unlawful attempt to redefine federal law through agency guidance” that mandates “gender identity” accommodation in the workplace.

Paxton sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and other federal officials to block April 29 EEOC guidance that redefines the meaning of “sex” in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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New Hampshire, Quebec Sign Border Security Agreement

The Center Square
New Hampshire Governor

New Hampshire and the Canadian province of Quebec signed a “historical security agreement” to address border security.

Gov. Chris Sununu and a representative from Quebec, Laurence Gagnon, signed the agreement Monday in response to “new challenges related to cross-border security emerge,” including a rise of “illegal border crossings.” The governor says it is the first border security “arrangement” between the state and a foreign territory.

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Groups Sue over Bureau of Land Management Leasing Rule

The Center Square
Deb Haaland

Several groups have sued over a new Bureau of Land Management leasing rule they argue will harm indigenous communities and put small businesses out of business.

Western Energy Alliance, the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico, New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, North Dakota Petroleum Council, Petroleum Association of Wyoming, and Utah Petroleum Association sued Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and the BLM in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming.

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Justice Department Sues Live Nation, Seeks Breakup

The Center Square
Live music festival

The federal government wants to force the divorce of Live Nation and Ticketmaster more than a decade after it allowed the entertainment giants to merge.

“It is time to break it up,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday. 

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FIT21, Regulation Changes of Digital Assets, Passes House

The Center Square
Rep. Patrick McHenry

Changes for regulation of the cryptocurrency industry passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday afternoon in legislation opposed by the White House.

Lawmakers voted 279-136, moving the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act – known colloquially as FIT21 – forward. Seventy-one Democrats were among those in favor.

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Republican Governors Sign Letter Opposing WHO Treaty

The Center Square
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (composite image)

The Republican governors of two dozen states, including Georgia and South Carolina, penned a letter to President Joe Biden opposing the World Health Organization’s proposed “Pandemic Agreement,” which they said could “undermine national sovereignty” and states’ rights.

The state executives argue the treaty “would seek to elevate the WHO from an advisory body to a global authority in public health.” They contend the proposed accord could also allow the WHO to establish “a global surveillance infrastructure” and force participants to censor free speech.

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New Bill Would Have Exposed Alleged Conflicts in Biden, Trump Presidencies

The Center Square
President Joe Biden and Donald Trump (composite image)

Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have faced ongoing ethics questions in recent years, but a new bill seeks to bring any such problems to the surface much sooner.

A new bipartisan piece of legislation would require presidents and vice presidents to disclose gifts received, conflicts of interest, foreign financial dealings and more ethical gray areas within two years of taking office.

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Businesses Blast New Biden Rule Allowing Union Reps to Inspect Job Sites

The Center Square
Construction site

Business groups are pushing back against a new Biden administration rule that would allow third-parties, including union representatives, to accompany federal inspectors of job sites.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the final rule earlier this year, but critics say the rule goes beyond safety needs and panders to unions and their recruitment efforts. The rule would apply even to job sites where workers have not unionized.

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