Policy Archives - The Connecticut Star

Biden Uses Executive Authority to Roll Out Green Jobs Training Program

September 21, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

President Joe Biden will use executive authority to establish a green jobs training problem for young people after Congress shot down an earlier attempt to do so, the White House announced Wednesday.

The American Climate Corps (ACC) is projected to help about 20,000 people find work in climate-related fields, including facilitating pathways to working in federal civil service, according to the White House. An earlier version of Biden’s green jobs training program did not make it into what eventually became the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as congressional Republicans strongly opposed the program largely due to concerns about its potential costs, according to the Associated Press.

Biden Admin Shuts Down Future Oil and Gas Activity on Thousands of Acres

September 20, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

The Biden administration announced Monday that it has moved to shut down future oil, gas and mining activity on thousands of acres of New Mexico land for the next 50 years.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a sub-agency of the Department of the Interior (DOI), issued the Monday proposal to block new oil, gas and mineral extraction activity on 4,000 acres of land in Sandoval County, New Mexico, according to a DOI press release. The proposal is motivated by the agency’s desire to safeguard tribal cultures and recreational activity in the area, and the policy would last for 50 years if finalized.

Commentary: Alzheimer’s Disease Is Partly Genetic − Studying the Genes That Delay Decline in Some May Lead to Treatments for All

September 19, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

Diseases that run in families usually have genetic causes. Some are genetic mutations that directly cause the disease if inherited. Others are risk genes that affect the body in a way that increases the chance someone will develop the disease. In Alzheimer’s disease, genetic mutations in any of three specific genes can cause the disease, and other risk genes either increase or decrease the risk of developing Alzheimer’s.

EXCLUSIVE: Matt Gaetz Says Vivek Ramaswamy’s Plan to Slash Federal Employment by 50 Percent Will Survive Legal Challenges

September 18, 2023 Michael Patrick Leahy

Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01) told The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network at an event in Nashville on Saturday that Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s bold plan to reduce the number of non-military federal employees by 50 percent in one year – a net reduction of 1 million employees from the current level of 2 million – is legally sound and will survive the expected legal challenges.

House Republicans Balk at Temporary Spending Bill

September 18, 2023 Admin

Numerous House Republicans have voiced opposition to the continuing resolution (CR) brokered by the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) and the Main Street Caucus on Sunday evening to avoid a government shutdown.

Commentary: The Migrant Surge is Coming to the Classroom

September 18, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

Democratic politicians and the liberal media made the first day of school all about welcoming migrant children. That’s sheer propaganda. Parents deserve the truth. The migrant surge is a disaster for their kids.

The surge will worsen our education system’s twin failures: plunging math and reading scores, and the failure to ensure newly arriving kids learn English so they can succeed, too.

A Closer Look at Vivek Ramaswamy’s Bold Plan to Take Down the Administrative State

September 17, 2023 M.D. Kittle

GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy proposed a plan on Wednesday to halve the size of the federal administrative state in his first year in office — should he be elected.

GOP Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Says He’d Win a Legal Challenge to His Plan to Slash the Administrative State

September 17, 2023 M.D. Kittle

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy knows there would be legal challenges to his sweeping plan to drastically reduce the size of the administrative state. The 38-year-old political outsider knows the big government left won’t give up the heart of the D.C swamp without a bruising fight.

Kinder, Gentler Iowa Cattle Call of GOP Presidential Hopefuls Sees Ramaswamy, DeSantis, Haley Generate Most Buzz

September 17, 2023September 17, 2023 M.D. Kittle

The latest cattle call of GOP presidential contestants — sans former President Donald Trump — mainly maintained Iowa nice, a departure from last month’s first fiery primary debate and a similar Christian conservative event in July hosted by conservative talk show host lightning rod Tucker Carlson.

New Mexico Gov. Partially Reverses Gun Ban, Narrows Scope to Parks and Playgrounds

September 16, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday amended an order banning gun possession that was restrained by a federal judge, seeking to narrow its focus to certain areas, according to an announcement on social media.

Grisham’s initial order, announced on Sept. 8, banned the possession of firearms outside private property in the city of Albuquerque and its encompassing Bernalillo County after declaring gun violence a public health emergency, which prompted widespread condemnation, including from gun control advocates. On Friday, Grisham wrote she would be narrowing the scope of the order to public parks and places where children gather, according to a post on Twitter, now known as X.

Connecticut Health Exchange Plans to Rise by 9.4 Percent

September 16, 2023September 15, 2023 The Center Square

The cost of health insurance plans offered through Connecticut’s Affordable Care Act Exchange will increase next year by nearly double digits, state insurance regulators said.

The Connecticut Insurance Department has approved a 9.4% proposed rate increase for health insurers for plans available on and off Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance exchange.

Pipeline Problems Could Cut Off Nation’s 100-Year Gas Supply

September 16, 2023 The Center Square

A recent analysis determined the United States sits on a century’s worth of gas supply, but industry experts warn there aren’t enough pipelines to access it.

The report from the Potential Gas Committee, part of the Colorado School of Mines, found that the country had technically recoverable gas resources of 3,353 trillion cubic feet, a 0.5% decrease from its 2020 estimate.

Watchdog: 177,000 Illegal Aliens Released into the U.S. with Missing, Faulty Addresses

September 15, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

Fox News reports that the internal watchdog for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found that nearly 200,000 illegal aliens were released from custody after giving false addresses.

The audit by the DHS’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) determined that Border Patrol agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers did not always record and verify the addresses given by illegal aliens prior to their release, only discovering the discrepancies after the illegals had left custody. The 177,000 invalid addresses were found during a review of 981,671 illegal alien records from March of 2021 to August of 2022; of those 177,000, at least 54,000 addresses were simply left blank.

Commentary: Rent Control Is the Wrong Solution for Housing Affordability

September 15, 2023 RealClearWire

My family moved to the United States from the Caribbean in 1985. About eight years later, my parents saved enough to purchase a two-family home in the quiet outskirts of Boston far away from our crime-ridden neighborhood. As landlords, my parents charged modest rents—enough to “help with the mortgage”—and ensured that the first-floor apartment was always well maintained for our tenants.

New Mexico Governor Responds to Judge Blocking Controversial Gun Control Order

September 15, 2023 The Center Square

A federal judge blocked parts of a controversial gun measure from New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham Wednesday, but she is not backing down.

U.S. District Judge David Urias temporarily blocked the law, arguing that the executive order runs contrary to recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on gun rights and violates people’s abilities to defend themselves.

Border Patrol Email: Plan to Mass Release Illegal Border Crossers from Crowded Facilities

September 14, 2023September 13, 2023 The Center Square

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Tuesday published an internal Border Patrol email her office obtained that provides guidelines to release foreign nationals being held at Customs and Border Patrol processing centers because they are at near full capacity, at full capacity or are already over capacity.

President Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “have become so brazen that they are now implementing mass-release quotas for immigrants surging into our country,” Moody said. “As a federal judge already recognized, these releases are unlawful, yet the Biden administration is ordering Border Patrol to release even more immigrants into the interior.” Moody is referring to a lawsuit Florida brought against the administration and won.

Lawmakers Request Documents Related to Biden Administration Selling Border Wall Parts

September 14, 2023 HPoling

U.S. congressmen requested documents and communications related to the Biden administration allegedly selling off “excess border wall materials.”

This follows reports that the Biden administration began quietly auctioning off hundreds of millions of dollars worth of unused parts from former President Donald Trump’s border wall last month.

GOP Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Unveils Plan to Halve the Federal Government Civil Service Workforce

September 13, 2023 M.D. Kittle

If elected president, political outsider Vivek Ramaswamy vows to cut 1 million jobs from a behemoth federal government workforce.

CCP Officials Set Up Talent Recruitment Program at U.S. Firm Behind Taxpayer-Backed EV Battery Plants

September 13, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

A provincial Chinese Communist Party (CCP) secretary set up a talent recruitment “work station” at the Silicon Valley headquarters of a Chinese-owned company that is planning to build two taxpayer-backed battery plants in Michigan, according to Chinese language reports reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

In 2017, a CCP delegation from Hefei, Anhui province visited the Fremont, Calif., headquarters of Gotion Inc., according to Chinese-language news website Sohu.com. During the visit, the Anhui party secretary leading the delegation “presided over the establishment of an Overseas Talent Work Station” in Gotion’s U.S. headquarters, another report published on the website of the firm’s Chinese parent company states.

Commentary: The Biden Administration Misleads the Public on the Vast Expanses of Land Needed for ‘Net Zero’

September 13, 2023 RealClearWire

The Biden administration is misleading the country about the amount of land that will be required to meet its ambitious renewable energy goals, RealClearInvestigations has found.

The Department of Energy’s official line – echoed by many environmental activists and academics – is that the vast array of solar panels and wind turbines required to meet Biden’s goal of “100% clean electricity” by 2035 will require “less than one-half of one percent of the contiguous U.S. land area.” This topline number translates into 15,000 of the lower 48’s roughly 3 million square miles.

Republicans Blast National Archives’ Taxpayer-Funded Equity Policies, Trainings

September 13, 2023 The Center Square

The federal archive agency that helped spark former President Donald Trump’s first federal indictment has come under fire from Republicans after reporting showed the agency has embraced far-left diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

Republicans blasted the National Archives and Records Administration after The Center Square reported that the agency’s latest 2022 DEI plan pledges to double down on equity training for employees.

Researchers Question One-Size-Fits-All COVID Booster Strategy as FDA Circumvents Advisors

September 12, 2023 Just the News

Federal health officials face a growing hurdle in their quest to persuade Americans of all ages and risk profiles to get updated COVID-19 boosters: strong proponents of vaccination.

From New England to the Bay Area, researchers voiced concerns to mainstream science and health publications in recent days that the one-size-fits-all model may be backfiring.

Expert to Arizona Legislature: Kari Lake Would Have ‘Won Easily’ If Google Hadn’t Interfered in the 2022 Election

September 12, 2023 Rachel Alexander

State Representative Alex Kolodin (R-Scottsdale), chair of the Arizona House Ad Hoc Committee on Oversight, Accountability, and Big Tech, held the first of a series of hearings last week investigating the impact of Big Tech’s election interference.

Corporate America Slowly Backs Away from ‘Diversity’ Language in Wake of Supreme Court Decision

September 12, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

American businesses have been moving away from using diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) language in the workplace after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in June, according to Bloomberg Law.

Wisconsin U.S. Senator Ron Johnson Leads Efforts to Seek Records on Saudi Arabia’s Role In 9/11 Attacks

September 11, 2023 M.D. Kittle

On this 22nd anniversary of 9/11, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) is demanding the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation turn over the complete, unredacted records of Saudi Arabia\’s role in the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

IRS Set to Use AI to Target Tax Cheats, Say They Will Limit to ‘High Income Earners’ and ‘Large Corporations’

September 11, 2023 The Center Square

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced new enforcement initiatives Friday to crack down on 1,600 millionaires and 75 large companies it said owe hundreds of millions in unpaid taxes.

IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said the agency will use Inflation Reduction Act funding to focus on high-income earners, partnerships, large corporations and promoters. He said the IRS won’t increase audit rates for those earning less than $400,000 a year.

Rhode Island’s Largest School District Claims Gender Identity Is ‘Medical’ to Hide LGBTQ Club Advisors’ Identities

September 11, 2023 Just the News

Rhode Island’s biggest school district is refusing to name the adult advisors to its LGBTQ student clubs, claiming the parent activist seeking their identities posted “medical information” about the primary subject of the public records request.

That medical information is the gender identity of Aarav Sundaresh, Providence Public Schools director of equity and belonging, a biological woman who has spoken publicly about identifying as a man. The district even identifies Sundaresh as a “founding Core Collective member for the National Trans Educators Network.”

Commentary: American Despotism and the Weaponization of the U.S. Constitution

September 11, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

America is now in the deepest, most dangerous constitutional crisis since the hostility in the 1850s that led to secession and civil war.

This constitutional crisis is so widespread and threatening that House Republicans must dramatically widen their investigations. Hunter Biden and President Joe Biden are only a tiny part of a spiderweb of corruption, dishonesty, criminal behavior, and state weaponization. The rule of law is steadily being replaced by a frightening new rule of power.

Over 215,000 Apprehended by Border Patrol Agents at Southern Border in August Alone

September 11, 2023 The Center Square

At least 215,908 foreign nationals were apprehended or reported evading capture after illegally entering the southwest border in August, according to preliminary Border Patrol data obtained by The Center Square.

This includes at least 187,553 apprehensions and 28,355 gotaways. “Gotaways” is the official U.S. Customs and Border Protection term that refers to the number of people known and reported to illegally enter the U.S. between ports of entry who intentionally try to evade capture and don’t return to Mexico. In August, the most gotaways were reported in the Tucson and Rio Grande Valle sectors. Notably, with most Yuma agents pulled out of the field to deal with an influx of people arriving at open areas of the border wall, gotaway numbers reported by agents last month were extremely low, which is out of the ordinary.

Schools and Universities Nationwide Are Bringing Back Mask Mandates and Shutdowns

September 10, 2023September 9, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

Schools and universities around the U.S. are bringing back mask mandates and shutdowns as COVID-19 numbers rise, according to public records reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Runge Independent School District (ISD) in Texas, Magoffin County (MC) Schools in Kentucky, Lee County School District in Kentucky and Rosemary Hills Elementary School in Maryland are all reimplementing some form of COVID-19 measures, according to public records reviewed by the DCNF. Some universities are reimplementing mask mandates, such as Dillard University in Louisiana and Morris Brown College (MBC) in Georgia, though MBC backtracked on its mandate.

California Passes Bill Threatening Custody of Parents Who Won’t ‘Affirm’ Their Kids’ Gender

September 9, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

The California legislature passed a bill Friday that requires a judge to consider whether or not a parent “affirms” their child’s “gender identity” in a custody dispute.

Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener and Democratic Assembly Member Lori Wilson introduced the bill in February, with Wiener claiming that the legislation was needed to protect the “health, safety, and welfare of the child,” according to the Associated Press. The bill passed the state Senate Wednesday with a 30-9 vote before making it through the general assembly only days later at 57- 16.

Health Insurance Costs Expected to Spike at Highest Rate in over a Decade

September 8, 2023September 7, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

Employer health insurance costs are expected to increase significantly in 2024, affecting costs for both workers and businesses as hospital operating costs rise, according to data reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Next year, the costs for health insurance coverage from employers are expected to increase by around 6.5%, which could be the biggest increase in more than a decade, according to survey data acquired by the WSJ. Driving the increase in health insurance costs are inflated labor costs for hospitals and a large demand for expensive new diabetes and obesity drugs, which are being passed down to insurance companies in new contracts with the hospitals.

Eric Adams Says Migrant Crisis Will ‘Destroy New York City’

September 8, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

New York City Mayor Eric Adams warned the surging migrant crisis “will destroy” the city that now takes in over 10,000 migrants a month during a town hall meeting Wednesday night.

Adams said he has received “no support” for the growing migrant crisis that he predicted would impact “every community” and “every service” in the city during Wednesday’s town hall. New York City is projected to spend $12 billion over the course of three years to address the crisis as the the Big Apple has cared for over 100,000 migrants with more on the way.

Connecticut Picks Up Health Care Costs for Paraeducators

September 8, 2023September 7, 2023 The Center Square

Connecticut taxpayers will be covering some health care costs for thousands of paraeducators as the state seeks to fill workforce shortages in public schools.

A new program rolled out Wednesday by state Comptroller Sean Scanlon includes a one-time $5 million subsidy that will help pay paraeducators’ health insurance bills not covered by local school districts.

Commentary: Biden’s Border Chaos Damages America’s Schools

September 8, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

By now almost every American child starts a new school year. Many challenges confront families seeking solid formations for their children — from school violence, to radical secular humanist indoctrination, to the ongoing severe harm inflicted by the 2020-2021 lockdowns.

But Biden’s created border crisis now adds to that list of hurdles, as schools across the country – not just in border areas – grapple to deal with an illegal influx that prioritizes foreign migrants above our own American children.

California Bills Would Remove Visitation Rights for Parents Who Don’t ‘Affirm’ Child’s Gender Identity

September 7, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

Democrats in the state of California continue to double down on their support for transgenderism, and have now introduced legislation that would forbid parents from even seeing their child if they do not support the child’s “gender identity.”

As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, Democrats in the state legislature have introduced two new bills, both of which would change California family law by making “gender affirmation” a part of children’s health, safety, and welfare. The first bill would grant judges the authority to take away custody from parents who do not “affirm” their child’s gender identity, while the second bill would force judges who are considering granting custody rights to take into consideration “a parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity or gender expression.”

Hospital Employee Says New Mandatory DEI Training Promotes Kids Changing Genders at Age Four

September 6, 2023 Just the News

An employee at a large healthcare provider on the West Coast leaked information from mandatory staff training that promotes transitioning children as young as 4 years old.

The employee at Kaiser Permanente requested to remain anonymous, according to Libs of TikTok, who first reported the story.

‘A Hazard All the Way Around’: Small Town Locals Bristle as Wind Farm Waste Piles Up

September 6, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

Some small town residents in Texas and Iowa are frustrated by mounting piles of wind farm waste in their communities, according to Texas Monthly.

The turbines that onshore wind developments use to generate power can be up to 200 feet in length, and the material that they are made of is rigid, according to Texas Monthly. These attributes make the equipment difficult to remove or recycle after they are decommissioned, a reality which can lead to these turbines piling up in communities like Sweetwater, Texas, and irritating some of the locals who have to live in close proximity to the waste.

366 Illegal Foreign Nationals Targeted for Removal Arrested in ICE Operation

September 6, 2023 The Center Square

A national operation led to 366 criminal illegal foreign nationals being arrested and targeted for removal by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) agents. The operation targeted criminals who were determined “to be a threat to national security, public safety or border security.”

The operation took place from August 4 to August 25 during which agents prioritized finding and arresting fugitive criminal aliens, including those who’d been previously removed from the U.S. and illegally reentered. Arrests occurred nationwide.

As Biden Scandal Marches Toward Impeachment, What Obama Knew and When Looms Large

September 5, 2023September 5, 2023 Just the News

In the final days of the Obama presidency, trusted aide Valerie Jarrett made a boast that has aged like spoiled milk.

“The president prides himself on the fact that his administration hasn’t had a scandal and he hasn’t done something to embarrass himself,” Jarrett declared on national television.

Little Support Among Voters for Transgender Medical Procedures on Children

September 5, 2023 The Center Square

Few voters think children should undergo transgender interventions even with parental permission.

That’s according to The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll of 2,500 registered voters across the U.S., conducted by Noble Predictive Insights. The poll found that 58% of those surveyed are against medical interventions such as gender-changing surgery or puberty blockers for children younger than 18 years old.

Family Units Trying to Enter U.S. Illegally Spiking Due to Biden Rule, Experts Say

September 5, 2023 Just the News

The record number of “family units” attempting to cross into the U.S. at the border hit a record high at 91,000 in August, which immigration policy experts say was entirely predictable due to a Biden administration rule change.

August is now the highest month this year for overall U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) migrant encounters, based on a report of preliminary agency data.

NIH-Funded Research Collaborative Redacts Emails on Why It Disavowed ‘Gold Standard’ Mask Study

September 4, 2023September 3, 2023 Just the News

As public and private institutions resume or consider mask mandates in the wake of a small uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations and new viral variants, an international research collaborative funded by the National Institutes of Health is facing new scrutiny for how it came to publicly downplay its 17 years of research finding that masks make “little to no difference.”

U.K-based nonprofit Cochrane, often described as the “gold standard” of evidence-based medicine, heavily redacted its internal discussions on how to respond to questions about alleged conflicts of interest that may have shaped its March statement deeming the systematic review’s results “inconclusive” without changing its content.

States with Weaker Marijuana Laws See More Impaired Driving, Report Finds

September 4, 2023 The Center Square

A new report found that states with less restrictive marijuana policies have higher incidents of residents driving while high.

The Drug Free America Foundation released a new report showing that states that have legalized or weakened restrictions around high-THC marijuana, either for medical or recreational use, saw 32% more marijuana-impaired driving than states that have not adopted the same policies.

Non-Plastic Straws the Latest Example of Climate Activism’s Unintended and Deadly Consequences

September 4, 2023 Just the News

Last week, a widely read study was published revealing that the “plant-based” drinking straws pushed onto diners by eco-activists may actually be more harmful to both the environment and public health than their plastic counterparts.

According to research published in the journal Food Additives & Contaminants, the “plant-based straws” in question contain “per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS),” which the scientists say are “not necessarily biodegradable and that the use of such straws potentially contributes to human and environmental exposure of PFAS.”

Most EPA Employees Really Don’t Want to Show Back Up to the Office, Survey Finds

September 4, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

More than 80% of surveyed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees said that they would experience “personal hardships” if the agency changes its remote work policies to align more with the White House’s push to get government employees back into their offices, E&E News reported.

The survey results indicate that there is a significant disconnect between rank-and-file EPA employees and senior Biden administration officials over the White House’s return-to-office push for federal employees who have enjoyed expanded remote work policies since the pandemic. About 66% of the survey’s respondents said that they would consider leaving the agency if remote work flexibility diminished, and more than 65% of polled EPA employees said that reductions to remote work would negatively impact “diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility,” according to a summary of the survey’s results.

Feds Flagged Nearly 75,000 Illegal Migrants as Potential National Security Risks

September 3, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) authorities flagged 74,904 illegal migrants nationwide for potentially posing risks to national security between October 2022 and August, according to CBP data obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Certain illegal migrants are deemed to be “special interest aliens” because they may have travel patterns that “possibly have a nexus to terrorism” or may come from countries with such ties, according to a 2019 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) fact sheet. Border Patrol agents encountered 25,627 “special interest” illegal migrants in fiscal year 2022, compared to 3,675 encounters in fiscal year 2021, according to internal agency data previously obtained by the DCNF; however, this data doesn’t account for all CBP encounters of special interest aliens.

Alaska State Board of Education Votes to Support Banning Boys from Girls’ High School Sports Teams

September 3, 2023 Connecticut Star Staff

The Alaska State Board of Education voted on Thursday to support a regulation banning boys from competing on girls’ high school athletic teams, according to The Associated Press.

The board delayed its initial vote on the issue in July after hearing hours of testimony and receiving 1,400 pages of written comments, according to the AP. The board voted 7-1 to support the measure in a special session, and the proposal now heads to Republican Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor for approval.

U.S. Labor Department Proposing Rule to Boost Overtime Pay Eligibility for Salaried Workers

September 3, 2023 The Center Square

The U.S. Department of Labor issued notice Wednesday of a proposal to increase the threshold for required overtime payments to salaried workers whose weekly or annual wages are considered low income.

If enacted, the proposed rule would guarantee overtime pay for most salaried employees earning less than $1,059 per week, or about $55,000 per year. It also calls for an “escalator” that automatically updates the salary threshold every three years to reflect current earnings data. The Labor Department estimates the rule could apply to about 3.6 million workers nationwide.