Tag: taxes

UCLA Student Government Passes Stipend To Compensate Undocumented Students

The student government at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) passed legislation that will provide council members who are undocumented immigrants a financial stipend. 

UCLA’s Student Association Council unanimously passed a $23,000 fund called the “UndocuCouncil Member Stipend” on March 2, according to The College Fix. The stipend allows undocumented students, who cannot obtain legal work, to be financially compensated for their work on the student council. 

“The University of California’s payroll system cannot hire students without work authorization, undocumented students without Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status cannot receive stipends as wage,” The Daily Bruin reported. 

The Daily Bruin claims that the $23,000 stipend is equivalent to two council members’ yearly pay. The money comes from the student council’s so-called “surplus fund,” which is taken from student tax dollars.  

The stipend legislation came after the council’s External Vice President lost her status as a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Johana Guerra Martinez was unable to receive financial compensation for seven weeks for her vice presidential role after she lost her DACA status and work permit. 

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Police Chief Allowed to Resign, Gets $72,000 in Benefits After Arrest for Sexual Assault

 In January, Marshfield Police Chief Rick Gramza was arrested and charged with three counts of misconduct in office, disorderly conduct, and fourth-degree sexual assault against a department employee. However, instead of facing a jury of his peers for these accusations, Gramza will be receiving tens of thousands of dollars and months of paid vacation.

According to reports, chief Gramza is accused of sexually assaulting a department employee on several occasions, as early as 2014 and as late as this past summer.

WSAW reports the Eau Claire detective sergeant investigating the case shared some specific instances the employee told him, including one in 2015, where she says she went into his office to talk about a promotion and then he sexually assaulted her.

“And made a statement similar to ‘this isn’t ever going to help you get a job,’ recalled Detective Sergeant Adam Taylor, from the Eau Claire Police Department.

The employee told Detective Sergeant Taylor she feared retaliation and when she reported concerns to human resources in 2015, that “it did not go well.”

After the accusations, originally surfaced, Gramza was placed on paid administrative leave in mid-August, but has continued to receive his salary and benefit package from the city, totaling just over $146,000. Now, he’ll be getting over $70,000 more, approaching nearly a quarter of a million dollars for roughly half a year — in which he never worked a single day.

Only a government employee could enjoy such benefits. Nowhere in the private sector would an alleged sexual predator be given a paid vacation for six months and allowed to retire with their full benefits.

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Ohio Public School District Spends $134,000 In Legal Fees On Permits For ‘Gender-Neutral’ Bathrooms

A public school district in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio has spent more than $134,000 in legal fees to obtain a permit to install only gender-neutral bathrooms in six of its new facilities, in violation of state code. 

In the fall of 2017, the Upper Arlington School District successfully passed a $230 million tax to rebuild five elementary schools and Upper Arlington High School. Construction on the high school and four of the elementary schools began in 2019. 

The school board and Superintendent erected five of the six new buildings with only gender-neutral bathrooms, though the Ohio Building Code mandates that any facility with “plumbing fixtures” requires separate accommodations for each sex. 

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