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In the States Roundup for Feb. 26

Here's a look at some of the key battles in the states over the past week.

McDonnell, Scott Move the Right Way on Medicaid

McDonnell, Scott Move the Right Way on Medicaid is a cross-post from Working America's Main Street blog. Over the past week, we’ve had a big and welcome surprise. Two of the loudest opponents to ensuring more people get health care coverage through Medicaid have been Virginia’s Gov. Bob McDonnell and Florida’s Gov. Rick Scott. Now, both have moved—grudgingly—in the direction of accepting the Medicaid funds allocated to states.

Help USW Save Hawaiian Jobs

You can help save more than 250 good, family-sustaining United Steelworkers (USW) refinery jobs, along with more than 2,000 other related jobs, by signing a USW petition urging state and local officials to work with Tesoro Corp. to find a buyer for its Kapolei, Hawaii, refinery.The company announced earlier this year that it planned to close the refinery in Oahu, where the USW represents some 250 production and maintenance workers. Click here to sign the petition.

Granite State's Repeal of Minimum Wage Not Set in Stone, Time to Restore and Boost

If New Hampshire’s lawmakers are “serious about encouraging New Hampshire's economic development, they will consider re-establishing the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation,” writes New Hampshire AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie in a column on SeaCoastOnline, a website for several state newspapers. In 2011, Republican legislators repealed the state’s minimum wage law. Rep. Carol McGuire (R) went so far as to suggest that there should be no wage floor at all and if an employer wanted to pay $5 an hour that was just fine with her.

Union Members @Work: Action

Today, as part of the AFL-CIO’s weeklong launch of @Work, we are featuring “Action,” one of the seven categories featured on the site.