Check back often for the latest news.

• Another stimulus?
  Sep 3, 2010 — Politico
  Martin Kady II Democrats should be getting used to this now. Republicans are held in the same low regard as when the GOP lost control of Congress four years ago. Shane D’Aprile in The Hill: “Sen.
• New tax breaks for business on table
  Sep 3, 2010 — Washington Post
  For example, a payroll-tax holiday - a top priority of many business groups - could be applied only to new hires or extended to current employees. It has become a joke."Many economists say Obama's policies have been reasonably effective at pulling the nation back from recession. And depending on its form and duration, a payroll-tax holiday could cost more than $300 billion.
• Notes on the filibuster
  Sep 3, 2010 — Washington Post
  Both situations lead to worse and more awkward legislation. A recent Pew poll found that only 26 percent of Americans knew that you needed 60 votes to break a filibuster. I might prefer a world where the filibuster protects debate and ensures bipartisan outcomes, but I don't think we should pretend that's the world we have.
• Panel recommends gas tax boost for roads
  Sep 3, 2010 — The State
  Nikki Haley, R-Lexington, has said she favors restoring a sales tax on groceries. Tax commission Don Weaver unsuccessfully pushed to keep the two tax exempt. "We're talking about adding a tax to the necessities of life. Groceries were made tax exempt only in 1997. --Charging a 1.25 percent tax on prescription drugs bought at pharmacies.
• White House considers pre-midterm package of business tax breaks to spur hiring
  Sep 3, 2010 — Washington Post
  Policy staffers are debating a range of options. For example, a payroll-tax holiday - a top priority of many business groups - could be applied only to new hires or extended to current employees. And depending on its form and duration, a payroll-tax holiday could cost more than $300 billion.
• White House: No second stimulus
  Sep 3, 2010 — CNN
  Obama himself hinted at the options on the table on Monday in the Rose Garden, when he accused Republicans of blocking a separate $55 billion legislation package that would cut small business taxes. Redoubling our investment in clean energy and R&D. Rebuilding more of our infrastructure for the future. On Monday, Obama will be in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, speaking at a Labor Day event in a state that has extremely competitive gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races.
• 94 Texas employers to get federal aid for retiree healthcare
  Sep 2, 2010 — Fort Worth Star-Telegram
  The city of North Richland Hills has a self-insurance fund for both employee and retiree health insurance coverage.
• California legislators race through waning hours of session
  Sep 2, 2010 — San Jose Mercury News
  All bills passed by midnight Tuesday go to Gov. That bill, AB 605, allows free samples of alcohol to be handed out in grocery stores, liquor stores and mini-marts. The bill -- AB 234, by Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael -- was introduced after an Oct. 30 spill in San Francisco Bay by the Dubai Star.
• President to aides: Find economic spark
  Sep 2, 2010 — CNN
  Obama himself hinted at the options on the table on Monday in the Rose Garden, when he accused Republicans of blocking a separate $55 billion legislation package that would cut small business taxes. Redoubling our investment in clean energy and R&D. Rebuilding more of our infrastructure for the future. On Monday, Obama will be in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, speaking at a Labor Day event in a state that has extremely competitive gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races.
• Report looks at health-care reform's tax credits for small businesses
  Sep 2, 2010 — Richmond Times-Dispatch
  The credit phases out as wages go up and employee numbers increase. "The mandate is that you pay 50 percent of the employee premium.
• WH mulling emergency economic stimuli
  Sep 2, 2010 — Politico
  ... The White House pushed back hard against a Washington Post story Thursday which reported that Obama is seriously considering a payroll tax holiday geared at kick-starting business spending – a measure the paper said could cost up to $300 billion. “There [have] been a lot of reports and rumors on different options being considered—many of which are incorrect,” said Deputy White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki in an email. “The...
• Workers shouldering more of health-care burden
  Sep 2, 2010 — Akron Beacon Journal
  ...health benefits survey by nonprofit research groups Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust. The annual survey determined the average worker is paying almost $4,000 this year toward the cost of family health coverage -- an increase of 14 percent, or $482, from the previous year. The average amount employers contribute didn't increase. About 27 percent who get their health insurance through their employer this year are paying an annual deductible of...
• Assembly members push bills to help small NJ businesses
  Sep 1, 2010 — Asbury Park Press
  Those conversations, which also dealt with what the state could do to help business owners, eventually led to the bills. The needs became obvious, Greenstein said. And while some might say that new spending of any kind is problematic, the state cannot afford to stand by and do nothing, she said. Job creation "is job one," she said. The bills would: --Provide grants to small businesses to help them hire new employees.
• Chicago home prices rise again but under cloud
  Sep 1, 2010 — Chicago Tribune
  But confidence is a major driver of the economy.
• Fresh-faced Senate
  Sep 1, 2010 — Politico
  Jonathan Allen Fresh-faced Senate By Jonathan Allen Sen. Murkowski called him paranoid. ... Murkowski's concession came after a day of counting just over 17,000 absentee and questioned ballots. BUT CONSENT? Obama's economic team has been meeting to devise means of bolstering the domestic outlook, according to the Wall Street Journal's Deborah Solomon and Jonathan Weisman.
• Home prices continue to creep up, but concerns linger
  Sep 1, 2010 — The Oregonian
  Prices in Seattle were unchanged, while prices in Las Vegas fell. Nationally, prices have risen 6 percent from their April 2009 bottom.
• Home prices in Metroplex rose 1.2% in June from year ago
  Sep 1, 2010 — Fort Worth Star-Telegram
  ...buyers tax credit has expired, foreclosures are still at high levels and July data on home sales and starts were very, very weak." Home prices increased in 17 of the 20 metro areas in June over May, butin 11 metro areas when compared with June a year ago, figures show. San Francisco, San Diego and Minneapolis had the highest gains in home prices from a year ago, while Las Vegas had saw the greatest decline, 5.2 percent. On a quarterly basis, the home price index rose 4.4...
• Home prices increase in June
  Sep 1, 2010 — Tampa Tribune
  Petersburg-Clearwater metro area, prices rose 0.2 percent in the second quarter compared with the first quarter. Second-quarter prices fell 1.6 percent compared with the same quarter a year ago. Home sales have dropped sharply since incentives expired. Sales of previously occupied homes plunged in July to the lowest level in 15 years, despite the lowest mortgage rates in decades and bargain prices in many areas. Tampa-St.
• Home tax credit fuels prices in second quarter
  Sep 1, 2010 — Tampa Tribune
  Petersburg-Clearwater metro area, prices rose 0.2 percent in the second quarter, compared to the first quarter. She expects the Case-Shiller report to show price declines by August. Prices rose 2.5 percent in each of those cities.
• Housing prices up in June
  Sep 1, 2010 — The Charlotte Observer
  Home Price Index. Home prices climbed in June in 17 of the 20 market areas the index tracks, stayed flat in two and declined in one. The index shows housing prices have begun to rebound from the lowest point of the housing crisis. But other recent indicators signal a difficult road ahead, as first-time homebuyer tax credits have ended, foreclosures continue and unemployment remains inflated. Mecklenburg home sales fell 11 percent in July, for instance, over the year before, and...
• Riverside offering amnesty period for unlicensed businesses
  Sep 1, 2010 — The Press-Enterprise
  Roth said during the six-month amnesty the chamber and city will conduct an outreach to inform businesses of their obligation. Those businesses that have not paid the tax will be assessed for taxes that have accrued over the past three years, but penalties will be waived. The amnesty ends Feb. 28, 2011. "We don't want to unfairly penalize those businesses that may not have realized that they need to pay a Riverside business tax," Paul Sundeen, Riverside's chief financial...
• Tribes win cigarette tax delay
  Sep 1, 2010 — Times Union
  Carl Kruger, D-Brooklyn, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, a major advocate for taxing Indian cigarette sales to non-Indians. "This throws a monkey wrench in the process. The Oneida Indian Nation said since it has relocated a native-brand cigarette factory from western New York to its territory, leaving it with plenty of cigarettes to sell.
• Wonkbook: Jobs bill details sketched; unions target boardrooms; new oil reg rules
  Sep 1, 2010 — Washington Post
  Meanwhile, an SEC decision expanding shareholder power over corporate boards has led unions to consider installing their supporters on target companies' boards. It's not clear what those tax breaks would target or how much they might cost in lost revenue to the government. That the Reagan and Bush tax cuts went disproportionately to high-income households, which save more of their income, did not help, either.
• Absent California lawmakers still take the money
  Aug 31, 2010 — The Sacramento Bee
  She waived per diem five times. Senate records show a tie between Republicans Tom Harman of Huntington Beach and Jeff Denham of Merced. Each missed 11 floor sessions, typically citing personal business. Each declined per diem for eight of those absences. All three of the leading absentees -- Bass, Harman and Denham -- ran for higher office this year.
• Brady, Quinn tout dueling jobs plans in Illinois campaign openers
  Aug 31, 2010 — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  Brady was on a factory floor, in a suit, showing off his support from the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, a core chunk of the state's business lobby. Quinn stood in a parking lot near a soon-to-be-renovated intersection, in shirt sleeves, surrounded by union laborers. You get the idea. Brady outlined an economic plan that would to give tax credits to businesses for job creation, and eliminate the state's estate and gasoline sales taxes.
• Callahan unveils plan to grow jobs
  Aug 31, 2010 — The Morning Call
  Democratic leaders last week urged their candidates to emphasize small businesses while campaigning. Callahan's Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Starting three administrations before Callahan took office, Bethlehem officials mapped out a plan using a mix of tax abatement districts, grants and rezoning tools to support business parks and entertainment venues.
• Charlotte home prices climb, but worry persists
  Aug 31, 2010 — The Charlotte Observer
  Home Price Index. Home prices climbed in June in 17 of the 20 market areas the index tracks and stayed flat in two. The index shows housing prices have begun to rebound from the lowest point of the housing crisis. But other recent indicators signal a difficult road ahead, as first-time homebuyer tax credits have ended, foreclosures continue and unemployment remains inflated. Mecklenburg home sales fell 11 percent in July, for instance, over the year before, and the average home...
• Close to Home: Federal jobs help stability in Rockville, Md.
  Aug 31, 2010 — USA Today
  Christine DugasRockville, Md., is so close to Washington, D.C., that it has escaped the worst of the housing bust and the recession. July's home sales fell 22% from July 2009. Price points. Home prices are holding up better partly because home foreclosures have not been as numerous in Rockville as elsewhere in Maryland.Home prices were down slightly every month from January through June.
• Deferral plan hurts development
  Aug 31, 2010 — Times Union
  ...said developer Uri Kaufman, who used preservation tax credits to finance the ongoing conversion of a former mill in Cohoes into The Lofts at Harmony Mills. "It's going to significantly hamper the ability of developers like me to do these projects." Developers typically sell the credits to big banks. The developers then use the money to fund construction, and the banks use the credit to reduce their own state tax liability. Yet the state's decision to delay payment has made banks...
• EDITORIAL
  Aug 31, 2010 — Albuquerque Journal
  The state's 6 percent advanced energy tax credit adds about $300,000. Accelerated federal depreciation rules save nearly $1.3 million. The utility will credit Bell at 15 cents per kilowatt hour for the energy its array generates that is consumed on site under a 20-year contract.
• Home prices rise in 17 cities in June; gains not expected to last
  Aug 31, 2010 — USA Today
  The index reflects three-month moving averages, so the increase captures prices at the end of the tax credit, which expired April 30. The credit provided up to $8,000 for homebuyers and was the major driver behind an increase in home sales that has since faded."People weere competing for homes. Existing home sales in July tumbled 27.2% to their lowest level in 15 years, according to the National Association of Realtors.
• Home prices rise slightly, but declines predicted
  Aug 31, 2010 — Los Angeles Times
  ...gains ahead," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P.Federal tax credits of up to $8,000 drove sales during the spring as first-time buyers flooded into the real estate market, boosting sales of entry-level homes. Sales have been falling since the expiration of those credits, with sales of previously owned homes plunging 27.2 percent in July and sales of newly built homes falling 12.4 percent that month.Those sales drops came despite record-low rates...