budget-tax-news
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Tennessee Auditors Review State Park Privatization Deal
Opinion -budget-tax-news -Auditors for the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury are reviewing a contract between the state government and a private company interested in operating the state’s most-visited park, Falls Creek State Park. -
Texas Approves Amendments Convention Resolution
Opinion -budget-tax-news -The Texas state legislature passed a resolution calling on Congress to draft new constitutional limitations on the federal government’s power and the duration of federal officials’ time in office. -
Oregon Lawmakers Consider Repair Shop Business-License Bill
Opinion -budget-tax-news -With the end of the Oregon state legislature’s 2017 session approaching, the fate of a bill that would require business owners operating current or opening new auto repair businesses to purchase licenses from the state government is at stake. -
Independent Baseball League Supports Illinois Employment Law Revision
Opinion -budget-tax-news -An independent baseball league is voicing support for an Illinois bill proposing to exempt players from the state’s minimum-wage laws. -
Trump Tax Reform Bill Faces Delays, Says Mnuchin
Opinion -budget-tax-news -Taxpayers may have to wait a little longer for Congress and President Donald Trump to begin work on federal tax reform, because other policy agenda items are consuming more time and effort than expected, according to media reports. -
FCC Prepares for Vote on Undoing Net-Neutrality Takeover
Opinion -budget-tax-news -Preparing for a May 18 vote on a proposed rule undoing former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Tom Wheeler’s 2015 “net neutrality” rules, FCC issued a memorandum on May 11 announcing the conclusion of the proposal’s commenting period. -
Congress, Trump Consider Splitting Commercial and Investment Banking
Opinion -budget-tax-news -White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer says President Donald Trump supports “a 21st century Glass-Steagall,” referring to proposals to restore financial regulations prohibiting banks from engaging in commercial and investment banking. -
Local Michigan School Board Gets on the Privatization Bus
Opinion -budget-tax-news, school-reform-news -The Cedar Springs, Michigan School Board approved in May a contract with a private business to provide transportation services, reducing annual spending by $350,000 to $400,000 per year, in addition to $610,000 in one-time revenue. -
E-Cigarette Competitors Fund Critics’ Research
Opinion -budget-tax-news -Jeff Stier, a risk analyst for the National Center for Public Policy Analysis, once signed up for NYC Quits, a government tobacco-control program giving away free nicotine patches and gum every year, out of curiosity. -
Trump Signs $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill
Opinion -budget-tax-news -President Donald Trump signed a $1.1 trillion spending bill into law, funding the federal government until October 1. -
Wisconsin Senate Committee Recommends Prevailing-Wage Repeal
Opinion -budget-tax-news -The Wisconsin Senate Committee on Labor and Regulatory Reform approved a bill to remove restrictions on how state government agencies may partner with private businesses on capital infrastructure projects. -
Bill to Reform Dallas Pension System Advances
Opinion -budget-tax-news -The Texas House of Representatives passed a “framework” to shore up the city’s public pensions, which have been on the path toward default for years. -
Alabama Considers Raising Gas Tax
Opinion -budget-tax-news -Shortly after Alabama state Rep. Bill Poole (R-Tuscaloosa) pulled his bill to increase the state’s gas tax by 6 cents over the next five years, state Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) proposed another bill that would raise the state’s motor-fuel tax. -
Congress Considers Rolling Back Global Tax Reporting Rules
Opinion -budget-tax-news -A bill before Congress would roll back regulations requiring banks in other countries to report to the Internal Revenue Service on U.S. citizens’ assets held abroad. -
Trump Unveils Tax Reforms Reducing Individual, Business Burdens
Opinion -budget-tax-news -President Donald Trump’s memorandum listing the administration’s goals for reforming the federal tax code shows the president’s plan would decrease the tax burden faced by individuals and businesses. -
Minnesota Repeals ‘Blue Law’
Opinion -budget-tax-news -Minnesotans will soon be toasting a new law, thanks to the repeal of 158-year-old legislation preventing liquor stores from operating on Sundays. -
Thought-Provoking Book Considers the State of the American Dream
Opinion -budget-tax-news -Tyler Cowen’s The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream is a thought-provoking examination of what the American Dream is and how people reach it. -
San Diego Investors Kick Off Privately Funded Stadium Push
Opinion -budget-tax-news -San Diego voters will be asked to approve a plan to demolish a former National Football League stadium and replace it with a Major League Soccer (MLS) complex without putting any taxpayer money on the line. -
Report: FCC Chairman Pai to Reverse Predecessor’s Net Neutrality Takeover
Opinion -budget-tax-news -Meeting with representatives of telecommunication companies in April, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai reportedly promised to work to roll back his predecessor’s efforts to control the internet. -
Showdown in West Virginia over Shutdown Provides Tax Reform Opportunity
Opinion -budget-tax-news -West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (D) and the state’s legislature may have to cooperate on tax relief this summer to avoid a June 30 lapse in payments owed by the state government. -
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Prevailing-Wage Bills
Opinion -budget-tax-news -The Ohio Legislature is considering bills to free local governments from prevailing-wage requirements for partnerships with private businesses on capital infrastructure projects. -
Require Search Warrants for Phone Tracking, Congressman Proposes
Opinion -budget-tax-news -A U.S. House Judiciary subcommittee is considering the Geolocational Privacy and Surveillance Act (GPS Act), a bill to reform and standardize government law enforcement agencies’ surveillance of individuals’ cell phones and digital devices. -
Senator Says Tax Reform May Be Up to ‘BAT’ This Summer
Opinion -budget-tax-news -President Donald Trump is hopeful lawmakers will craft a tax reform bill before August, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters in March, after the Republicans’ Senate leader cast doubt on any action occurring in 2017. -
New Mississippi Law Tackles Welfare Fraud
Opinion -budget-tax-news -Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) approved a bill requiring government agencies to verify whether recipients of food stamps and other entitlement programs, such as Medicaid, are eligible to receive those benefits.
