Legislative Report
November 1, 2011
Repatriation of Cash: Many large corporations have billions of dollars overseas, and they have been lobbying Congress for a tax holiday during which they could bring the money home untaxed, or taxed at a reduced rate. In October, Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Kay Hagan (D-NC) joined forces to co-sponsor a new bill called the Foreign Earnings Reinvestment Act of 2011. It would temporarily tax earnings generated internationally at a rate of 8.75%, instead of at rates which go up to 35%.
Welcomed Eviction: Con Ed has given the Ground Zero mosque an ultimatum: Pay the $1.7 million you owe in back rent, or we'll terminate your lease and take back our property. The utility owns a former substation on the western half of the property, which it leases to mosque developer Park51. In August, Con Edison raised the rent from the 1972 rate of $2,750 a month to $47,437 a month, retroactive to July 31, 2008. A court has issued an order preventing Con Edison from ending the lease before a Nov. 17 hearing. Park51 maintains that it should have to pay only $25,875 a month.
Ratings Agencies in the News Again: European Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier proposes providing the new EU securities authority, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), with the right to "temporarily prohibit" the publication of forecasts of a country's liquidity by ratings agencies. The ban could only be applied if a country was currently negotiating for aid and other strict criteria were also fulfilled. As the rule must be approved by the European Parliament and the member states, it is unlikely it could be applied before autumn of 2012.
In the States: In October, Governor Snyder signed a reform that puts an end to retiree healthcare benefits for legislators if they won't earn it by Jan. 1, 2013. It will eliminate retirement healthcare benefits for 97 out of 147 currently serving legislators and all future legislators. When an ex-lawmaker becomes eligible for Medicare, the benefit expires or is good only for supplemental coverage. This benefit cost about $5.3 million in the last budget year.
At the end of October, a federal judge temporarily blocked Florida’s new law that requires welfare applicants to pass a drug test before receiving benefits, saying it may violate the Constitution’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. Judge Mary Scriven ruled in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of a 35-year-old Navy veteran and single father who refused to take the test. The injunction will stay in place until the judge can hold a full hearing on the matter. More than two-dozen states have also proposed drug-testing recipients of welfare or other government assistance, but Florida was the first state to enact such a law in more than a decade.
Source: Casey Daily Dispatch; Newsmax.com; Spiegel online; Jase Bolger’s e-newsletter and Bloomfield-Bloomfield Hills Patch.com; AP.com
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