©Reuters 2010 Many states are worried that the healthcare reform plan approved by the House of Representatives on Sunday will usurp their sovereignty and place more demands on their already stretched budgets. Read more. ...
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On Tuesday, the Arizona Legislature adjourned its latest special session dealing with the state budget crisis. The Senate voted 17-13 on the House-passed budget resolution which has measures that will ask voters, among other things, to abolish an early childhood program and use its tobacco-tax funding to help close Arizona’s big budget shortfalls.The package was largely modeled on Brewer’s own budget proposal and would close a projected $2.6 billion shortfall in the fiscal year beginning July 1. That would put state spending at $8.5 billion, down roughly $1 billion from the current fiscal year.Here are some of the highlights of the budget-balancing package:-- EDUCATIONThe $1.2 bi ...
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A Nevada Supreme Court ruling has triggered a tidal wave of legal uncertainty over decades of water rights sought by thirsty Las Vegas, dealing a big setback to the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plan for a massive pipeline project and raising questions about thousands of water rights around the state.   At issue is whether water rights applications dating to 1947 that were not acted upon by the state engineer within a year -- a time frame that until 2003 was mandated by Nevada law with few exceptions -- are valid.   A unanimous Supreme Court, in a Jan. 28 ruling, said, well, maybe, at least as they pertain to SNWA's water rights applications in Spring Valley near the Ne ...
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Last week, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that funding authority for its popular Rural Housing 502 Single-Family Loan Guarantee program will likely be exhausted by the end of April, 2010. Once funding is exhausted, the Agency will not issue Conditional Commitments "subject to receipt of appropriated funds." This is because it is not certain when additional funding will be available. NAR immediately sent a letter to Congressional appropriators to insure additional commitment authority is provided prior to that date. NAR continues to work with RHS and Congress to make sure this valuable program remains in place for rural families. More >>

For more than 10 years, a temporary provision in the depreciation rules has allowed a 15 year recovery period for the cost of making improvements to leased property. This rule expired as of January 1, 2010, however. Thus, unless Congress acts to renew and extend the provision, the cost recovery period is now 39 years, with the improvements being treated as part of the cost of the underlying real property. The House and Senate have now agreed to legislation (HR 4213) that would renew and extend the 15-year recovery period. The provision would be retroactive to January 1, 2010, and would remain in effect through December 31, 2010. The two versions are very similar in content, but the "pay ...
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©The Atlantic 2010Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are poised to push $21 billion in troubled mortgages back to the banks who originated them. Bloomberg reports that this could result in losses up to $7 billion, according to an Oppenheimer & Co. estimate. Read more.  ...
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©Market Watch 2010 President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans are digging in as the battle over health-care reform enters its endgame on Capitol Hill. Obama is scheduled on Monday to make a fresh push for a comprehensive bill when he speaks in the Philadelphia area; he'll do the same on Wednesday in the St. Louis area. The appearances come after Obama this week urged Congress to finish its work on health care, and met with House progressives and members of the New Democrat Coalition to drive home his pitch. Read more. ...
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Senate efforts to extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), set to expire on February 28, 2010, will continue the week of March 1. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) tried to expedite but was forced to file a procedural motion to allow a vote as early as Tuesday. The bill (H.R. 4691) would extend the NFIP until March 28, and includes extensions of employment and COBRA (continuing health) insurance. When the bill reaches the floor, it is expected to pass by a wide margin. NAR will continue to urge the Senate to act and stress the importance of the flood program, without which many consumers would not be able to obtain a mortgage in federally designated flood zones across the U.S. More >>

The IRS has announced that it will expand its audits of small businesses during 2010. The purpose of the audits is to assess compliance with the payroll tax requirements that fall on employers and employees and also self-employment payroll tax rules that fall on independent contractors. The IRS is assessing compliance; it is not targeting any particular industry. These expanded audits provide a useful reminder to broker/owners to assure that they have current documents setting out the required information. Occasionally broker/owners who have been lax in their record keeping with respect to these written agreements have incurred significant penalties. ...
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©WSJ 2010 The White House said Monday the leading tactic to win passage of the health-care bill was nothing extraordinary, rehearsing a key argument in the final public-relations battle over the bill.  For their part, Republicans accuse the Democratic majority of trying to ram through legislation using a parliamentary trick that Republicans say was never designed for such a big bill. At issue is a procedure called reconciliation that allows the Senate to pass a bill with a simple majority, without needing 60 votes to override a filibuster. Before any votes are cast, both sides are trying to frame public views of the procedure. More >>