In Your Backyard - March 4, 2008

Hawaii
Health Reform Bills Fail to Advance
A variety of legislative proposals recommended by a special Maui health care panel died last week after failing to clear a key House committee ahead of its deadline. Included among the measures was a business-supported tort reform bill that would have capped noneconomic damages at $500,000 for high risk specialties, and it would have put a limit on catastrophic damages at $3 million.
Source: The Maui News

 

Illinois
Lawmaker Proposes Smoking Licenses for Certain Businesses
A state lawmaker plans to seek a vote next week on his proposal to let Illinois businesses buy licenses if they want to permit patrons to smoke inside, thus bypassing the new statewide smoking ban. The smoking licenses would be similar to liquor licenses, said Rep. Randy Ramey, R-Carol Stream. They would be available to certain kinds of businesses, including bars with food sales of 10% or less, casinos, racetracks, veterans' organizations and other private clubs.
Source: The State Journal-Register

 

Louisiana
Jindal Proposes Business Tax Breaks in Budget
Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) unveiled a $30 billion state government spending plan on Friday that would encourage economic and workforce development and gives businesses a tax break. The budget proposal includes $307.1 million for an economic development fund to attract large projects such as an automotive plant, $110 million in tax breaks to give businesses relief on utilities, corporate debt and machinery purchases, and $65.1 million for workforce development programs. Lawmakers will vote on the budget proposal this summer.
Source: The Advocate

 

Massachusetts
Governor Touts Tourism Benefits of Casinos
The state's giant tourism industry could get a major boost from legalizing casino gambling, Gov. Deval Patrick (D) told business leaders this weekend. Patrick told a downtown Boston gathering of tourism executives that his plan to build a trio of resort casinos across the state would pump as much as $2 billion more into the state's more than $14 billion tourism sector. House Speaker Sal DiMasi (D) and others having warned against the rise of a destructive "casino culture."
Source: The Boston Herald

 

Pennsylvania
Minimum Wage Debate Rages On
Republican senators and business groups who opposed a minimum wage increase are objecting to a new report by the state's labor secretary that finds that the increase has had only a negligible impact on the state's economy. The report goes on to argue that any slight fluctuations the state has seen cannot be directly correlated with the new base wage. Opponents however, say that for Pennsylvania's 200,000 businesses that employ fewer than 10 workers, the full effect of the increase won't be known for five more months.
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette