Every Wednesday, the Ferguson Group blog will be posting a series of articles published over the previous week that discuss topics of interest to local governments. Learn about emerging trends and keep up on key policy issues by browsing the TFG Wednesday News Roundup!
Speech Gives Climate Goals Center Stage
In his second Inaugural Address, the President made addressing climate change his most prominent policy commitment. The President plans to avoid one of his first term mistakes, congressional fights, by avoiding a confrontation with Congress. Instead, he intends to administratively reduce emissions from power plants, increase the efficiency of home appliances, and have the federal government produce less carbon. Read more . . .
Moran to introduce updated high-skill immigration bill this month
Sen. Moran (R-KS) said he plans to introduce an updated version of the Startup Act 2.0 this month. This Act includes a provision that would create a new visa allowing foreign students who graduate with a master’s or Ph.D. in engineering, science, or math fields from a U.S. university to get a green card. Read more . . .
Washington: Local Government Organizations Commend EPA’s Memorandum Concerning Financial Capability for Clear Water Act Requirements
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it will work with local governments to clarify how the financial capability of a community will be considered when developing schedules for municipal projects necessary to meet Clean Water Act (CWA) obligations. Local governments have raised questions about complying with several CWA requirements—notably wet weather overflows and storm water management. Read more . . .
Muni Bond Market a Political Pawn in 2013
Although the tax exemption for municipal tax bonds remained untouched during the fiscal cliff negotiations, there is still some question as to whether Congress will remove the tax free status of municipal bond interest in 2013. The exemption allows state and localities to issue bonds at a lower interest rate, making it cheaper to borrow money for infrastructure projects. Read more . . .
Amazon Fails to Collect New Georgia Tax
Amazon has not been complying with a new Georgia law to pay sales tax. The new law expands the definition of physical presence so that online retailers, like Amazon, have to pay a tax because it gets some customer traffic from other sites that have physical operations in Georgia. Amazon has not been charging its customers this tax and this has set up a possible future constitutional challenge to the law. Read more . . .
Many Medicaid Patients Could Face Higher Fees Under a Proposed Federal Policy
The Obama administration has told state Medicaid officials that they can charge high co-payments and premiums for doctors’ services, prescription drugs, and selective types of hospital care (including “nonemergency use” of emergency rooms). State officials have long asked for more leeway to impose such charges. Read more . . .
House to Vote Wednesday on Plan to Suspend Debt Limit until May
House Republicans are moving forward on a plan to suspend enforcement of the federal debt limit through May 18. This would lift the threat of a government default. The White House has said that it “would not oppose” this temporary suspension. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) also welcomed the proposal. Read more . . .
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