California Legislators and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reached deal a Monday evening on steps to close California’s $26 billion budget hole. According to the limited reports available at this time, no tax increases were involved. There are, however, very large budget cuts to various state social services, education, and corrections. (more…)

In a post I made on July 16th, I mentioned a Los Angeles Times Article about the proposal of a new enterprise zone around the United Motor Manufacturing Inc. automobile plant in Fremont. The proposal is part of an emergency attempt to keep the plant open. Since the 16th, the story has been popping up in newspapers all over the State of California. (more…)

A recent press release from the New York State Department of Labor.
Thousands of Dollars in Federal Work Opportunity Tax Credits, Training Grants Available for Businesses, Layoff Aversion Programs Available for Businesses in NYC
New York City, NY (July 06, 2009) – At a press event at Modell’s Sporting Goods in Harlem, State Labor Commissioner M. Patricia Smith and Chairman Charles Rangel today outlined a wide range of initiatives administered by the NYS Department of Labor designed to help businesses in New York City weather the current recession. These include federal Work Opportunity Tax Credits (WOTC) for new hires, training programs and an initiative that helps companies avoid potential layoffs. In New York City, the area’s unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) was 8.7 percent in May 2009, compared with 7.8 in April and 4.8 in May 2008. (more…)

There was a spree of negative press in June, stemming from a study by the Public Policy Institute of California, which concluded that California’s enterprise zone program was not beneficial. However, there have been two other recent studies which concluded that the program is beneficial to California’s enterprise zone communities. One of these was published in February by researchers at the University of Southern California. (more…)