President George W. Bush has asked the U.S. Congress to pass legislation to allow a tax exemption on new purchases for small businesses. Current tax laws allow small businesses to write off $24,000 for new purchases; President Bush's plan would increase the exemption to $40,000. The president has asked Congress for more tax cuts related to small businesses, such as making the repeal of the estate tax permanent. He is also supporting association health care plans, which will allow small businesses to offer health care to their employees through group plans offered by associations.
The U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee is reviewing President George W. Bush's environmental record. Since taking office in 2001, the president has reversed or rewritten several rules and regulations on air pollution, wetlands and mining. U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, decided to review the president's record when Eric Schaeffer, a key member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), resigned after working with the agency for 12 years. Lieberman is attempting to determine how the Bush administration is reviewing environmental rules and regulations. He said the administration's process to determine which rules to review is a closed one.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a proposed rule to extend incentives to automobile manufacturers to produce more alternative fuel vehicles through model year 2008. The current incentive program ends with the 2004 model year. The rule provides that NHTSA also evaluate the progress of the incentive program and report to Congress by 2004. NHTSA believes if the incentive program isn't available, vehicle manufacturers would not voluntarily produce many alternative vehicles.
Federal legislation H.R. 2315, the Patient's Bill of Rights, includes an option for association healthcare plans (AHPs) that would benefit small businesses. The rising cost of health care makes it difficult for small businesses to provide health care benefits to employees. An AHP would allow association members to purchase coverage as a group to provide low-cost health insurance to their employees. According to a recent study conducted on the cost of health insurance, AHPs could reduce the number of uninsured Americans by an estimated 8.5 million people.
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AutoInc. Magazine ® Vol. L, June 2002
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Copyright © 2002 Automotive Service Association (ASA). All rights reserved.