Colorado's construction industry joined the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and other business groups in pleading with legislative leaders to kill a handful of proposed new laws they believe will hamper job growth and stifle economic development.
Declaring that their industry faces perhaps the worst unemployment in history, representatives of a dozen organizations involved with construction and building sent a letter to state House and Senate Democratic and Republican leaders Sunday urging them to kill several measures that change regulatory control, modify business tax exemptions or change workers' compensation in Colorado.
The industry leaders said they were writing "to express our dismay over the partisan politics that seem to be dominating the agenda of this legislative session."
"As business leaders, we urge and challenge you to put aside partisan differences and take the necessary steps to ensure that [these bills] do not move forward," the letter says.
The first six of those bills also were targeted in the letter to lawmakers sent Tuesday by the Denver Metro Chamber, Colorado Concern and the Colorado Competitive Council.
Those bills are:
• Senate Bill 185, sponsored by Senate President Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, which modifies rental law to make it easier for tenants to claim a breach of contract requiring residences to be habitable.
• House Bill 1012, sponsored by Rep. Sal Pace, D-Pueblo, which limits workers’ compensation insurers’ ability to do surveillance on benefit applicants.
• House Bill 1017, sponsored by Rep. Daniel Kagan, D-Denver, which permits voluntary rent-control agreements between local governments and private properties. The bill already has passed the House.
• House Bill 1107, sponsored by Rep quick pay day loan. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins, which bars the inclusion of agricultural land in urban renewal zones, a tactic that has become more commonly used as an incentive to attract manufacturing plants.
• House Bill 1263, sponsored by Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, which caps at $250,000 the amount of each employee’s salary that a business can be count as an operating expense against its corporate income tax.
• House Bill 1269, sponsored by Rep. Claire Levy, which increases the damages that can be awarded in employment discrimination lawsuits.
The new construction-industry letter adds one bill to that list: House Bill 1356, which requires state workers' compensation insurer Pinnacol Assurance to distribute surplus funds in excess of 800 percent of its risk-based capital to its policyholders.
Click here to download a copy of the letter.
Groups signing the letter are the Colorado Association of Mechanical & Plumbing Contractors, the Colorado Association of Home Builders, the Associated General Contractors of Colorado, the Colorado Contractors Association, Hispanic Contractors of Colorado, the Heating Air-Conditioning Refrigeration Professionals of Colorado, and the state or regional chapters of the American Council of Engineering Companies, the Associated Builders and Contractors, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, the National Electrical Contractors, the Independent Electrical Contractors Association and the Sheet Metal Air-Conditioning Contractors National Association.
To protect Wisconsin’s lakes, streams and rivers from phosphorus runoff beginning April 1, Wisconsin residents can no longer apply turf fertilizer that contains phosphorus to their lawns, except in limited instances, under a new law that affects retailers as well.
The restriction, according to a press release from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, also applies to professional lawn and landscape businesses, golf courses and municipalities.
“The new law makes it illegal for Wisconsin retailers to display turf fertilizer that is labeled as containing phosphorus or available phosphate,” said Charlene Khazae, the Department’s fertilizer program manager. Retailers can post a sign that indicates fertilizer with phosphorus is available upon request.
Fertilizer products carry three numbers that indicate the amount of nitrogen, phosphorous and potash in the product, commonly referred to as N-P-K no fax cash advance. The middle number, which represents the amount of phosphorus ‘P,’ should be zero.
Fertilizer that contains phosphorus can still be used in agricultural production, pastures and home gardens.
Similar restrictions already exist in places such as Dane County, some counties in Michigan and Florida and in the state of Minnesota.
Additional restrictions for all types of turf fertilizer, no matter if it contains phosphorus or not, include: no application of fertilizer can be made to frozen ground or surfaces like driveways or sidewalks
For more information about the turf fertilizer law, visit www.datcp.state.wi.us and search ‘turf fertilizer.’
The U.S. House of Representatives Sunday night is debating and voting on health-care reform.
Click here for a live web broadcast of the debate and vote from C-SPAN fast payday loan.
Gas prices have continued to creep up in Texas as well as nationally, hitting $2.68 for a gallon of unleaded regular today following four week run-up, according to AAA Texas.
In a press release, AAA Corporate Communications Manager Dan Ronan noted that the cost of filling up a typical 14-gallon tank in Texas has reached $37.
However, fears that the cost of crude could put a dent in spring break travel plans are proving unfounded, with a AAA Texas Travel poll finding that 58% of Texans plan on driving to their revelry destination.
Nearly half — 48% — of Texas spring break travelers intend to make their journey to another part of the state personal loans for people with bad credit.
In Texas, the average price for gallon of unleaded regular is up to $2.68 from $2.64, an increase of four cents. Nationally, prices increased three cents from $2.77 to $2.80. Texas continues to remain below the national average, and this week gas prices in the state are 12 cents lower than the national average, according to AAA Texas.
Data from AAA Texas showed the price of gas as of March 18 nationally at $2.80, in Dallas at $2.68 and in Fort Worth at $2.67.
Fast food joints are scrambling to find alternate sources for one of America’s favorite sandwich toppings after a winter freeze took a huge bite out of Florida’s tomato harvest.
Due to unusually cold winter weather, 60% to 70% of Florida’s tomato crop was destroyed, said Terence McElroy, a spokesman at the Florida Department of Agriculture. And because the sunshine state produces about 75% of U.S. tomatoes, prices across the country have spiked.
A 25-pound box of tomatoes from south Florida is selling for $30, up more than 300% from a year ago, when a box of tomatoes cost about $6.50 to $7, said Reggie Brown, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange.
Because ingredients make up about 30% of the price of a typical fast food meal and tomatoes go into nearly every sandwich or burger, a price spike could chew up profits in no time.
"We’re seeing the effects in restaurants and produce aisles at grocery stores, but fast food chains in particular are being impacted, because those restaurants buy tomatoes in bulk and put at least a thin slice on almost everything," said McElroy.
‘Sorry, out of tomatoes’
Restaurants are trying to offer their customers uninterrupted tomato supply without raising prices. For some large chains that means getting tomatoes from other sources. But others are only offering the fruit "upon request," or slicing tomatoes from menus altogether.
Burger King was so low on tomatoes in the last couple weeks that some of its restaurants were forced to stop offering them.
"We just didn’t have them for a few days, so we put up a sign from corporate saying we’re sorry, we’re out of tomatoes," said an employee at a Burger King in Missouri Valley, Iowa.
A Burger King spokeswoman confirmed there have been "spot outages of tomatoes," and the chain "will continue to resupply Burger King restaurants with tomatoes that meet our standards as they become available."
While fast food chains like Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. avoided price hikes by sourcing their tomatoes from Mexico prior to the freeze, restaurants that typically rely on the Florida crop are looking elsewhere.
Subway usually purchases its tomatoes from Florida at this time of year, which has an earlier tomato season than other parts of the country because of its warmer climate. In the spring, as tomato seasons begin elsewhere, the chain starts looking to places like California and Mexico for tomatoes.
To maintain a steady supply of tomatoes, Subway has switched its sourcing earlier than usual this year, said Les Winograd, a company spokesman.
The effect on your burger
Fast food chains are doing everything they can to keep the shortage from affecting their customers’ dining experience. Denny’s is hoping prices stabilize soon, and has not made any menu changes so far.
But some changes may be unavoidable. Subway, for example, typically purchases a specific type of tomato from Florida, but surging prices have forced the sandwich chain to experiment with different varieties.
"Because of the freeze in Florida and because certain tomatoes are becoming harder to come by, we’re going to be purchasing some other varieties that are not in as short of supply," Winograd said.
Switching to a new product or source poses a risk for these chains, because customers could perceive it as lower quality, said Darren Tristano, executive vice president of food industry research firm Technomic Inc.
"It’s a question of if you are going to be those that opt for a lower price and sometimes lower quality products or if you are going to maintain the level of quality your customers expect," he said.
But substitutions might be better than no tomatoes at all. The lack of tomatoes at some Burger Kings really hit a nerve with certain customers.
"Burger King, I am through with you," a customer who received five tomato-less Whopper Jr.’s from Burger King said in an online consumer forum, My3cents.com.
But some chains believe their customers will be more understanding.
Since last week, Wendy’s has been including tomatoes in its sandwiches and burgers only upon request, said Denny Lynch, a company spokesman.
"We’re doing this in all U.S. stores for two reasons," Lynch said. "One is availability — we can’t get as many tomatoes as we need — and secondly, the color, size and quality has been affected by the deep freeze in Florida, so the quality might not meet customers’ expectations."
Lynch said Wendy’s has placed signs explaining the situation outside the restaurant near the drive-through window and next to the cash registers inside, and that so far, customers have been very understanding.
"We’ve actually had a number of people compliment us that we told them about it beforehand," he said. "Everybody knows that we’ve had a harsh winter, so they’re very understanding about it."
CNNMoney.com’s Andrew Keshner contributed to this report
Taxpayers may still be able to deduct last-minute donations to Chile earthquake relief from their 2009 taxes, if a bipartisan bill introduced in the House on Tuesday is signed into law.
Two representatives from Michigan — Sander Levin, the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means committee, and Dave Camp, a Republican on the committee — introduced the bill, which would allow taxpayers to deduct these charitable donations from their 2009 taxes instead of having to wait until next year.
"Millions of families have given selflessly, even in uncertain economic times, so that those struck by natural disaster may begin rebuilding their lives," Levin said in a statement. "This bill will encourage those who are considering a donation to take action now."
Donations to Chile would have to be made before the April 15 filing deadline to qualify for a 2009 deduction.
As for taxpayers who may have already filed their 2009 returns — that’s not a problem, said Jackie Perlman, a tax analyst with The Tax Institute at H&R Block. If the law passes, taxpayers can still take advantage of the 2009 deduction by filing an amendment through the 1040-X, a form for making changes to a tax return after it’s filed.
Or, they can simply wait to file their deduction until next year instead, she said my credit score.
Perlman also cautions donors to beware of scammers and make sure they’re only donating to qualified, tax-exempt charities. Taxpayers interested in the deduction should note that the bill has merely been introduced — it’s not a law, just yet.
"You’re certainly more than welcome to make a donation to Chile earthquake relief but if you’re assuming the bill is going to pass, that may not be wise," Perlman said. "You always want to wait until it’s a done deal."
Haiti’s top corporate donors
In January, Congress unanimously passed a law that makes donations to Haiti tax deductible in the 2009 tax year, if the donations were made between January 11 and March 1. President Obama signed the bill into law on January 22.
The bill introduced today would also extend the deadline for tax-deductible Haiti donations to April 15.
Chilean officials estimate that some 2 million people have been affected in one way or another by the earthquake, while 708 have been reported dead. January’s earthquake in Haiti left an estimated 212,000 people dead and more than a million homeless.
A plan by Japan to raise the limit on sales of bills used for currency intervention and accounting for earnings on foreign reserves in yen may offer additional funds for a budget hit by dwindling tax revenues.
The borrowing ceiling for the so-called foreign-exchange special account will be lifted by 5 trillion yen ($56 billion) to 145 trillion yen for the next fiscal year should the parliament approve the proposed 2010 budget. A Finance Ministry official speaking on condition of anonymity said the increase reflects rising earnings on Japan’s $1 trillion of reserves.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s administration is struggling to reduce a record debt burden and fulfill pledges to boost spending on childcare and education. The Finance Ministry has already tapped some special accounts that are excluded from the budget to help restrain the fiscal deficit.
“The move probably reflects the government’s aim to increase the transparency and flexibility of using excess money in special accounts” to help find funding sources for the budget, said Susumu Kato, chief Japan economist at Credit Agricole Securities Asia in Tokyo.
Speculation emerged this week that the increase in the ceiling on the bill sales was aimed at increasing the power of the Finance Ministry to intervene in the currency market. While Japan hasn’t stepped into the foreign-exchange market since March 2004, Finance Minister Naoto Kan took office in January saying he was prepared to do so in “emergency situations.”
No Intervention Link
“The increase in the limit has nothing to do with intervention,” said Tohru Sasaki, chief currency strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Tokyo. Sasaki, who used to work in the foreign-exchange division of the Bank of Japan, said the likelihood of intervention is “extremely low” at a time when the Group of Seven nations is urging China to make its yuan more flexible.
The yen traded at 89.38 per dollar at 4:39 p.m. in Tokyo from 89.02 late yesterday in New York. Japan’s currency reached a 14-year high of 84.83 last November.
The ministry issues short-term bills denominated in yen to finance currency intervention. It also sells the bills to account for profits on foreign reserves in yen. It saves the funds in the special account for addressing currency fluctuations and transfers some of the proceeds to the budget.
Earnings on Reserves
Rising earnings on Japan’s foreign reserves meant that the limit on sales of the securities needed to be lifted, the Finance Ministry official said.
Japan’s reserves, the world’s largest after China’s, have more than tripled in the past decade as the ministry bought U.S. Treasuries and other securities to contain gains in the yen that would hurt exporters. The country’s monetary authorities last stepped into the foreign-exchange market in the first three months of 2004, when they sold 14.8 trillion yen.
The increase in the ceiling is the first since the government raised it by 40 trillion yen for the fiscal 2004 budget, around the time Japanese authorities were last intervening in the currency market.
Toyota’s pain is its rivals’ gain.
All major automakers but Toyota reported higher U.S. sales in February, and most took customers from their powerful Japanese competitor, which has been struggling with a series of massive safety recalls.
Toyota Motor Corp. said its U.S. sales fell 9 percent last month, while Ford, GM, Nissan, Honda and Hyundai all reported double-digit growth compared with February 2009, at the depth of the recession.
The gains may have been even higher without the blizzards that paralyzed the East Coast.
Other winners included Kia Motors Corp. and Subaru. Even struggling Chrysler Group LLC saw improvement. Toyota, by contrast, suspended sales of eight popular models in late January. And it spent last week answering questions from Congress about its safety record.
"We feel we’re getting our fair share of the Toyota business," said Susan Docherty, vice president of marketing at GM, whose sales rose nearly 12 percent.
February was the first full month since Toyota’s decision Jan. 26 to halt sales of some of its vehicles in the U.S. because of safety concerns. Those vehicles went on sale again as dealers repaired them, but Toyota’s image suffered.
Ford Motor Co. posted a 43 percent jump in February U.S. auto sales and outsold General Motors Co. for the first time in nearly a dozen years as it grabbed customers from struggling Toyota. Ford sold 334 more cars than GM in the U free credit report online.S. for the first time since August 1998, when GM was in the midst of a strike.
Most automakers reported that sales to rental car companies and other fleet buyers also were strong as companies began buying again after cutbacks last year. Fleet sales generally mean lower profits to automakers than sales to individuals.
Chrysler, for example, said sales rose half a percent, its first year-over-year monthly increase since December 2007. Car sales rose 38 percent, but truck sales dived 28 percent.
Hyundai Motor Co. said its sales rose 11 percent, driven by sales of the new Tucson small SUV. The company’s redesigned Sonata midsize car saw sales rise 58 percent.
The industry was expecting to see gains over February 2009, which was one of the weakest months in a very depressed year. Sales over President’s Day weekend — which traditionally kicks off the spring selling season — were robust, according to automotive website Edmunds.com.
Still, winter storms at the beginning and end of the month hurt sales on the East Coast and in the Midwest.
"Three and a half feet of snow on these cars," Docherty said. "It took our dealers a bit of time to get all that snow off here and get the customers back into the showrooms."
Owners of a Marion, Ill., golf club late last week finally got their long-awaited sit-down with U.S. Treasury officials to ask the agency to drop its objections to the club’s sale.
But Treasury did not indicate what action it might take or give a timetable, said Fritz Archerd, head of the golf owner’s group, who attended the meeting.
"There’s reason for hope. But there’s also reason for pessimism," Archerd said.
For the past 15 months, the Treasury has blocked the sale of the Kokopelli Golf Course because of the involvement of Zimbabwean national John A. Bredenkamp. He led a group that owned the golf course from 2001 to 2006. He retained a right to future profits when the course was sold again.
The problem is that Bredenkamp was named in late 2008 by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control to a list of people targeted for economic sanctions. These specially designated nationals, which include al-Qaida terrorists and drug kingpins, are prohibited from conducting any business in the U.S.
Treasury, which has declined to comment on the proceedings, accuses Bredenkamp of "gray-market arms trading and trafficking" and other endeavors to prop up Zimbabwe’s ruling regime.
Archerd said the Kokopelli investment lost about $750,000. A purchase price expected to be about $1 million would be enough to recoup that investment and pay off debt. So no profit would head to Bredenkamp if the golf club were sold to Marion-area owners quick payday loans.
Archerd said his group could no longer afford to invest in the golf club, featuring an 18-hole championship course once voted No. 3 in Illinois by Golf Week magazine. And yet, they cannot sell the course. It’s not even clear if the bank could foreclose on the property with the Treasury’s blocking order.
The plight of this golf course was the subject of a Post-Dispatch article last Sunday.
An economic sanctions attorney not involved in the case said he was surprised Treasury did not offer a solution at the sit-down meeting.
"I don’t understand why this hasn’t moved forward," said Clif Burns with Bryan Cave in Washington.
After Archerd’s meeting, the potential buyers indicated they had lost patience. Marion-area restaurateur David Hays said in a release, "We no longer are optimistic that we will see a timely solution to this dilemma."
Time — and money — does appear to be running out for Kokopelli. Staff already has been cut from 75 to one. The lawnmowers were repossessed last week, so there is no way to maintain fairways and greens. And next week the power company plans to turn out the lights.
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