• House Democrats have unveiled a sweeping proposal for tax hikes on large corporations and the wealthy to fund President’s Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion rebuilding plan 
• The top tax rate would turn back to 39.6% on people earning more than $400,000 or $450,000 for couples, and there would be a 3% tax on wealthier Americans with adjusted income over $5 million a year

The post Legislative News – 09-14-2021 appeared first on Easy Ad - Local Small Business Resources.

• As the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott begins his third attempt at passing new election laws, Texas Democrats still refuse to return to Austin as of August 7
• In a joint statement Saturday, Democrats said 26 of them would remain “part of an active presence in Washington maintained for as long as Congress is working.”

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• On July 28, 2021, the Senate GOP has reached an agreement with Democrats over the many issues surrounding the $1 trillion infrastructure package
• This bipartisan package includes government spending of $600 billion which will go to highways, bridges, transit, waterways other public works projects, and broadband 

Biden Administration to better cybersecurity defenses for infrastructure improvements

• For critical infrastructure, the Biden Administration is trying to improve their cybersecurity defenses 
• In an order from President Joe Biden, he addresses the vulnerabilities of critical industries to cyberattacks 
• The actions outlined in the order are also meant to continue partnerships among private companies to greater improve cybersecurity 

The post Legislative News – 07-28-2021 appeared first on Easy Ad - Local Small Business Resources.

• Homeowners and Environmental groups in Alabama have filed a federal lawsuit against the state regulators for approving Alabama’s Solar Power fees on customers who have on-site or rooftop solar
• Alabama Power argues that the fees are needed to maintain the infrastructure that provides backup power to customers who don’t have sufficient power from  their solar panels

Texas Republicans demand that Democrat legislators return to Austin for new voting restrictions

• Democrats from the Texas legislature who have left to Washington, D.C. in order to block new election laws have been demanded by the Texas GOP  to return to the Capitol
• The governor of Texas, Greg Abbot has authorized law enforcement to bring more than 50 legislators “under warrant of arrest if necessary”

The post Legislative News – 07-13-2021 appeared first on Easy Ad - Local Small Business Resources.

• Coming from states that have not accepted the expansion of Medicaid , Three Democratic US Senators want the federal government to come up with a plan similar to Medicaid 
• Today (Monday) Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia along with Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin are going to introduce the bill with the push of health care coverage expansion

• Within the state legislature, Texas Democrats have left Austin, Texas for Washington, D.C. to stop the election laws from being passed
• The Democrats claim that they plan to be there for weeks and although it is not clear how many of the 67 democrats in the state legislature have left, the number is sufficient to halt the legislature

The post Legislative News – 07-12-2021 appeared first on Easy Ad - Local Small Business Resources.

• Among a small group of Democrats, they prepare to stage a second walkout again in order to stop a voting measure in Texas from being passed
• Republicans this weekend have intended to advance the new election bill which would restrict polling places that run 24 hours, ban drop boxes, and stop drive thru voting 
• The voting law is aimed at preventing fraud and obtaining more accurate voting numbers but Texas Democrats are against this

Large Balloon releases are banned in Rhode Island to protect Wildlife 

• Yesterday (Friday) Governor Dan McKee of RHode Island has signed a new law that restricts anyone in the state from releasing more than 1 helium balloons outdoors
• Supporters of this new law have said that balloon releases have a large environmental impact and threaten birds, marine animals, and other wildlife 
• Violators may face a fine of $100 and this law will be in effect in November 

The post Legislative News – 07-10-2021 appeared first on Easy Ad - Local Small Business Resources.

• By highlighting the economic benefits of his Infrastructure Package plan, President Joe Biden hopes he can get it on track
• I highlighting the benefits, he is stressing the $973 billion is going to include the largest investment in transportation in almost 100 years and would create many jobs
• The plan also suggested that 90% of the jobs it creates will go to those workers who do not have college degrees

California Democrats are attempting to change recall laws once more

• For the second time in 4 years, Democrats in California are attempting to change the state’s recall laws 
• Currently, Democrats want the opportunity to move things along more quickly in order to take advantage of what they believe are more favorable for Newsom which is altering the recall timeline

The post Legislative News – 06-28-2021 appeared first on Easy Ad - Local Small Business Resources.

• Now set for March 27,2022, a month later than the original planned date, the 94th Academy Awards will happen and return to usual venue
• As a result of the pandemic, this year’s Oscars screw an audience of only 10.4 million which is a 56% drop from the 23.6 million watched in 2020

• Today (Thursday), Senate Republicans have issued an offer to president Biden of a $928 billion infrastructure plan in an attempt to revive the slow-moving negotiations
• The current negotiations are in regards to a bipartisan plan to repair the country’s bridges, roads, and broadband internet
• Senate Republicans frame their proposal in line with Biden’s terms which he has found acceptable which was a $1 trillion to $1.2 trillion deal down from the White House’s most recent counter-proposal of $1.7 trillion 

• Today (Thursday, California State officials have announced what appears to be the largest incentive in the nation for the 10 residents to win $1.5 million a piece if they get the vaccine

• The goal of the giveaway is to give residents every possible motivation to finally get fully vaccinated as California enters it crucial next phase
• Along with the prizes, 30 additional awards of $50,000 and are open to Californians who have at least received one dose of the vaccine

The post California News – 5-27-2021 appeared first on Easy Ad - Local Small Business Resources.

• At least one person suffered non-life-threatening injuries after gunshots were reported near the spot where George Floyd was killed one year ago, a spokesperson for the Minneapolis Police Department said Tuesday
• The Associated Press earlier reported that as many as 30 shots were heard a block away from the intersection, known as George Floyd Square, causing bystanders to duck for cover

• Issues in the summit meeting are expected to include the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline and U.S. sanctions over the Kremlin’s treatment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny
• The announcement comes less than a week after the Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov held a cautious face-to-face talk in Iceland

• The United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021 challenges Beijing’s growing technological power by supporting U.S. chipmakers and science research
• The wide-ranging, 1,400-page piece of legislation, slated to cost about $200 billion, is expected to pass the Senate within weeks
• The bill is the end result of bipartisan input from at least six Senate committees and reflects the many fronts in the U.S.-China rivalry, as well as the urgency of a global semiconductor shortage
• It would appropriate $52 billion to U.S. chip making efforts and $81 billion to overhauling the National Science Foundation

• More than two dozen groups representing U.S. businesses and employers unveiled a new coalition to fight against virtually every Democratic plan to raise taxes on self-described “job creators.”
• The coalition of 28 industry groups argues that hiking taxes on corporations will hamper the U.S. economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
• The alliance emerges in direct opposition to President Joe Biden, who is pushing trillions of dollars in spending on a slew of economy-overhauling projects, to be paid for in large part by raising rates on corporations and the richest Americans

The post National News – 5-25-2021 appeared first on Easy Ad - Local Small Business Resources.