Alaska
City Officials Consider Request for Oil Tax Waiver
The Juneau Assembly is considering a request by the Juneau Chamber of Commerce to consider a temporary city sales tax exemption for fuel oil sold during a 90-day window in light of currently high oil prices. If renewed, the relief could equal a $450,000 subsidy to residential and business customers during the three month window, a chamber official said.
Source: Juneau Empire

Colorado
State Health Care Cost Survey Contradicts National Numbers
Colorado businesses saw a double-digit jump in employee health care costs this year for the seventh year in a row, according to a survey released by the Lockton Cos. LLC in Denver. Employers' costs jumped by 10.2%, Lockton found, and that's only because the companies surveyed offered employees less-comprehensive benefits this year. The results come one week after a national survey suggested Colorado employers saw only a 4.7% jump in health care costs.
Source: The Denver Post

Kentucky
Regional Chamber Pushes for Cigarette Tax, Ban
Northern Kentucky's largest business group is calling on state lawmakers to ban smoking in most public places and increase the state's cigarette tax by 25 cents a pack. While the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce has advocated higher cigarette taxes in the past, this is the first time it has pushed for a smoking ban. The tax increase and ban are part of the chamber's 24-page priority agenda for the 2008 General Assembly that begins Jan. 8.
Source: The Cincinnati Enquirer

Minnesota
State Economy Lags National Numbers
Falling home values, tighter credit and high energy prices are taking their toll on the nation's economy, but they are expected to hit even harder in Minnesota, according to a state economic forecast released last week. The state's economic growth is expected to drop off sharply to an annual rate of less than 1%. Nationally, growth is expected to slow to 1.5%. Economists said the housing slump has hit Minnesota particularly hard because the construction industry makes up a larger part of state's economy than it does nationally.
Source: Star Tribune

New Jersey
Corzine Touts Paid Family Leave Bill
Gov. Jon Corzine (D) is trying to garner business community support for a 10-week paid family leave bill. Corzine told about 200 members of the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey last week that he plans to sign the family leave bill in January because he is "not convinced it is so devastating to business practices and operations." To fund the measure, the bill calls for an approximate tax hike of $1 per week for 3.9 million workers covered by the state's disability system. In return, employees could receive two-thirds of their gross pay for family leave for 10 weeks a year, not to exceed $502 a week.
Source: Asbury Park Press

Nevada
Tavern Association Says Smoking Ban Hurts Business
Southern Nevada's weakening economic conditions, coupled with a voter-enacted statewide ban on smoking inside businesses where food is served, has cast a pall over the once-booming tavern industry. New taverns aren't being built as fast as in previous years, said an official with the Nevada Taverns Owners Association, a trade group that represents the industry. Meanwhile, revenue has dropped at many taverns—as much as 30% in some locations—because of a decline in customers and a decrease in the amount loyal patrons are spending.
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal

South Carolina
Economists Predict Slow 2008 for State
The state's economy will be sluggish in the coming year, but won't be dire enough to slip into a recession, University of South Carolina economists said Monday. Growth in retail sales will slow to barely above inflation and new housing starts will fall an additional 10% next year, according to the forecast presented to business leaders at the university's annual outlook conference. The economists expect the state to continue to add jobs next year, but at a slower rate—about 1.1%—than in recent years. And the unemployment rate, which had been improving, will hold steady at 5.8% or may drift higher, they said.
Source: Associated Press

Vermont
State Officials Differ On Legislative Agenda
The state should concentrate on promoting its strengths to attract employers to Vermont, Speaker of the House Gaye Symington told the Democratic members of the state House of Representatives on Saturday at the Statehouse. Symington hopes to start a discussion about the state's economic climate that emphasizes Vermont's quality of life, education, and health care, as opposed to fears about taxes and government regulation. She said her speech was not a direct response to Gov. James Douglas (R), who, in his "Set the Agenda" tour, has said the high cost of doing business is the state's biggest challenge.
Source: Vermont Press Bureau