The Tennessee House of Representatives voted 68-20 on Monday to pass the largest business tax cut bill in state history.
The House’s bill version, SB 2103/HB 1893, would refund $713.6 million or one year of franchise tax.
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Remote and hybrid workers will impact more than office vacancy rates, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
The report, “Hybrid Work May Pose Challenge To Bars and Restaurants in Parts of the Tenth Federal Reserve District,” stated hybrid work arrangements and a preference for remote work are here to stay. It quoted research suggesting approximately 30% of working days in 2023 took place at home and office occupancy is down at least 40% compared to pre-pandemic levels.
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The State of the Union is not strong. Americans are facing a cost-of-living crisis, high crime, and an unsecured southern border as a direct result of Democrats’ failed policies led by perpetrator-in-chief Joe Biden.
Instead of taking accountability for these pressing national challenges, Biden promised more of the same in his State of the Union address Thursday night.
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Since June 2023, Americans have been increasingly employed in part-time positions, with a subsequent decline in full-time work, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The number of Americans working part-time in January grew by 96,000 compared to the previous month, while full-time employment sank by 63,000, according to the BLS. The change in the types of employment follows a trend toward part-time employment that has been increasingly exacerbated since June 2023.
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Florida’s Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund balance, drained during the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to exceed its prepandemic level by March, two months earlier than expected, according to the nonprofit group Florida TaxWatch.
That will allow a decrease in state sales tax businesses must pay on payments made to rent or lease of commercial property. The 4.5% business rent tax will be lowered to 2% in June instead of August, according to the Florida Department of Revenue.
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Multiple businesses located in the so-called “George Floyd Square” in Minneapolis have filed lawsuits against the city government for failing to properly police the area and prevent crime.
As the Daily Caller reports, the lawsuit was filed in mid-November by businesses in the area where George Floyd died of a fentanyl overdose while in police custody in May of 2020, which sparked nationwide race riots that resulted in the looting and destruction of hundreds of small businesses. The plaintiffs, who have stated that “the area lacks police protection,” are seeking $1.5 million in damages.
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Despite a concerted effort by many institutions, government entities, and other left-wing forces to push “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) initiatives on private businesses, 2023 saw a greater decrease in such measures than previous years.
As reported by the Daily Caller, the total number of businesses with a designated DEI budget dropped to 54% in 2023, down four points from 58% in 2022. In the same period of time, the number of organizations with a DEI strategy declined by 9%. Both of these statistics were compiled by the consulting firm Paradigm.
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Employer health insurance costs are expected to increase significantly in 2024, affecting costs for both workers and businesses as hospital operating costs rise, according to data reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Next year, the costs for health insurance coverage from employers are expected to increase by around 6.5%, which could be the biggest increase in more than a decade, according to survey data acquired by the WSJ. Driving the increase in health insurance costs are inflated labor costs for hospitals and a large demand for expensive new diabetes and obesity drugs, which are being passed down to insurance companies in new contracts with the hospitals.
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Facing labor shortages and challenges to find new revenue streams, small businesses appear to be hiring mostly temporary workers.
Alignable, a small business networking website, shows temporary hiring hit a new high this summer while full time hires have plummeted.
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Six states in the south are seeing rapid growth in the share of national gross domestic product (GDP) as people flock to the region, while states in the northeast are faltering, Bloomberg reported.
Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Georgia and Tennessee are in the middle of a $100 billion wealth migration that started during the COVID-19 pandemic as businesses and people moved south, according to Bloomberg. States in the northeast lost approximately $60 billion in 2020 and 2021, falling behind the six southern states in collective GDP for the first time.
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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday to expand the degree to which businesses have to accommodate workers for religious purposes.
In the case, Groff v. DeJoy, Postmaster General, the court found that postman Gerald Groff, an evangelical Christian, should not have been disciplined for refusing to work on Sundays for religious reasons. The majority opinion cited Title VII’s requirement to accommodate employees for religious purposes provided it does not cause the employer “undue hardship.”
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A new report ranks all 50 states from best to worst for economic conditions, showing which states have improved, and worsened, in creating an economic climate where businesses want to invest.
The American Legislative Exchange Council released the state analysis, which ranks Utah as the number one state, North Carolina as second, and Arizona as third. Idaho and Oklahoma fill out the top five spots, ranking fourth and fifth, respectively.
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For Ask an Economist this week I have a question from Hal who asks, “What is the difference between a ‘non-profit’ and a ‘not for profit’?”
In order to address this question, I think it’s important to discuss what separates a for-profit business from these two forms of organization.
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President Joe Biden paid a call on Wisconsin Wednesday, touting job creation and boasting that the Big Government agenda he laid out in this week’s State of the State address will get the nation’s economy humming.
But the president’s cheerleading tour conflicts with the realities on the ground for Badger State businesses dealing with higher prices, supply chain issues and labor shortages.
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Employee turnover has surged since the pandemic, and the need to replace and train new employees at high volume has hampered productivity for businesses, according to The New York Times.
More than 4.5 million workers voluntarily left their jobs in November 2021, the highest since the government began tracking this data 20 years earlier, and the turnover rate remains significantly higher than it was before the pandemic, according to the NYT. Businesses are struggling with the costs of high turnover; new employees take time to become productive, and existing employees lose productivity because of the time they spend training others.
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Private companies added 127,000 jobs in November, missing investor expectations by more than 70,000 to post the worst result since January 2021, according to private payroll firm ADP and CNBC Monday.
The addition represented a sharp decline from the 239,000 new jobs reported by the firm in October. Industries that were most directly impacted by higher interest rates, such as construction, were hit the hardest by job cuts, while consumer-facing industries, such as hospitality, largely weathered the storm, according to ADP.
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The City of Memphis and the Memphis Police Department recently invited residents and businesses of Memphis to participate in a new public safety initiative aimed at fighting crime.
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Newly released data from the Commerce Department show what some people have been saying for months: The nation is in recession.
Furthermore, the Biden administration’s cherry-picking of data has come back to bite it, with even its selected data points now being revised to indicate a recession. And while these numbers confirm the economy shrank in the first half of the year, the rest of this year holds little promise of recovery.
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Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is leading a coalition of 24 states objecting to proposed rule changes by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) that would require publicly-traded businesses to disclose information about their greenhouse gas emissions and discuss climate risks. The coalition filed formal comments indicating the 500-page rule titled “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors” goes beyond the jurisdiction of the SEC and into environmental regulation.
In a 44-page letter addressed to the SEC, Brnovich and the others stated that the Biden “administration has tried and failed to impose regulation directly, and it now appears content to use back-door financial regulatory actions to implement its political will.” The coalition warned, “profit will become secondary to political interests, and capitalism will fall by the wayside.” The proposed rule “seeks to make ‘decisions of vast economic and political significance.’” They accused the SEC of “taking on major policy decisions that belong to Congress.”
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A new labor market survey found that a majority of employers, particularly restaurants, still cannot find enough workers.
The new report from Alignable said that 83% of restaurants can’t find enough workers. Overall, the report found that “63% of all small business employers can’t find the help they need, after a year of an ongoing labor shortage.”
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The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA) announced the top ten complaint categories for 2021 in a press release this week. The DCA received a total of 5,561 complaints in 2021 and recovered both services and funds for Tennessee by working with consumers and businesses.
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President Joe Biden unveiled a new 2023 budget proposal Monday along with major tax increases to help pay for it.
Biden’s budget, which comes in at about $5.8 trillion, is not expected to become law, but presidential budgets help set the legislative priorities for the year to come.
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While filling jobs continues to be a source of struggle for businesses across the nation, Ohio employers seem to be dealing with it better than most, according to a recently released study.
A WalletHub report compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on the rate of job openings for the latest month and the past 12 months.
“Lots of businesses are struggling to hire enough workers, which has sometimes led to delays in services and reduced business hours,” the report read. “In fact, the labor force participation rate has experienced the slowest recovery of any recession since World War II. Some businesses aren’t even able to keep the employees they already have – as Americans are quitting their jobs at record rates in what’s been dubbed the ‘Great Resignation.’ ”
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It is a good time to be a worker with in-demand skills in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state’s largest business group, on Monday said its latest Employer Survey shows many businesses across the state plan to raise wages by more than 4% at some point this year.
“Wages are rising much faster than they have in recent memory,” WMC President & CEO Kurt Bauer said. “Wisconsin does not have enough people to fill the jobs we have available, and that creates an aggressive competition for talent. We are seeing wages rise at a faster rate, sign-on bonuses, work flexibility and many other strategies from companies to attract and retain talent.”
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The Ohio House has passed a bill that would give employers $25,000 in tax credits to train new drivers in an effort to help companies across the state alleviate a growing truck driving shortage.
House Bill 197, backed by trucking and business organizations, now heads to the Senate. It passed the House, 97-0, this week.
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Secretary of State Tre Hargett warned Tennessee business owners in a video message about a new scam targeting businesses with a deceptive mailer from a company called Business Document Center incorrectly implying that businesses need a Certificate of Good Standing.
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State agencies would be barred from doing business with any company or contractor unless they vow not to boycott Israel under a bill approved by the Georgia General Assembly.
The House voted, 146-9, to approve the Senate’s changes to House Bill 383. The amended bill was approved by the Senate, 47-2, last March, but it did not make it back to the House for a final vote before the end of the 2021 legislation session.
“Trade with Israel is a compelling state interest for the state of Georgia, I would argue, and this bill preserves free speech rights for individuals and sole proprietorships,” said Rep. John Carson, R-Marietta, who presented the bill Thursday on the House floor. “But it also says we as a state are not going to contract – we’re updating our statute to say we are not going to contract with groups that embrace boycott, divestment and sanctions against the state of Israel.”
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost rejected a citizens’ petition on a proposed law that would support vaccine choice and privacy for the second time because it did not contain enough verified signatures.
Yost originally turned down the submission last month. It proposed the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Choice and Anti-Discrimination law that would require the state to protect the privacy and freedom of Ohioans in their ability to refuse vaccinations or gene therapy.
The proposed law would require the state to protect Ohioans’ privacy regarding vaccination choice from vaccine registries and discrimination, provide transparency, reinforce schools must honor vaccine choice and privacy, protect Ohio businesses honoring vaccine choice and provide legal recourse for vaccine choice and privacy violations.
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Religious employees in Arizona who suffer an injury due to being required to get the COVID-19 vaccine by their employer will have a remedy if a proposed bill makes it into law. State Rep. Quang Nguyen (R-Prescott), along with several co-sponsors, introduced HB 2043 that makes employers liable for a “significant injury” to an employee resulting from the vaccine if the employer denies them a religious exemption.
“This is one of the most important bills I’m introducing this coming session,” Nguyen said in a statement. “The reality is COVID-19 is going to be with us for a long time. Public and private health mandates are not a good solution and could instead cause harm in some cases. If businesses and employers are intent on mandating vaccinations as a condition of employment, they should be held accountable if their employees face serious harm or illness.”
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Three Arizona members of Congress are joining in on a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees. Reps. Paul Gosar (R-04-Ariz.), Andy Biggs (R-05-Ariz.), and Debbie Lesko (R-08-Ariz.) along with 180 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate filed an amicus curiae brief in NFIB v. OSHA challenging the authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to implement the mandate.
The members of Congress argued that the mandate violates federalism, encroaching on the states’ authority. “[T]he sudden ‘discovery’ of authority under the OSH Act confirms that it was never intended to displace state authority in this area.” They assert, “Congress did not give that power to an agency bureaucrat.”
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed into law a $1 billion bipartisan economic development package.
The Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) package aims to support small businesses and attract businesses to the state, and includes:
Establishment of an economic development fund.
Funding programs “to make our economy more adaptable to the rapid pace of technological change, supporting small businesses, and creating or retaining good-paying jobs.
Creation of a financing mechanism for both programs.
Appropriates $407 million to fund small businesses affected by COVID-19.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced at a press conference yesterday the unveiling of new anti-woke legislation referred to as the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (WOKE) Act. After DeSantis banned Critical Race Theory (CRT) from Florida’s schools he said this is the next step in legislation to fight back against “woke indoctrination.”
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The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office this week suspended all exemptions that allowed businesses, governmental agencies, schools and other employers to impose COVID-19 vaccination as a condition to receive federal funds.
The decision, which Comptroller Jason E. Mumpower announced Wednesday, came after federal judges in Kentucky and Louisiana issued preliminary injunctions on Tuesday. It also follows a sweeping bill signed by Gov. Bill Lee on Nov. 12 that says government entities cannot require private businesses to instate COVID-19 mandates.
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On Monday, the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office announced in a press release that it has launched a new webpage that will allow Tennessee businesses, governmental entities, or schools to seek an exemption from a new law that prohibits Tennessee businesses from imposing vaccine mandates.
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Michigan businesses are scrambling to handle President Joe Biden’s Jan. 4 national vaccine mandate for private businesses exceeding 100 workers.
Michigan Occupational Safety Health Administration (MIOSHA) Director Bart Pickelman told The Center Square in an email that starting Nov. 5, federal OSHA issued an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission in the workplace. An ETS summary is here.
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After filing the first lawsuit in the country against President Joe Biden over his sweeping business COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich next signed onto a letter with 23 other attorneys general to Biden listing their objections, including non-legal ones. The attorneys general stress that the mandate will drive healthcare workers out of hospitals where they are desperately needed. If Biden does not reverse course, the 24 threaten to sue the administration.
“President Biden’s vaccine mandate lacks both legal authority and integrity,” Brnovich said in a statement. “I am proud to stand alongside my colleagues to push back on this assault on state sovereignty and the liberties of Americans.”
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According to new research by The Hoover Institution at Stanford University, Tennessee is the second most popular destination for companies fleeing California. With the top destination being Texas, Arizona and Nevada followed the Volunteer state in 3rd and 4th place.
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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed an executive order Thursday that blocks local governments from mandating COVID-19 restrictions on businesses.
Private sector businesses and sports teams can follow local COVID-19 requirements if they chose, but Kemp’s order stops them from being required to do so.
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U.S. retail sales jumped in June, boosted by states widely loosening coronavirus restrictions and businesses returning to full capacity.
Retail sales increased 0.6% and totaled $621.3 billion in June, according to the Department of Commerce report released Wednesday. The monthly increase was driven by general merchandise, including food service, clothing, personal care, electronics and gasoline sales, the report showed.
“Sectors that were buoyed by the pandemic are slowing down a little bit, but not to a degree that I’d be concerned about,” Square economist Felipe Chacon told The Wall Street Journal. “Household finances have been bolstered by a few rounds of stimulus spending, so it bodes pretty well.”
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Michigan’s business leaders anticipate robust growth in the state’s economy within the next year.
They also plan a return to in-person office work in the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2021, according to a quarterly economic survey completed by Business Leaders for Michigan.
Approximately 92% of survey respondents say the state’s economy will likely remain strong and growing during the next six to 12 months.
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Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the show to discuss failing businesses and the uncessary shutdowns due to COVID.
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The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) has issued new emergency orders for many businesses.
MIOSHA, within the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, promulgates rules clarifying the safety requirements for employers.
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Four business groups sent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer a letter asking to reopen industries that have been closed for five months, although they’re open in certain parts of Michigan and surrounding states.
After five months with no revenue and continued fixed costs, some gyms, movie theaters and bowling alleys are on the brink of bankruptcy.
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President Donald Trump announced the preliminary results of his administration’s efforts to deregulate the federal government.
Before taking office, Trump pledged to roll back two regulations for every new regulation added in Washington, D.C. However, that ratio has since increased to seven regulations rolled back for every new one created, Trump said.
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Ohio business owners who are fed up with Gov. Mike DeWine’s ever-lasting shutdown regulations are joining their lawsuits together into a class action against the state.
Three lawyers are working together to help combine existing lawsuits and are looking for other owners whose livelihoods are being threatened by what they say are unconstitutional orders. The suit against the DeWine administration and other government agencies was filed in the Ohio Court of Common Pleas in Lake County.
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