San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed has made headlines with his proposed pension reform initiative that would allow local governments to negotiate changes to government employees’ retirement benefits. However, the most recent stories in the media were not good news: Reed sued Attorney General Kamala Harris over the title and summary she assigned to the initiative,… Keep reading →
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Clearwater County, Idaho, residents can now pay for marriage licenses, permits, water bills and other services using credit and debit cards at the county clerk’s office in Orofino, County Clerk Carrie Bird announced. “Paying by credit or debit card is a faster and more convenient option for a lot of our customers, especially if they’re… Keep reading →
Business Roundtable Survey: CEOs Expect Continued Slow GDP Growth with Moderate Increases in Sales, Hiring and Investment
By businesswireResults from the Business Roundtable’s first quarter 2014 CEO Economic Outlook Survey show a moderate uptick in CEO expectations for hiring, sales and capital expenditures and some improvement in the Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Index. But the survey’s expectation for 2014 GDP growth was 2.4 percent, representing below-normal growth compared to past economic recoveries…. Keep reading →
Oklahoma Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds the CompSource Mutual Insurance Company Act
By businesswireCompSource Oklahoma announced that the Oklahoma Supreme Court unanimously upheld the legislation that will convert CompSource into a mutual insurance company. Jason Clark, President and CEO of CompSource Oklahoma, said, “We are very pleased the Oklahoma Supreme Court has confirmed CompSource will become a mutual insurance company independent from the state of Oklahoma on January… Keep reading →
GASB Toolkit Helps State and Local Governments Implement New Pension Accounting Standards
By businesswireA new online pension implementation toolkit was released today by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). The toolkit is designed to help preparers, auditors, and users of state and local government financial reports understand and apply the revised pension accounting and financial reporting standards that the GASB approved in June 2012. The toolkit is available… Keep reading →
A.M. Best Special Report: Health Care Industry Evolves; New Markets and Prospects Emerge
By businesswireThe Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly referred to as health care reform, was on everyone’s mind in 2013, according to a special report by A.M. Best. Insurance companies continued to make preparations for changes that were about to become effective, January 1, 2014, many of which began in prior years. In planning… Keep reading →
Today, the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), an open global forum for the development of payment card security standards, testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance. The Council was asked to participate in the hearing on “Safeguarding Consumers’ Financial Data” because of its role in designing and… Keep reading →
Optimism for the nation’s economic outlook among U.S. business leaders plummeted 16 percentage points in fourth quarter 2013 to a net balance of 36 percent according to the latest data from the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR), a survey of 3,300 business leaders in 45 countries. Hiring expectations in the United States declined for… Keep reading →
Retailers Disappointed by Approval of ‘Deeply Flawed’ Credit Card Swipe Fee Settlement
By businesswireThe National Retail Federation issued the following statement from Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mallory Duncan in response to U.S. District Court Judge John Gleeson’s approval of a controversial antitrust lawsuit over credit card swipe fees. “We are very disappointed that this deeply flawed settlement has been approved. It is not supported by the… Keep reading →
November 1 marked the start of the 2013 Kansas property tax season, as well as the launch of Kansas.gov’s newly redesigned, mobile-friendly Kansas Property Tax Payment service. Since its launch in 2000, nearly one-hundred thousand Kansans have been able to skip the line at their county treasurer’s office by using the desktop version of the… Keep reading →