Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.law From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: law Fri, Jul 31 1992 Date: Fri, 31 Jul 92 04:32:20 EDT Message-ID: 07-31 0000 DECISIONLINE: Business Law USA TODAY Update July 31-Aug. 2, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network TAX BREAKS APPROVED: The Senate approved bigger tax breaks Thursday for employers who buy subway, bus and commuter train tickets for workers while making it more expensive to offer them free parking. The Senate approved those tax incentives, plus several others, to a wide-ranging energy bill intended as the domestic response to the Persian Gulf War but that has moved through Congress at a snail's pace for 18 months. BILL TO SLOW FOREIGN OIL USE: The Senate energy bill, passed Thursday, is intended to help curb U.S. dependence on foreign oil by altering the way the government regulates, taxes and subsidizes nearly every sector of the energy industry. The bill now goes to a conference committee to be compromised with a version passed by the House in May. FCC POSTPONES RADIO RULES: The Federal Communications Commission postponed Thursday, until they can reconsider the matter, the start date of new rules that would boost the number of radio stations a single owner could hold. The rules, which were to go into effect Aug. 3, would allow an owner to hold up to 30 AM and 30 FM stations nationwide and three AM and three FM stations in markets of more than 40 stations. BUSINESSWEEK UNCOVERS CRIME: Businessweek magazine says it has uncovered an insider trading ring that could be the biggest since since Ivan Boesky pleaded guilty in 1986. Detailed in the Aug. 10 issue is the now-defunct Wall Street firm of Frost and Sullivan Holding Corp. Frost invested in at least two dozen deals. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating, but no charges have been filed. JAPANESE VANS FACE TARIFF: Japanese minivans and sport utilities would be hit with a 25% tariff under legislation the House is expected to approve Friday. The measure reclassifies the vehicles as light trucks, which carry a 25% import penalty. The price of a Toyota Previa, now $20,000, could go up $5,000. U.S. carmakers are lobbying hard for the bill, but President Bush has promised a veto. KING MAKES ACCUSATIONS: Former Gov. Arch Moore's administration pushed state regulators in 1985 to probe West Virginia Blue Cross and Blue Shield's problems but dropped the effort in return for campaign contributions, John King, a former Republican activist, told a Senate panel Thursday. Former Commissioner of Insurance Fred Wright and current head Hanley Clark challenged King's memory of events. N.Y. AREA ATTRACTS FUNDING: The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday approved a transportation spending bill that would pump nearly $80 million into the greater New York area for transportation projects. The bill includes $7.5 million for an electronic toll collection system for the New York State Thruway. Supporters say the system would speed traffic through toll plazas and ease congestion. SAIPAN INDUSTRIES PROBED: Textile producers in a tiny U.S. commonwealth in the western Pacific are exploiting immigrant workers and taking jobs away from Americans, said members of Congress and a union leader Thursday. A congressional panel is investigating the garment industry, as well as immigration practices and treatment of alien contract workers, in Saipan, in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. CNMI HOLDS ALL CONTROLS: The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, unlike any other U.S. territory, controls immigration, its minimum wage and customs. But like other territories, manufacturers based in the island chain are exempt from paying tariffs on most products manufactured there that are sent to the U.S mainland. There are 26 garment companies on Saipan; nine are owned by U.S. citizens. WISCONSIN CITIES GET FUNDING: The Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee approved more than $400,000 Wednesday for transit projects in Wausau and Stevens Point, Wis. The cities will receive funds to buy buses, taxis and to add wheelchair lifts to buses in use. Sixteen other Wisconsin communities also will receive funds. UMW PROGRAM LIKELY TO PASS: The Senate approved a compromise Wednesday for bailing out the United Mine Workers retirement health program by going back as far as 1950 to spread its cost to the retirees' former employers. The plan, which would permanently eliminate a threat to the health-care benefits of 115,000 retired miners and their dependents, appears likely to be enacted into law as part of a huge energy bill. JUDGE RULES ON BCCI: The Department of Justice said Thursday a federal judge has ordered the Bank of Credit and Commerce International to forfeit an additional $104 million in assets to the United States, bringing to about $651 million the total amount of assets BCCI has forfeited to the federal government. The department filed a motion June 24 asserting the discovery of additional BCCI assets. GOTTSCHALKS EXECUTIVES CLEARED: Gottschalks Inc. announced Thursday that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California has told chairman Joe Levy and president Gerald Blum that they are no longer targets of the previously announced federal criminal investigation into a 1986 tax deduction taken by the company. The company pleaded guilty to a three-count indictment and was fined $1.5 million. Business Law Editor: Kate Coughlin. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM