News Briefs - April 7
The Latest Headlines:
- House Highway Bill Contains Billions in Business Tax Breaks
- Import Prices Rise for Sixth Straight Month
- DOT Unveils Grants to Boost Safety-Belt Use
- Report: Administration Upset With HOS Exemptions
- UTi Reports Higher 4Q Profits
- Import Prices Rise for Sixth Straight Month
House Highway Bill Contains Billions in Business Tax Breaks
The highway bill passed last week by the House contains new tax breaks for business that Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation said would cost $12.8 billion over five years, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.The tax provisions, added just before the bill went to the floor on Friday, would provide relief to big companies from the alternative minimum tax. They increase from $25,000 to $100,000 the amount of capital improvements -- including investments in computer software -- that businesses can write off as annual expenses, the Post said.
It was unclear whether many House members were aware they were voting on the business tax breaks when they approved the $275 billion, six-year transportation bill by a vote of 357 to 65, the article said. The tax breaks are unrelated to the transportation measure, which funds new highways, mass transit and safety programs.
Import Prices Rise for Sixth Straight Month
Led by higher oil prices and a drop in the value of the dollar, the price of goods imported to the United States rose 0.9% in March, the Labor Department said Wednesday.Last month's increase in import prices was the sixth straight and followed a 0.4% rise in February. Excluding petroleum, prices edged up 0.2%.
The cost of imported petroleum increased 6.1% last month, Labor said. Imported oil prices are 1.9% higher in the last 12 months.
Labor also said prices of U.S. products exported to other countries gained 0.9% in March, the seventh straight increase and the largest since 1% in April 1995. Transport Topics
DOT Unveils Grants to Boost Safety-Belt Use
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico would share $36.4 million in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration grants to develop programs to increase the use of safety belts.“These grants provide incentives to states to enact and enforce laws that promote use and educate people about the effectiveness of safety belts,” Mineta said in a statement.
NHTSA said safety belts have saved more than 164,750 lives since 1975, and in 2003, safety-belt use reached an all-time high of 79%.
New Hampshire, South Dakota and Wyoming did not apply for the grants, DOT said.
