Republican governor candidate Sen. Bill Brady today said he supports lowering Illinois’ minimum wage if he wins in November and the state rate remains higher than the federal one. “For the state of Illinois to come in and micromanage wages above the federal minimum wage is a mistake,” Brady, a state senator from Bloomington, told reporters.
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June 25, 2010 at 10:37 a.m.
Filed under: Banking, Exchanges, Government, Policy, Politics, Regulations Lawmakers reach a deal on financial reform
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) talks with a group including Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), left, during a recess from a committee conference on Wall Street reform. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Ending more than two weeks of often-contentious negotiations, House and Senate lawmakers reached agreement early Friday on the most far-reaching rewrite of financial rules since the Great Depression.
The final details, including creation of an agency to protect consumers in the financial marketplace and new regulations to reduce risk-taking by large banks and limit their trading of complex derivatives, were hashed out in a marathon 20-hour session that began Thursday morning.
Lawmakers on a joint conference committee labored until dawn reconciling House and Senate versions of the legislation in time for President Obama to brief foreign leaders on the completed deal at a major economic summit in Canada starting Friday.
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Even with new rules, life goes on for Wall Street
Despite historic changes to the rules on Wall Street from financial reform, banks like Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley won concessions that watered down the proposals that could have been most damaging to their profits, staving off a watershed overhaul like the one that took place after the Great Depression. Get the full story »
Wal-Mart’s second Chicago store a big victory
In a move that could have nationwide implications for Wal-Mart’s expansion in major cities, the City Council Zoning Committee signed off today on a second store in Chicago. The decision marks Wal-Mart’s first victory in six years. The giant retailer overcame powerful union opposition that kept Chicago aldermen at bay as they weighed the prospect of bringing more jobs to their wards against the possibility of losing their own to labor-backed opponents at election time. The breakthrough followed months of behind-the-scenes wrangling among unions and Wal-Mart over how much workers will get paid, with Mayor Richard Daley publicly exhorting the two sides to agree.
Senate scrutinizes DeVry, other for-profit colleges
Democratic senators sharply questioned Thursday whether for-profit colleges reaping huge amounts of federal aid dollars are delivering on promises to students and taxpayers.
The fast-growing for-profit college industry has faced increased scrutiny in recent months and is fighting greater government regulation, which it says will cut off access to education at the worst possible time. Get the full story »
Sources say ShoreBank bailout looks doubtful
From Fox Business News | Senior executives at major Wall Street banks say they doubt that community lender ShoreBank, despite its ties to the Obama White House, will be able to survive a government takeover and eventual liquidation that a bailout was designed to prevent. Just a few weeks ago, the officials thought they had contributed enough money to bail out the bank.
Daley applauds Wal-Mart wage moves
Mayor Richard Daley Tuesday applauded Wal-Mart’s offer to pay workers at Chicago stores at least $8.75 an hour, saying the retailer is showing it is willing to go beyond what it pays elsewhere in order to bring much-needed jobs and healthy food options into the city.
The pro-Wal-Mart stance by Daley comes ahead of Thursday’s key City Council Zoning Committee vote on whether to allow the giant retailer to open a second store within city limits following years of stalled expansion efforts. The $8.75 an hour figure is 50 cents more than minimum wage but 50 cents less than labor unions are seeking.
Congress nears deal on consumer protections
CNN | Lawmakers on Tuesday will consider a deal that would house a powerful new consumer finance regulator inside the Fed. The Senate and the House passed different versions of Wall Street reform legislation, and last week 43 lawmakers started melding the two bills together.
Lawmakers start meeting at 12 p.m. ET on Tuesday to consider consumer protection issues, as well as how to monitor risk in the financial system and how to fund a new process for taking down failing financial firms. Get the full story »
Wal-Mart offer $8.75/hour for more Chicago stores
From Clout Street | Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says it will pay 50 cents more an hour than minimum wage if Chicago will allow it to build several stores in the city. Unions called the offer “disappointing” just three days before the City Council is to vote on a South Side store.
EPA pushes back enforcement of lead paint rules
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has delayed until Oct. 1 the date by which contractors must be certified to safely remodel homes built before 1978 that may contain lead paint.
The Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, which involved specific safety precautions and criteria for contractor certification, took effect April 22. The agency has faced criticism for more than a year from remodelers’ trade groups that argued there was not adequate time to get firms certified.
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June 18, 2010 at 4:02 p.m.
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Filed under: Chicago executives, Energy, Environment, Policy, Politics Embattled BP CEO removed from spill oversight
BP removed Chief Executive Tony Hayward from day-to-day oversight of the Gulf oil spill crisis a day after he was pummeled by lawmakers in an appearance on Capitol Hill, the company’s chairman said Friday.
Carl-Henric Svanberg told Britain’s Sky News television that Hayward “is now handing over the operations, the daily operations to [BP Managing Director] Bob Dudley,” overshadowing news that after many setbacks BP was finally making real progress in siponing and burning off oil from the underwater gusher. Get the full story »
