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If it passes, Proposition 208 would increase funding for teachers, support staff and education programs through a surtax on high earners.

The proposition would allow districts to hire more teachers and raise salaries of a workforce that is at high risk during the pandemic in a state that consistently ranks low on teacher pay, school funding and student performance. Read more»

Amid a pandemic that has prompted some teachers to leave their profession, Arizonans are considering a proposal to raise taxes for high earners to help schools pay for salary increases and hire more staff. Read more»

After approving a $2 trillion coronavirus relief package just weeks ago, Congress added another $484 billion for health care, but mostly to revive a $349 billion loan program for small businesses that run out of money shortly after it opened.

Money could start flowing to distressed small businesses as early as this week, after the House overwhelmingly approved a $484 billion measure that refills the exhausted Paycheck Protection Program and adds funds for hospitals and other services. Read more»

Tape outside of a pet-goods store in San Diego shows a few of the steps taken by businesses to respect social-distancing measures while remaining open for customers.

Replenishment of a federal loan program for small businesses failed to get Senate approval Monday amid a dispute over money for coronavirus testing. Read more»

Rep. Tom Forese, R-Gilbert, wants Arizona to enact a Small Business Bill of Rights that he said would protect owners from harassment by regulators.

Calling it a response to state regulators bullying small businesses, a lawmaker wants to require agencies to list owners’ rights on their websites and present them prior to any investigation. Read more»

GetEqual ENDA protest, 2010

House Speaker John Boehner announced his opposition to a bill that would prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity with a statement from his spokesman saying the bill “will increase frivolous litigation and cost American jobs, especially small business jobs.” But the facts suggest there’s not as much to these claims as Boehner lets on. Read more»

Humberto Jesus Salazar used a money pool to renovate his west Phoenix computer repair shop.

An arrangement common among immigrants is known in the Latino community as a tanda or cundina, meaning roughly “taking a turn” or “doing a circle.” For some participants, money pools are a way of raising capital. Others use them to save. But for all who participate, the arrangements transcend economics to bind a community where reputation is as valuable as cash. Read more»

United States House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

In press conferences on the so-called fiscal cliff, House Speaker John Boehner greatly exaggerated the negative effect on the economy of raising taxes on upper-income individuals. Read more»

Voters on Tuesday rejected a ballot measure to reduce taxes many businesses pay on property ranging from machinery to desks. Read more»

Thala T. Rolnick, owner of an Arizona tax business, told a congressional subcommittee that the estate tax is overly complex and should not be allowed to fall from the current $5 million threshold to a $1 million level. She is shown with fellow witness Neil D. Katz, partner in a Syosset, N.Y., law firm dealing in estates.

Phoenix accountant Thala Rolnick told a House committee Thursday that, whatever Congress does with the estate tax, it needs to make sure the law is clear and consistent so small-business owners can plan their estates. Read more»

Rosa Macias, owner of Del Sol Furniture in the Valley, says competition from out-of-state chains makes it important for businesses catering to the Spanish-speaking community to promote the benefits of buying from locally owned merchants.

Local First Arizona is trying to reach Spanish speakers through Fuerza Local — Spanish for Local Force — in an effort to attract more shoppers from the Latino community to buy locally. Read more» 2

Mark Sholin received a year of free workspace at Arizona State University’s Skysong innovation center in Scottsdale to launch a business that manages wastewater for food and beverage production plants. His business plan was selected for the Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative, which also provides grants up to $20,000 and mentorship.

At Arizona State University, student-entrepreneurs are getting help with funding to further start-up companies through the Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative. Read more»

President Barack Obama signs the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, which includes key initiatives the president proposed last fall to help small businesses and startups grow and create jobs, in the Rose Garden of the White House on Thursday.

President Barack Obama signed into law the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, which is designed to give fast-growing startups a boost. Read more»

Farrell Quinlan, Arizona director of the National Federation of Independent Business.

Businesses and business groups in Arizona have widely come out in opposition to the health care law being argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. Read more»

In a slumping economy, Arizona small businesses have a modern trick up their sleeves: social media. Read more» 1

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