WASHINGTON IN BRIEF
Saturday, January 6, 2007; Page A05
Democrats Willing to Link Minimum Wage, Tax Breaks
Senate Democrats said yesterday that they are willing to accept new tax breaks for small businesses in order to pass an increase in the minimum wage.
"If it takes adding small-business tax cuts to have a minimum-wage increase, then we'll do that," Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said after emerging from a private meeting of Senate Democrats in the Library of Congress.
Adding tax cuts to the package would attract Republican votes. With 49 Democrats and two Democratic-leaning independents, Democrats hold 51 votes in the Senate, but it takes 60 to overcome procedural maneuvers for blocking bills.
The Senate strategy would differ from that in the House, where Democrats are pushing through a minimum-wage increase without any extra provisions. It would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour over about two years.
Flood Insurance Sales Rise After Hurricane Katrina
Sales of federal flood insurance rose sharply across the country last year after Hurricane Katrina sent the message that typical homeowners' insurance does not cover many losses.
In the 12 months beginning in November 2005, the number of federal policies in the National Flood Insurance Program increased more than 13 percent, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.
In Mississippi, the number of policies rose 61 percent. Idaho had a 24 percent increase, and Rhode Island, 21 percent.
Army Mistakenly Sent Letters To Dead or Wounded Officers
The Army said it will apologize to the families of about 275 officers killed or wounded in action who were mistakenly sent letters urging them to return to active duty.
The letters were sent a few days after Christmas to more than 5,100 Army officers who had recently left the service. Included were letters to about 75 officers killed and about 200 wounded.
The latest available Pentagon statistics report that, as of Dec. 2, 217 Army officers have died in Iraq and 894 have been wounded since the war began.
For the Record
? President Bush has selected Thomas P. D'Agostino, the current deputy administrator of defense programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration, as the acting head of the government's nuclear weapons program. He succeeds Linton F. Brooks, who was ousted in the wake of reports of security breakdowns at the agency.
? Edward McGaffigan Jr. said that he will leave the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after more than 10 years because of health reasons. McGaffigan, 59, is the longest-serving commissioner in the NRC's history. The Democrat is undergoing treatment for metastatic melanoma, a dangerous form of skin cancer, according to the agency.
-- From News Services
