In the report, the organization considered each provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and examined potential economic impact. “On net, this analysis suggests that upon full implementation in California, the Affordable Care Act will have a positive impact on California’s economy with variation across regions based largely on their socioeconomic makeup. Full implementation of the Affordable Care Act as compared to the non-reform scenario in 2010 would have resulted in 98,861 new jobs in California (a 0.6% increase in total employment) and $4.4 billion in additional gross state output,” report authors write.

Report data shows that Southern California alone would see a 0.7% increase in the number of people with jobs – working out to just under 60,000 people added to the labor force. Adding $3 billion to the local economy.

Report authors note that the law and the funding it provides would essentially be a force mulitplier adding positively to the health care sector and helping to mitigate some of the potentially negative economic effects health care would have as a sector if it remains unchanged.

Several states brought a challenge to the Supreme Court over the individual mandate provision in the ACA. BACEI notes in the report that this provision is likely to be a key job creator and will also improve the productivity of people already with jobs if they now have access to health care.

“The presence of the individual mandate will also be one factor that changes the set of incentives that exists for individuals in ways that will influence their behavior. The individual mandate may, for example, increase the value that people place on employer-sponsored insurance. And in an environment with a greater proportion of the population being insured, in part due to the individual mandate, there will also be greater labor force participation. Also, to the extent that people are employed, the implication is that there will be less time away from work or out of the labor force for reasons related to health,” the report says.

The first bill Senate Bill 2576, will amend the state’s existing Workers Compensation Act, to require employees to provide more evidence that an injury was work related before claiming the benefit. If an employee is found to be on drugs or alcohol at the time of the injury they will risk losing their benefits all together if they file a workers compensation claim under the new rules.

The second bill S.B. 2934, will give businesses a larger tax credit when they pay their inventory taxes each year. The tax credit will increase each year over the next three years.

The third bill H.B. 1537 creates zones of tax incentives spread throughout the state. These zones will provide health care focused businesses with tax credits for bringing their companies to these areas.

The package of legislation covers a large portion of the Governor’s “works” agenda. Critics of the agenda have said that it will make it more difficult for workers to receive due compensation if injured on the job while additional tax incentives will take money away from an already tight state budget.

“The Ramapo Jobs Connector” is a free service offered to job seekers that has information about thousands of jobs in multiple industries at all levels of employment. Residents of Ramapo and Rockland County will directly benefit by hearing about available jobs before anyone else, and employers will be able to reach qualified, local candidates fast and first. The Town of Ramapo is the first town in the United States to offer a platform like this.

A number of local companies have already partnered with the Town of Ramapo to post jobs on the site.

“Enhancing economic development and furthering job creation and retention are essential in order for us to achieve economic stability and improve the quality of life for our residents,” said Supervisor St. Lawrence.

Individuals who register at http://ramapo.tweetmyjobs.com or via links from www.ramapo.org will receive relevant job matches instantaneously by e-mail, text message, or from social networks like Twitter and Facebook.

Robert Collins, a former corrections officer in Maryland, said he was asked for his Facebook account information while being recertified for his job following a leave of absence. When this became known through press accounts, social media websites lit up with comments both for and against the practice. According to the Associated Press the Maryland department of corrections assessed 2,689 applications, showing that seven candidates were rejected in part because of information found on their social media profiles.

Collins said that he felt violated by the review and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint on his behalf. Seven other states are pursuing bills of the same type according to the Nationla Conference of State Legislatures. Other states like Illinois have also recently banned employers from running credit checks on potential new hires.

At the federal level, Attorney General Eric Holder has also been asked to investigate whether or not asking for such information violates federal law.

Even if employers are prohibited from logging in as the person they are investigating, employer snooping through public information on social media sites is increasingly common. Online job applications are also asking candidates to “like” their facebook pages, or provide information about their “social media presence.”

US-based law firm Haynes and Boone, noted in a post on its social media law brief that many employers are asking background check firms to include social media screening in their routine background checks of potential employees. According to the attorney’s asking a third party to perform the screening and only report back relevant, legal information is necessary in order to avoid violating equal opportunity employment rules.

“Pre-screening applicants via their social media can lead to the discovery of information regarding the applicant that may be illegal to consider during the interview process. For example, via social media, an employer could discover an individual’s age, religious affiliation, genetic information or disability.”

They further note that if social media profiles are accessed under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, employers are required to provide a two step reporting process back to potential candidates notifying them of why they were overlooked.

“The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) recently indicated that the FCRA does apply to a consumer reporting agency’s social media check, when it investigated Social Intelligence Corporation, a consumer reporting agency that conducts background checks that include information from individuals’ social media,” the attorneys write.

Governor O’Malley has said that he is reviewing the legislation and has not yet made a decision about signing the bill.

The program – the Subsidized Training and Employment Program (STEP UP) provides two types of hiring incentives for companies, a six month wage subsidy or a small grant of up to $12,500 over a six month period. Individuals qualified to be hired through the program must meet basic employment qualifications. The program itself was officially created through a jobs bill that passed the Connecticut state legislature last autumn.

“Even though our unemployment rate is at its lowest point in three years, if you don’t have a job it might as well be at 100%,” said Governor Malloy.

So far, the program has led to 135 new hires.  STEP UP will provide up to $20 million in funding through subsidies.  Many of the early hires have come in service-based roles. Companies that have less than 50 people can apply for subsidies through the program, provided they offer on-site job training. New hires must also be Connecticut residents.

State officials hope that the program will spur small business job growth and economic development in smaller municipalities throughout the state. The Connecticut Department of Labor has put up information on the program on through a new website. The Malloy administration has been focused on finding ways to bring new economic activity to the state, the jobs bill package contained a variety of incentives to foster economic development in addition to job creation. As CivSource previously reported, the state also launched StartUp Connecticut a program designed to support local entrepreneurship.

NLC leaders highlighted the tough circumstances facing municipalities today and underscored the need for funding through programs like Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and workforce training initiatives.

Five cities were also honored for their work to increase cultural diversity. Brooklyn Park, Minnesota; Dubuque, Iowa; Arlington, Virginia; Irvine, California and Phoenix, Arizona were noted for their diversity programs by the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials.

The organization also unveiled its federal priorities for 2012 including comprehensive transportation authorization, preserving funds for hometown investment, protecting local sources of revenue and investing in our nation’s youth and workforce. The organization recently published new economic research which shows that despite slight improvements in economic conditions in many municipalities, city revenue remains stagnant and layoffs of city workers has continued unabated since 2008 despite increased demand for city services.

“Both the federal government and local officials need to find ways to partner that will lay down a framework to allow for local growth and to make the nation competitive for years to come,” said Ted Ellis, mayor of Bluffton, IN and president of NLC.

The Center’s Housing Landscape 2012 report found that the share of working households paying more than half their income for housing rose significantly between 2008 and 2010 for both renters and owners. According to Census data, nearly one in four working households in the U.S. spends more than half of total income on housing – many of those households are renters.

“More people are renting for a variety of reasons. They need to be more mobile, they’ve been forced out of their homes, or they may just prefer to rent. The increased demand has made it possible for landlords to charge more,” Williams says.

For working homeowners over the same two-year period, incomes slid more than twice as much as housing costs. In fact, incomes for working homeowners fell even more sharply than they did for working renters.

Even for those that own homes costs remain high. “Many homeowners that still have their homes purchased them at the high point in the market and few of them could take advantage of cost-lowering incentives. So their overall cost to stay in that home is higher,” Willimas notes.

The rough situation for homeowners and renters isn’t tied to a specific area of the country either. 24 states saw increases in the cost burden for homeowners and renters according to the study. California, Florida, New Jersey, Hawaii and Nevada all had the highest increases over 29% in all cases.

“Many areas that perhaps had less of a housing shock, still faced other economic hardships which decreases the supply of affordable housing,” Williams explains. “Communities really haven’t focused much on this demographic because they aren’t typically on benefits programs like food stamps. So from one standpoint they’re considered self-sufficient, but they are struggling.”

“The rule of thumb has been no more than 30% of income should go to housing, and that’s what we base the assistance formulas on. But that’s not really a reality for a lot of people. No one wants to spend half of their income on housing, but people in this bracket typically make too much money for outside help,” Williams said.

A closer look at the data reveals that the share of working households with a severe housing cost burden increased significantly over the two years studied in 19 of the 50 largest metropolitan areas.

“Overall, I think this is something policy makers are going to have to look at. It’s not a tenable situation over the long term. There are things that can be done, improvements to zoning, for example, but you have to look at the housing supply and real affordability,” Williams said.

This report is based on Center for Housing Policy tabulations of American Community Survey (ACS) data collected by the U .S. Census Bureau in 2008, 2009, and 2010. The full report is available here.

Payrolls may have increased further had it not been for the significant number of layoffs of government workers. The continued layoffs are notable, California has been cutting positions for years and moving others to part-time only. As CivSource reported previously, the state has already laid off tens of thousands of people.

State payroll accounts for about $18 billion of the overall budget, a figure which successive governors have been trying to keep in check for decades. Forced furloughs were the most recent way Governors tried to save money. However, as state budget observers have noted recently, furloughs are only a temporary and largely ineffective budget solution.

According to McClatchy, the largest increases came at the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Motor Vehicles with state workers in those offices clearing salaries well above $500k.

Payroll increases are a double edge sword for states simultaneously looking for ways to cut the budget while fostering economic growth. The McClatchy account noted that the increases contributed, “$140 million in wages to the Sacramento economy in 2011, contributing to a budding recovery. Previous forced furloughs dampened much of the city’s economic activity. Despite this, state workers are being thrust into the limelight over high salaries during tough economic times. Public workers salaries are often the subject of criticism from those that dislike the idea of government jobs.

The vote came after weeks of protest from Democrats in the statehouse involving walk outs and amendments designed to slow down or derail the bill. However, after several days of protest, the Democrats eventually conceded and allowed the vote to go forward. The vote in the Senate will happen sometime late next week after what is expected to be several more days of protest from the public and Democratic lawmakers alike.

Just under half of states are right-to-work states. After the 2010 elections brought in a swath of anti-union Governors, several states – most notably Wisconsin and Ohio passed measures to strip union rights. The measures resulted in significant public backlash including successful recall elections in Wisconsin and a new recall action against the Governor.

However, some Governors, specifically Rick Snyder of Michigan have said publically that they do not think pushing right-to-work is worth the fights seen in other states. Snyder has said that while he sides with those pushing legislation, he doesn’t think it makes sense to push at this juncture. Indiana, is home to some of the strongest union forces in the country and they are expected to use this time between votes to press hard on derailing the measure in the Senate.

The Network’s objectives include identifying and supporting key industry clusters statewide. Once these clusters are realized, they will work with business leaders to foster innovation, create and retain jobs. The Network will also offer job training programs to grow a workforce that is prepared to work in these new fields.

State officials also noted that the Network will be tasked with providing performance metrics that track its overall impact throughout Colorado.

Ajay Menon the state’s first Chief Innovation Officer, is leading COIN and will volunteer 20 hours a week for the state in addition to his full-time job as Dean of the College of Business at Colorado State University. COIN will initially be housed within the state’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade. Funding for COIN will come from private donors; no state money will be used.

“The Colorado Innovation Network is a roadmap for making Colorado the best state for innovation and where every road must lead to new jobs,” Hickenlooper said. “We’ll work statewide with industry leaders to build a business environment which promotes innovative practices, creates jobs and grows our economy.”