Top 10 Government & Public Sector Headlines from North America The Obama administration continues to tout the performance of the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009," signed into law February 17, 2009 and commonly called the "Stimulus Bill" (Public Law 111-5). The November Visa Bulletin—issued by the U.S. Department of State—continues a positive trend started in October, which made visas available for individuals with older priority dates in the Employment-Based Third Preference (EB-3) category following five months of visa unavailability and priority date retrogression. Congress has resurrected a prior Stimulus Act proposal allowing most taxpayers, not just small businesses, to extend the NOL carryback period under section 172 for up to five years for 2008 and 2009 NOLs. As presaged by its actions at the end of 2008, the California Legislature in 2009 was justifiably preoccupied with the State's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. On October 7, 2009, the Department of Energy ("DOE") announced that it will provide up to $750 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("Recovery Act") to help accelerate the development and financing of certain renewable energy generation projects. The Bangkok talks resulted in minimal progress toward a successful post-Kyoto agreement in Copenhagen . . . In the October 11 New York Times, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) suggested that the magic formula for Senate passage of a climate bill has five ingredients. This year has seen several significant developments related to the "Investment Canada Act" (the Act). These include the enhancement of the enforcement powers of the Minister of Industry (the Minister) and the expansion of the Minister's power to now also review transactions on the grounds they may be injurious to Canada's national security. Much of the current debate surrounding health care reform has focused on entitlements and the mechanisms for paying for them. The half page co-authored by Sen. Kerry in last week’s New York Times threatens to eclipse the 821 pages he co-authored with Chairman Boxer . . . Sen. Graham is doing the rounds in his new role as climate centrist, meeting with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Pew Center Business Environmental Leadership Council . . . Under “Beneficial National Bank v. Andersen”, 539 U.S. 1 (2003), the test for determining whether a state law is “completely preempted” by federal law, and thus whether lawsuits brought under that state law are removable to federal court under 28 U.S.C. § 1441, is whether the federal law “provide[s] the exclusive cause of action for the claim asserted.”539 U.S. at 8. | 
