Top 10 Government & Public Sector Headlines from All Regions 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. In a culture where gossip is news, where questions are met with indignation instead of answers, and where, by law, the Ministers' definition of "public good" cannot be questioned, facts and fiction are readily and frequently intermingled in the Government's announcements and news releases. A report on the partial suspension of the constitution ofthe Turks and Caicos Islands, a British overseas territory, and theprovisions in their place for the interim governance of the Islandsby the Governor. 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. Last week the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill completed its passage through the House of Commons. 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. The UK government has made a dramatic U-turn on proposed measures to tackle Internet pirates who illegally download films and music from the net. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has published its long awaited preliminary guidance on the application of the public procurement rules to development agreements between public bodies and developers. | 
