U.S. Rep.

Jason Altmire, D-4th, introduced legislation that seeks tax relief for active duty military service members and to help small businesses address the transitional issues imposed when these valued employees are called to service.The Active Duty Military Tax Relief Act of 2007 would:n Provide a tax credit to small businesses (100 employees or less) to encourage them to pay an employee called up for active duty for any loss in wages they may experience due to their service;• Offer a tax credit to small businesses to help pay for the cost of hiring and training a temporary employee who fills a vacancy left by Guardsmen or Reservists called up for active duty;• Grant a tax credit to self-employed individuals who are called for active duty to cover the loss in income that they may experience while serving;• Allow survivors of soldiers killed in the line of duty to contribute any amount of the Military Death Gratuity ($100,000) to tax favored accounts, such as Roth IRAs, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, and Health Savings Accounts;• Increase the standard deduction for active duty military personnel for 2007 and 2008 by $1,000 to $6,350 for an individual and $11,700 for a married couple;• Allow active duty military personnel to treat combat pay as earned income for the purposes of computing the earned income tax; and,• Permit a service member called to active duty for a period of 179 days or more to make penalty-free withdrawals from their retirement plan.———U.S. Rep.

Phil English, R-3rd, is pushing a new proposal that would provide more relief for working families with children.The Family Tax Relief Act would expand and make permanent the Child Tax Credit, according to English, a senior member on the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over the legislation.Originally enacted in 1997, the Child Tax Credit was created to address concerns that the income tax structure did not adequately reflect a family's reduced ability to pay taxes as a result of the costs associated with a larger family.The Family Tax Relief Act would make the current-law permanent, including the doubling of the credit's value to $1,000 and refundability for families with less than three children.In addition, the English bill would increase the value of the credit to $1,200."As the cost of raising a family continues to rise, Congress ought to move to adopt policies that help, not hurt, America's working families," English said. "My legislation is going to build upon the successes of the child tax credit and help working moms and dads tackle the additional costs affiliated with raising children."———A provision authored by U.S. Sen.

Bob Casey, D-Pa., that would help create a workforce for new so-called "green jobs," has been added to a global warming reduction bill introduced Thursday by Sens. Joe

Lieberman, D-Conn., and

John Warner, R-Va.Casey's proposal would provide worker training and other assistance to ease the transition as the United States seeks to reduce global warming pollution."I come from a state with a lot of coal and a lot of manufacturing," Casey said. "The future of Pennsylvania and of my constituents is closely linked to the future of both of these industries."We have a moral obligation to slow, stop and reverse our contribution to global warming, but I am also optimistic that we can do this in a way that protects workers and creates new manufacturing jobs."The Climate Change Worker Assistance Program, he said, would act as a bridge between the creation of a climate program and the new manufacturing jobs that will result.The program would help to provide worker training to give workers skills needed for new industry that would be created to help meet pollution reduction goals.Additionally, the program would also provide temporary health care and income assistance to workers who lose their jobs because of manufacturing continuing to move overseas to countries that have little or no environmental standards.