01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, June 11, 2006

State's historic tax credit has friends, foes

The future of the state's historic tax credit -- a favorite of developers but a budget buster for fiscal conservatives -- is still up for debate at the State House, with heavy lobbying for its continuation.

Fifty-two organizations have banded together as the Coalition for Neighborhood and Economic Renewal to fight to keep the credit, one of the most generous in the country.

"This is an incentive that plays to one of Rhode Island's key strengths by capitalizing efficiently and dramatically on our impressive stock of historic buildings and neighborhoods," said Scott Wolf, coordinator of the coalition and executive director of Grow Smart.

The tax credit, up to 30 percent of the total value of the project, is estimated to cost the state $84.6 million this fiscal year and up to $260 million by 2011.

Earlier this year, Governor Carcieri and some legislators suggested cutting or curbing the size of the tax credit to help the state erase a sizeable budget deficit this year and next. But the proponents of the cutback seem to be quieter these days as the opponents have rallied.

Amgen will face competition from Bristol-Myers

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. picked Massachusetts over Rhode Island and two other states to manufacture Orencia, a drug for treating painful rheumatoid arthritis.

The market for treating rheumatoid arthritis has been dominated by the drug Enbrel, manufactured at the West Greenwich plant owned by Amgen, the California-based biotech company.

Amgen says it's not concerned with the new competitor.

Enbrel is used as a first line of treatment when patients are diagnosed with the condition, said Nurha Hindi, an Amgen spokeswoman. Orencia is being used to treat people who haven't responded to Enbrel or other first-line rheumatoid arthritis drugs.

Bristol-Myers doesn't expect Massachusetts' Orencia plant, to be built in Devens, to start producing the drug until 2011. Enbrel already has helped over 388,000 patients world-wide, said Hindi.

Acquisition of GTECH clears a hurdle

GTECH'S shareholders took another big step in the company's acquisition by Lottomatica SpA, the manager of one of Italy's national lotteries, by voting in big numbers last week for the deal expected to close later this month.

Meanwhile, Lottomatica said wagers on its Lotto game rose to $606 million in May, up 2 percent from May 2005.

Lottomatica, based in Rome, agreed to pay $4.65 billion to acquire GTECH to reduce its dependence on the Italian lottery and expand abroad. The GTECH purchase will give Lottomatica the largest share of the global lotteries business with 63 percent and operations in more than 50 countries. Lottomatica runs games such as Lotto, Totocalcio and Tris in Italy.

Nurses get a financial incentive copy

Ninety percent of all nursing school graduates had already lined up a job before graduation, according to several national studies. Nurses are in such short supply at area hospitals and health-care providers that some have created new incentives to lure them.

The Saint Elizabeth Community, a group of nursing homes, an assisted living center and a building that contains housing for the elderly, is trying to fill the gap by recruiting recent nursing school grads with this pitch: we'll make the monthly college loan payments for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who have graduated from an accredited nursing program.

"With this loan repayment offer and other generous benefits, we are providing another reason for potential employees to give us a second look," said Steven J. Horowitz, president and chief executive officer.

To be eligible for the loan repayment offer, nurses must work a minimum of 20 hours per week and completed 90 days of employment. Saint Elizabeth Community will pay up to $200 per month for full-time employees and will prorate the reimbursement for part-time employees. Checks are cut to the lending agency and will be made for the duration of employment.

Ohio facing workers' comp scandal

Rhode Island isn't the only state with trouble in its workers' compensation system.

Terrence Gasper, a former senior official at Ohio's $15-billion insurance fund for injured workers, pleaded guilty to federal and state charges last week, admitting he took bribes.

Gasper, 59, acknowledged in the federal case that he accepted tuition for his son and stays at a Florida condominium in exchange for business deals with the bureau's $15 billion investment fund. He also said he accepted $25,000 from a dealer who handled the agency's troubled investment in rare coins.

The investigation has shaken the state's Republican-dominated government and led to the ouster of the bureau's administrator, the firing of its chief investment officer and an overhaul of the fund's investment operations.

After the bell . . .

. . . Former Republican Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, 60, quit the New York governor's race last week.

. . . Former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, 80, picked a Fortune magazine veteran, Peter Petre, to help write his memoirs, for which Greenspan will be paid a reported $8.5 million.

. . . Rest in peace former Cranston City Council President Peter T. Pastore Jr., the honorable banker and public official who served all his constituencies well. He was 47.

With reports from Journal staffer Andrea Stape and Bloomberg News.

John Kostrzewa is the Journal's business editor. Share an anecdote or quip from the world of business and finance by sending it to pjbiz@projo.com