Senior Hill Democrat Offers Tax-Cut Plan (washingtonpost.com)

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the outgoing chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, proposed giving $75 billion in block grants to cash-strapped state governments, handing consumers a one-time $300 income tax cut, providing a $4 billion infusion of highway construction funds, and offering businesses $16 billion in new incentives to invest in plants and equipment.

The White House is expected to propose a much larger, $300 billion package of tax cuts early next year, including a significant cut in the taxation of stock dividends, more generous incentives for business investment, an acceleration of income tax cuts scheduled for 2004 and perhaps a variety of incentives for retirement savings.