State of the Union speech offers plenty of financial-news fodder

Business journalists may want to take some time today to line up sources and story angles out of tonight’s State of the Union address by President Obama.

Sure, it’s primarily the purview of political writers and news desk denizens.  But with echoes of “It’s the economy, stupid!” echoing around advance reports of this year’s speech, you’ll find plenty of biz news fodder as well.

Without a crystal ball, you can’t sketch out a story until late this evening.  But if you put in a little time digging up background and lining up sources for reaction, you can get a quick story up on your news organization’s Web site tonight, and flesh it out tomorrow for a broader take for online, broadcast or print.

The speech likely will end around 10:30 EST; not too late to call sources with prearrangement.  Here are some angles to consider:

Health care. Presumably President Obama will address the stalled health care bill and his plans for getting it moving again.  Brush off your last update from December, check in with sources for any recent scuttlebutt and line up health system CEOs, health care providers and consumers for fresh comments tonight.

Child care.  A number of tax credits are expected to be in the bill, including enhanced child tax credits and child care credits.  You might check around today with parents, early-childhood advocates (via your state’s public health or education department, or advocacy groups like the Birth to Five Policy Alliance) about the recession’s effect on child care for young children and what an extra tax break might translate to in terms of pocketbook issues and children’s well-being.  Many states have had to cut funds for early childhood programs from this year’s budget, yanking grants and reducing choices for poor families.  The National Conference of State Legislators tracks state spending on various child care programs, for example.

Student loans. Another reported initiative in President Obama’s speech involves a curb on student loan payments, tied to the borrower’s income level.  Relief from onerous payments could be a boon for many cash-strapped borrowers; not sure how lenders will be affected, however.  It depends on how far-reaching the new rules might be.You might want to check with area lenders for background edification.  FinAid.org, a student loan information site, offers an excellent round-up of lenders who have exited the student loan business or made changes to their programs; these lenders no doubt hold older accounts whose repayment terms might be affected.

Financial institutions. Some reports suggest that President Obama wants to push ahead with rules that would curb the growth of “too big to fail” financial institutions, perhaps reinstating or at least echoing the Glass-Steagall provisions that were put in place after Depression-era bank failures.  Here’s a quick primer on the evolution of Glass-Steagall up to its repeal in the 1990s.  Removing those barriers allowed banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies and the like to mingle and — some say — expose depositors to risks that Glass-Steagall had aimed to prevent.  To report this story you’ll want to spend today tracking down venerable banking industry observers, from academia as well as industry.  If you’re in a territory that’s experienced regional bank failures, and any of them can be tied to investment or insurance risk, the Obama proposal will be even more relevant.

Other themes to look out for of course include jobs, housing and aid to small businesses.