March 28, 2001

Sacramento Kings defeat New York Knickerbockers, 124-117; photo (M)

Senate hands decisive victory to supporters of overhaul of campaign finance law, comfortably defeating rival proposal that would have limited but not prohibited unregulated large donations to political parties; 60-to-40 vote to kill centerpiece of legislation sponsored by Sen Chuck Hagel reflects strong Senate sentiment to enact ban on unrestricted donations known as soft money that is at heart of legislation sponsored by Sens John McCain and Russell D Feingold; their legislation has been killed repeatedly in last five years by Republican-led filibusters and now faces new challenges, including question of whether quarter-century-old limits on regulated donations will be raised and by how much; two senators are also trying to fend off provision that would kill whole bill if Supreme Court found any part of it unconstitutional; photo (M)

Miami Heat player Alonzo Mourning, more than five months after his coach said he would not play this season because of career-threatening kidney ailment, returns to National Basketball Association game; photo (M)

Democrats Propose Giving $300 to Every Taxpayer Democrats introduced legislation in the Senate that would give all taxpayers a $300 rebate check this year and give most of them $150 more by withholding less money from their paychecks in the second half of the year. Some Democrats said this would relieve the pressure on them to vote for the tax-rate reduction over 10 years that President Bush favors. At the same time, the president's plan to abolish the estate tax suffered a serious blow. The congressional staff that puts the price tag on tax measures calculated repealing the tax on large estates would cost two and a half times what had been projected. [Page A16.]

Hyundai Engineering and Construction appears almost certain to fall into hands of creditors after its leading bank, government-controlled Korea Exchange Bank, says company lost 2.9 trillion won ($2.2 billion) in 2000, much worse than had been forecast; Financial Supervisory Service says an exchange of debt for equity is best way to save company (S)