Washington Watch
January 2008
- Welcome to Washington
Watch
- State Chamber/AIA Forms National Issues
Committee
- Make Plans Now for Washington Fly-In
- Congress Returns From Holiday
Break
- National Health-Care Reform Report Issued
- Consumer Product Safety Commission Update
- Highway Study Results Released
- Free Trade Agreements
- R&D Tax Credit Update
- Energy Legislation Signed Into Law
- 2007 Farm Bill Awaits Conference
- Instructions for Opting Out of Washington Watch
Welcome to
Washington
Watch
Welcome to the first Washington Watch, a new monthly
e-newsletter from the State Chamber/AIA that will focus on national
issues. We hope you will enjoy this new communication tool and find it
useful and informative. If you have not already done so, please add asccaia@arkansasstatechamber.com to your e-mail contacts or mark it as a “Safe Sender” to
ensure that your Washington
Watch isn't sent to a “Junk Mail” or “Spam” folder.
State Chamber/AIA Forms
National Issues Committee
The State
Chamber/AIA has formed a new National Issues Committee to review and
prioritize issues that we will address on the federal level as we develop
a national agenda. The committee will hold its first meeting at 1:30 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 24, in the Bob Lamb Conference Room of the State
Chamber/AIA Building in
Little
Rock
.
Ray
Bracy, senior vice president for corporate affairs at Wal-Mart Stores,
Inc., has agreed to serve as chairman of this committee. Some of the
issues we expect the committee to help us consider include labor
relations, immigration, taxes, tort reform, global economics, energy,
health care, transportation and infrastructure, and human
resources.
If you
have an interest in national issues and how they affect your company,
please consider becoming a part of this group and make plans to
participate in the first meeting. Let us know by contacting
Deb Mathis
at 501-210-4212 or dmathis@arkansasstatechamber.com.
Make Plans Now for
Washington
Fly-In
The State Chamber/AIA’s annual
Washington Fly-In and Congressional Dinner is scheduled for April
26-29.
This governmental affairs
activity provides an excellent opportunity for productive contact with
members of our congressional delegation and their staffs. We meet and
greet our senators and representatives at their offices, at luncheons and
at the reception and dinner on Monday evening, April
28.
The Crystal Gateway Marriott
Hotel in
Room reservations at the
Crystal Gateway may be made by calling 703-920-3230 or 1-800-228-9290. We
have an excellent rate of $195 (single or double). Be sure to mention the
special rate and that you are with the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce
group when calling. The deadline to make hotel reservations is on or
before April 3.
Registration
materials will be sent soon and posted on our Web site.
Congress Returns From
Holiday
Break
The U.S.
House of Representatives resumed floor session at noon Tuesday, Jan. 15.
The Senate continues its series of pro forma sessions, and reconvened
today. President Bush will deliver the State of the Union Address
before a joint session of Congress on Monday, Jan. 28.
National Health-Care Reform
Report Issued
By 2012, if trends persist,
the number of uninsured will climb by 7 million and the costs businesses
pay for benefits will rise by 55 percent, according to a report released
by the Better Health Care Together coalition.
“Health-Cost Crossroad: Why
American Businesses Urgently Need Health System Reform” was released
during the first Better Health Care Together regional discussion on
national health-care reform, which was hosted by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.,
and held recently at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. The
report also included a “Spotlight on
Better Health Care Together is
a partnership of organizations launched in February 2007 dedicated to a
set of four principles for achieving a new American health-care system by
2012. The principles are:
· Every person in
· Individuals have a
responsibility to maintain and protect their
health;
·
· Businesses, governments and
individuals all should contribute to managing and financing a new American
health-care system.
The coalition is comprised of
AT&T, the Howard H. Baker, Jr., Center for Public Policy, the Center
for American Progress, the Committee for Economic Development, the
Communications Workers of America, Embarq Corporation, General Mills,
Inc., Intel, Kelly Services, Manpower, Inc., Qwest Communications
International, the Service Employees International Union and Wal-Mart
Stores, Inc. More information on the coalition and a full copy of the
report can be found at www.betterhealthcaretogether.org.
Consumer Product Safety
Commission Update
Two bills
are pending in Congress regarding the Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC). The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4040, the
Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act on Dec. 19, 2007. The bill
would increase the CPSC’s funding to $100 million by 2011 and provide the
CPSC with $20 million to update its testing lab. In addition to
increased funding, the legislation would provide the CPSC with additional
authority, including the power to stop the distribution of products that
pose an imminent risk of severe injury or death. Other provisions
reduce the levels of lead allowed in children’s products and mandate
additional testing of toys by third party laboratories. In addition,
the bill would increase the maximum civil penalties the CPSC could impose
up to $10 million (previously $1.25 million).
The Senate’s version, S. 2045,
the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act, was approved by the
Senate Commerce Committee in October. The Senate bill includes
provisions that concern industry groups including: the authorization of
states’ attorneys general to sue companies for violating federal product
safety laws, providing whistleblower protections, and giving
whistleblowers a cut of the civil penalties imposed on companies.
Industry representatives fear this provision could lead to erroneous
claims filed against businesses. Negotiations on language in the
Senate bill continued up to the Senate’s adjournment but did not result in
a final compromise.
Highway Study Results
Released
The National
Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission recently
released the results of a two-year study recommending broad
transformations to the nation’s transportation infrastructures and
significant tax increases to pay for the upgrades.
Included in the
panel’s suggestions are a call to reduce traffic fatalities by repairing
or replacing aging bridges and roads, as well as urging states to utilize
new strategies to improve safety; to ease traffic congestion by expanding
state and local public transit systems, as well as expanding highway
capacity; and to protect the environment through the use of enhanced
traffic flow, by encouraging carpooling and public transit and by reducing
carbon dioxide emissions.
Estimates place
the nation’s funding needs at more than $200 billion per year for the next
50 years. In order to meet those needs, nine of the 12 commissioners
recommend raising the federal gasoline tax by up to 40 cents per gallon,
at a rate of 5 to 8 cents per year and then indexed to inflation
thereafter. The current rate of 18.4 cents per gallon for unleaded
gas and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel has not been raised since
1993. In addition, the panel suggests additional fees on bus fares,
train tickets and cargo; expanded use of toll roads; and congestion
pricing in metropolitan areas of a million or more people. The three
dissenting commissioners, including Transportation Secretary Mary Peters,
oppose increasing the gasoline tax, instead favoring an increased use of
toll roads and private investment.
Congress created
the commission in 2005 to study the future needs of the nation’s
transportation system. A piece of the commission’s charge was to
recommend funding options. In addition to the nation’s highway and
bridge system, the report also examines other components of the country’s
transportation infrastructure including the freight rail lines, ports and
mass transit systems. Additional information about the commission
and the commission’s full report are available at http://www.transportationfortomorrow.org/.
Free Trade
Agreements
President Bush signed the
U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement into law on Dec. 14, 2007. The
pact will eliminate tariffs on 80 percent of
Following the success of the
Peru Trade Agreement, the Bush Administration plans to push for approval
of three pending trade agreements. U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos
Gutierrez said pending accords with
R&D Tax Credit
Update
Dec.
31st marked the 13th time that Congress has allowed
the R&D tax credit to expire since its enactment in 1981.
Legislators on both sides of the aisle insist the credit will again be
extended; when remains to be the question. Previously Congress
waited almost a year before acting, making the tax credit retroactive as
well as extending it for an additional year. The R&D tax credit
covers 20 percent of qualified R&D spending.
Energy Legislation Signed Into
Law
President
Bush signed “The Energy Independence and Security Act” on Dec. 19, 2007,
during a ceremony at the Department of Energy. The hotly debated
bill received much attention from the President, both houses of Congress
and many special interest groups before an agreement was struck.
The final
version of the bill includes:
- A provision to
raise corporate average
fuel economy standards (CAFE) for cars and light trucks – including SUVs
– to an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. This is a
roughly 40 percent increase, and is the first higher fuel economy
standard for light cars and trucks set by law in 32
years.
- A mandate to
produce 36 billion gallons annually of ethanol and other bio-fuels by
2022, a massive increase over current production. Twenty-one billion of
these gallons would come from sources other than traditional corn
ethanol.
- Multiple major
conservation measures – including the phase-out of incandescent light
bulbs over the next four to six years, and stronger household appliance
and government building efficiency standards.
- New Federal
Trade Commission penalties for oil market
manipulation.
- Training
programs for "green jobs" in the renewable energy and energy efficiency
sector.
- Research and
development provisions for carbon capture and
storage.
The legislation is not without
its critics. Many of the bill’s detractors believe it will
ultimately make cars and trucks less safe and more expensive because
rather than spending money on developing improved safety measures, car
manufactures will now be forced to spend money on improving
fuel-efficiency. Other critics have expressed concerns that the bill
will divert farmland to the production of feedstock for ethanol and other
synthetic fuels, raising the price of food. Despite this, the bill
received broad support, passing the Senate by a vote of 86-8 and the House
of Representatives 314-100.
2007 Farm Bill Awaits
Conference
Following passage of separate
bills by the House and Senate, the 2007 farm bill awaits
conference.
The House passed its version
(H.R. 2419) on July 27, followed by the Senate version (S. 2303) on Dec.
14. Conference negotiations between the House and Senate are anticipated
to begin at the end of January. It remains to be seen if conferees can
produce a new bill before the short-term extension expires on March
15.
Both versions include changes
to the commodity support and risk management policies and programs, as
well as provisions affecting conservation, bio-energy, rural development,
forestry, agricultural research, competition, trade and food aid,
agriculture credit, and domestic food programs and nutrition. The House
and Senate bills also contain provisions that would make certain changes
to tax laws, which are intended to offset new spending initiatives in the
bill.
The largest controversies
continue to be financing new spending and payment limit and adjusted gross
income (AGI) reform.
Instructions for Opting Out of
Washington
Watch
If you would prefer not to
receive Washington Watch,
please e-mail dmathis@arkansasstatechamber.com (
