President Obama returned from his international tour and went to work quickly this week, turning up the heat on the Democratic Congressional leadership to step up the pace and intensity needed to pass comprehensive health care reform before the August recess. In a statement this week, President Obama urged Congress and his fellow Democrats to "buck up" and move the legislation in the next few weeks. The President met personally with various groups of lawmakers this week, including the Blue Dog Democrats and a handful of Republican Senators, to urge a path forward. From a political perspective, allowing passage to slip until after the August recess would slow momentum for President Obama's plan as lawmakers would be susceptible to pressure from constituents and other stakeholders who may oppose the measure. Republican leaders have called the August deadline "arbitrary," have accused it of increasing government spending and bureaucracy and hurting small business, and urge a more deliberative process.

The Senate this week took a step forward in the chamber's effort to pass health care reform as the Senate HELP panel passed the Affordable Health Choices Act out of committee by a strict party line vote of 13-10. An emotional statement from Sen. Kennedy (D-MA) invoking the memory of President Kennedy and Sen. Robert Kennedy was read prior to passage; Sen. Kennedy was too ill to be present for the committee vote. The legislation included an employer mandate to provide health insurance, though in a less restrictive form than the companion bill in the House (see below). The Senate is taking a two-pronged approach to its passage of health care reform, giving equal weight to the HELP Committee bill and the Finance Committee bill. The Kennedy bill addresses the subject of specific reforms and is considered the more partisan of the two. The Finance Committee bill, which Chairman Baucus (D-MT) is seeking to draft with bipartisan support from Ranking Member Grassley (R-IA), addresses the tax implications and how to "pay for" a new government health plan. President Obama and Majority Leader Reid are urging Baucus to move more quickly in order to meet the August deadline. However, at the time of today's publishing, the Finance Committee still had not released its legislation. Reid intends to marry the HELP Committee and Finance Committee bills into one legislative vehicle that would receive a vote on the Senate floor.

Upon introduction of H.R. 3200, Printing Industries of America immediately came out in opposition to key provisions of the bill, including a "pay or play" mandate that employers offer health insurance to workers or pay a penalty of up to 8 percent of payroll. Other major concerns about the House bill include the unworkable, restrictive provisions purportedly seeking to relieve small printers from the current affordability and access problems they face in providing health care. For example, under H.R. 3200, the small business exclusion from the employer mandate would only exempt firms with less than $250,000 payroll (equivalent to a four-person print shop). Also at issue is a surcharge on taxpayers, including many small businesses, paying over $350,000 at the individual rate. View additional concerns here . The bill does not include provisions previously advocated by Printing Industries of America, such as Small Business Health Plans, HSA expansion, and the like. The debate is expected to be highly contentious and virtually no GOP members are expected to support the bill-in part because very few if any GOP amendments to modify H.R. 3200 are expected to be adopted. The main legislative battle in the House is between the more conservative factions of the Democratic caucus, namely the Blue Dog Coalition and, to some extent, the New Democratic Coalition, and the Democratic House leadership and committee chairmen who authored H.R. 3200. In the end, Speaker Pelosi is expected to garner the majority support of her caucus needed to pass this legislation. From a procedural standpoint, the three committees will complete markups on the bill and the final legislative product will go to the House floor for a full vote. The House is expected to deliver on its commitment to pass the bill prior to the August recess, as requested by President Obama.

Last week, the House Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and Technology held a hearing that highlighted the importance of the Research and Experimentation Credit (also known as the R&D tax credit) for small business. The hearing, "Helping Small Business Innovators through the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit," provided the opportunity for entrepreneurs from various industries to raise awareness as to why Congress should strengthen and permanently extend the credit. On behalf of printing companies and supplier companies that take advantage of the tax credit, Printing Industries applauded the committee leadership for holding the hearing. Printing Industries supports H.R. 422-legislation introduced by Reps. Meek (D-FL) and Brady (R-TX)-which extends the traditional credit through 2010, increases the Alternative Simplified Credit (ASC) from 14 to 20 percent, and permanently extends the ASC. As you know, the credit is scheduled to expire December 31, 2009 and has frequently lapsed. A multi-year extension of a strengthened credit would allow companies to factor the full benefits of the R&D credit into their budgets, maintain and create U.S. jobs, and prevent reporting issues commonly caused by temporary lapses.

As reported previously in May, a 1-1 vote by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) denied a petition requested by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) calling for an emergency one-year stay of enforcement from the new tracking label mandate contained in the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). The labeling requirements are set to take effect August 14, 2009. With the confirmation of Chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum last month, the CPSC now has three members-a permanent quorum-and can make a final judgment on this request. Hence, the petition was resubmitted by industry on July 1. "Delaying the enforcement of the tracking label provisions would provide all product safety stakeholders the time to develop and implement this provision without any adverse impact on product safety or public health," the petition noted. "In fact, such a delay would enable the Commission to strengthen the product safety system by ensuring a smooth and orderly implementation of this provision." In April, Printing Industries submitted comments to the CPSC regarding the implementation of the tracking label requirements for ordinary books and other printed material. The CPSC is expected to consider the petition requesting a stay and/or issue guidance in advance of the August 14 implementation deadline. Visit www.printing.org/cpsia for updates and more information on the CPSIA.

Last week, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Affairs passed H.R. 22 out of committee on a non-controversial voice vote. The next step is passage by the full House. H.R. 22 would address short-term relief from pre-funding retiree health care and retirement payments the USPS is obligated to make. While the bill is fairly non controversial in the House, the Senate is displaying more in-depth concern over the long-term problems facing the USPS and a wider range of solutions to address the problems. No companion bill is currently in the Senate.

Senator Roland Burris (D) announced last Friday, July 10, he will not seek election to a full term in 2010. Rep. Mark Kirk (R) is expected to announce his Senate candidacy next week. 

California Board of Equalization Vice-Chairwoman Judy Chu (D) was elected July 14 to replace former Rep. Hilda Solis (D) who resigned from her seat to become Secretary of Labor on Feb 24. Rep. Judy Chu (D) is the first Chinese-American woman elected to Congress.