FROM PRINTING INDUSTRIES OF AMERICA
Health care reform legislation advanced in the Senate early Monday morning as Senators voted on a strict party line vote of 60-40 to move to consideration of the latest iteration of Majority Leader Reid's comprehensive health care reform bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Known as the "manager's amendment," the new version of the bill was unveiled over the weekend and received a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score of $871 billion over 10 years. The all-important cloture vote makes the bill filibuster-proof and virtually assures it will be passed following two more procedural votes, the last of which is expected to occur on Christmas Eve.
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), the final and very public holdout on the Democratic side, announced his support of it on Saturday morning following concessions he extracted from his leadership on the issues of abortion funding, Medicaid, and other issues. Nelson's support clinched the necessary 60 votes for Reid's bill; he reserved the right to vote against the conference report on this legislation should it change dramatically following a House-Senate conference.
While Printing Industries of America is still reviewing details of the manager's amendments, topline changes from the base bill include no public option as originally introduced, an increase in payroll taxes, and additional taxes on medical device equipment manufacturers. Additional small business tax breaks and a lift of the $2,500 cap on Flexible Savings Accounts as well as indexing FSA contribution levels to inflation were also part of the amendment. No major changes to the employer mandate affecting printing companies was part of the latest version of the bill.
As was originally introduced, the employer mandate, known in the legislation as "Fair Share," imposes a series of mandates related to employers offering health insurance coverage. Specifically, the bill taxes employer plans with more than 50 workers that impose long "waiting periods" of over 30 days on coverage eligibility up to $600 per full-time employee.
The bill also taxes large employers who do not offer coverage-or who offer coverage that results in employees obtaining subsidies because that coverage costs more than 9.8 percent of modified gross income-to pay taxes. The penalty in the first instance is $750 per employee, and in the second instance constitutes $3,000 per employee receiving subsidies, or $750 per worker-whichever is less.
More detailed information regarding the updated bill will be made available in the next imPRINT. Assuming regular order is followed, the House and Senate will now conference the legislation to iron out the somewhat dramatic differences between legislation passed in both chambers. The issues of a public option (which the House bill contains) and language over abortion funding are expected to continue to be contentious sticking points in conference. Additionally, the House and Senate have different employer mandates; the House bill is much stricter in exemptions from the mandate and uses payroll rather than headcount to determine exemptions. However, as each chamber must approve the final legislation that emerges from the conference, the Senate version on many points of debate is expected to prevail.
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Printing Industries of America and NPES-The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies together wished Capitol Hill a very happy holiday. In a patriotic-themed holiday card, the associations, on behalf of "the tens of thousands of Americans employed in the printing and related supplier industries," wished every Senator and Representative a "happy holidays and a prosperous New Year in 2010." The holiday card noted it was an "environmentally friendly greeting card" and encouraged the receiver to recycle it again.
In a final year-end push, Printing Industries of America, as part of the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition, urged Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to pass permanent estate tax legislation that would have improved on the House-passed bill (passed in early December). The letter specifically urged a permanent reform that would increase the per-person exemption to $5 million and reduce the top estate tax rate to 35 percent. The letter noted opposition to short-term estate tax extensions of current law as family-owned printers and other small businesses need permanency in tax planning. Despite the request, Senate Democratic leaders requested GOP colleagues grant unanimous consent (or "UC") to grant a short-term extension (exactly the opposite of what the letter requested). The UC vote procedure is used on non-controversial issues and to pass legislation without extensive debate; one Senator can object to UC and prevent the process. Senate Republicans, already passionately unified in opposing Reid's health care bill, refused to grant UC on a temporary extension; thus, the estate tax actually expires temporarily in 2010 as scheduled. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) has announced he will move legislation in early 2010 to "bring back" the estate tax and make it retroactive so that the tax, in effect, would never actually go to zero. Tax experts anticipate the unexpected repeal and subsequent attempts to change it in Congress next year could result in significant litigation over whether or not the tax can be applied retroactively. Advocates of the Democratic approach say that because the tax would not be due until 2011, it would pass legal muster.
Rep. Deborah Halvorson (D-IL-11) introduced this week with no cosponsors HR 4311, a bill that extends bonus depreciation through 2010 and extends the use of AMT & R&D tax credits in lieu of claiming bonus depreciation. These provisions were in the 2008 stimulus law and the February 2009 stimulus law, referred to as ARRA. Notable is that the 6 percent cap on the use of AMT/R&D credits is not included in HR 4311. The contents of this Printing Industries-supported legislation may be attached to a Jobs bill expected to advance in Congress early in 2010. To view the legislative language, click HR 4311.
Last week Printing Industries, as part of the Government Withholding Relief Coalition, urged the U.S. House and Senate to include repeal of the 3 percent withholding law as part of a jobs bill. As you know, Section 511 of the Tax Reconciliation Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-222) mandates that federal, state, and local governments withhold 3 percent from payments for goods and services. This far-reaching requirement, inserted as a last-minute revenue raiser, applies to all payments starting in 2012. Printing Industries will continue efforts to include repeal language in a Jobs bill likely to be considered by Congress early next year.
Last week, the CPSC responded to Printing Industries' petition for an extension of the CPSIA's testing and certification requirements set to expire February 10, 2010. The Commission voted to extend the stay for one year, until February 10, 2011, and approved policy that allows component testing as a basis to demonstrate compliance with the new lead paint and lead content limits. In a statement, CPSC Chairman Tenenbaum noted, "I voted to extend the stay on lead content testing and certification until February 10, 2011, in order to allow component testing adequate time to develop and to give our stakeholders adequate notice of new requirements." The latest actions of the CPSC will allow the book printing, manufacturing, and publishing industries the necessary time to continue work with the Commission and its technical staff on additional exclusion determinations for certain component materials that are used to manufacture books and other printed-material children's products.
As part of an end-of-year action to address a variety of issues as part of the Department of Defense appropriations bill, Congress added provisions under the jobs umbrella. These included an extension of the COBRA subsidy from nine months to 15 months, an extension for the Small Business Administration (SBA) 90 percent guarantee rate for 7(a) loans, and continued waivers for SBA borrowers through the end of February 2010. The House and Senate expect to turn to comprehensive job solutions legislation in the New Year.
Printing Industries of America this week joined its partners in the Coalition for Workplace Safety to petition OSHA to extend the comment period for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would modify the Hazard Communication Standard to conform to the United Nations' Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of chemicals (GHS) published in the federal register on September 30. The current deadline for comment submissions is December 29. In its letter, industry argued that the proposed regulation "would implement a broad, sweeping new regulatory regime affecting a wide array of industries and millions of employers." The request emphasizes that with over 250 pages of regulatory notice to review, industry associations are still trying to accurately estimate how member companies will be affected and that OSHA would benefit from industry generating more detailed, substantive comments. A 60-day extension was requested.
Rep. Neil Abercrombie's (D) announced Friday that he will be resigning from Congress to pursue his 2010 bid for Governor. The ten-term congressman did not set a specific timetable for his resignation but indicated it would take place soon, prompting a special election. Rep. Abercrombie is Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces.
Rep. Parker Griffith, a freshman Democrat from Alabama, is expected to announce today that he's switching parties to become a Republican. Griffith's announcement comes on the eve of the controversial health care vote. The party switch represents a win for House Republican leadership, which had been courting Griffith since he publicly criticized Democratic leadership during town halls over the summer. He currently serves on the Science & Technology; Small Business; and Transportation & Infrastructure committees.
Rep. Bart Gordon (D) announced last week that he will not seek a 14th term next fall. Rep. Gordon's retirement announcement underscored what was already becoming clear: In 2010, no state will experience more congressional election action than Tennessee. Gordon is a Blue Dog Democrat and serves as Chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology and is a senior member on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) outraised its counterpart Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) for the sixth month this year by bringing in $3.3 million in November to the DSCC's $3 million, according to monthly fundraising reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
If you have a question about any of the issues above or other government affairs-related concerns please feel free to contact us at govtaffairs@printing.org or (202) 730-7970.
