ND1031111

Title: Washington Report: Waiting Game on Debt Committee and Health Care

Description: While Congress waits to see what Republicans or Democrats are going to use as financial offsets, every committee is waiting to see where the chips fall.

Page Content: Week Ahead

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Congress

With tensions mounting over whether the Debt Limit Super Committee can agree on a bill by the November 23 deadline, final legislation is at a standstill. No one knows what the Republicans or Democrats are going to use as financial offsets, so every committee is waiting to see where the chips fall.

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Health Care

The Supreme Court will meet on November 10 to decide whether it will hear challenges to the health-care law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). There are five cases that challenge the constitutionality of the individual mandate provisions. NACS has long advocated that the law is not just bad policy, but that it is financially unsound for small businesses. The Supreme Court will consider whether to hear any of the five cases, and if it does, how to merge the issues among the five lawsuits.

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It?s expected the Court will take up the suit filed by NFIB and 26 states. A decision from the Supreme Court could come as early as November 14.

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Week in Review

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House Passes Repeal of 3 Percent Withholding Law
On October 27, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would repeal a requirement that government agencies withhold federal taxes from payments to contractors.�Many NACS members have contracts with local government agencies to fuel their vehicles and may be subject to this withholding requirement.�By a vote of 405-16, the measure (H.R. 674), offered by Wally Herger (R-CA), would repeal the law (P.L. 109-222) that requires the federal government, as well as state and local governments, to withhold 3 percent of most payments made to government contractors. That rule is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2013.

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Repealing the measure would cost taxpayers roughly $11 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.�To account for that lost revenue, the House also passed a separate measure (H.R. 2576) that would require people to include Social Security benefits as part of their income when determining if they are eligible for certain health-care programs slated to go into effect in 2014.

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The repeal measure could be brought up in the Senate for a vote as early as next week.�However, despite support from Senate Democrats, the biggest question now is whether leaders in the Senate will agree to the House method of paying for the repeal.

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House Committee Passes Bill to Limit NLRB
House Committee on Education and Workforce passed legislation on October 26 to block a proposed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rule change to speed up union representation elections, continuing House Republicans efforts to curb the NLRB?s authority.

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The Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act (H.R. 3094), introduced earlier this month by Rep. John Kline, would strike down multiple NLRB rulings, most prominently one on the timing of union elections. The full committee approved the measure along party lines by a vote of 23-16 and is expected to go to the House floor for a vote sometime later this year. The prospect for passage in the Democratic-led Senate is poor.

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NACS expressed support for the legislation, sending a letter to the committee chairman and calling on the House of Representatives to move the bill forward: ?NACS has long been united in its opposition against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and EFCA alternatives that pose a threat to workers, businesses and the U.S. economy.�Although enactment of EFCA does not seem imminent, political powerful labor unions, other EFCA supporters, and their allies in government are not backing down.�Having failed to achieve their goals through legislation, they are now pursing administrative rulings and regulations that will undermine the rights of employees and employers.?

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Roll Your Own Tobacco (RYO)

NACS has stated publicly that Congress should require, as of a date certain, that all production of RYO products made with pipe tobacco be taxed at equal rates as traditionally packaged cigarettes (and RYO products made with cigarette tobacco). To avoid unfairly penalizing business owners who invested in RYO machines, NACS believes there should be no retroactive taxes on product previously produced and sold (as there was no clear guidance in place).� Because the lawsuit under consideration in the Sixth Circuit will take many months, if not years, before reaching a conclusion, NACS is working with Congress on legislation that will provide market certainty.� NACS is not advocating increasing the excise tax on any legally sold tobacco.

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Online Lottery

The House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade held an issue hearing on October 25 on legalizing online gaming. Although one subcommittee member only briefly mentioned lottery, NACS is strongly advocating that under no circumstances should lottery tickets be sold online.

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Access to Capitol

Last week the House Small Business Committee hearing, ?Oversight of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Financing Programs,? applauded the SBA?s 2011 performance and thanked Chairman Graves for his committee?s work on boosting access to credit for small businesses and ensuring government regulations are not holding back lending and job creation.

NACS has organized a coalition with several other associations in an effort to remove the red tape, escrow holding time and constantly changing ?criteria? that is traditionally related to 7(a) loans. As the process moves forward, contact Corey Fitze if you?re interested in learning more about the coalition or if you have a personal story you can tell about working with the SBA.

We continue to hear from small business lenders across the country that the pendulum has swung too far and regulators are inconsistently evaluating small business loans, thereby holding back credit and stifling job creation.

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Other News

• High Court to Consider Hearing Health-Care Reform Challenge
  On Nov. 10, the U.S. Supreme Court will meet to decide whether the health-care reform lawsuits will make the court?s docket.
• EPA Releases 414-Page Proposed Rule to Revise UST Regulations
  Among the contents, EPA is proposing to improve prevention and detection of UST releases and increase emphasis proper tank maintenance.
• California Adopts Nation?s First Cap-and-Trade Program
  The California Air Resources Board unanimously approved greenhouse gas regulations that seek to reduce pollution and address climate change.

Content Subject: Government Relations

Formatted Article Date: October 31, 2011

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