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Dan Pilcher CACI Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
E-Mail: dpilcher@COchamber.com
Friday, April 29, 2011
U.S. Chamber’s Labor Expert Warns of NLRB Tilt to Organized Labor
On Wednesday, Glenn Spencer, Executive Director of the Workforce Freedom Initiative Agenda of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, warned the CACI Labor and Employment Council that the federal National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is tilting in way that will further the national agenda of unions.
Unions have been stalemated with their advocacy in 2009-2010 of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), commonly known in the business community as “card check,” because of Republican control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the new Congress.
Because it cannot achieve its goals through legislative means, Spencer said, organized labor has turned to the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government to further its agenda through regulatory avenues.
Unions are faced with declining membership as a percentage of the nation’s total workforce (35 percent in the 1950s but down to 12 percent in 2009) and large, unfunded pension-fund liabilities. Consequently, they are seeking to increase their membership by making it easier to organize the workplace but harder for employers to resist organizing drives, Spencer said.
Union members constitute only 7.2 percent of the private-sector labor force but more than 37 percent of the public-sector workforce. And last year, for the first time, public-sector unions accounted for a majority (52 percent) of the unionized workforce, Spencer said.
Specifically, organized labor is promoting its agenda in the following ways, Spencer explained: · Presidential Executive Orders, · An activist NLRB, · DOL crackdown on employers, and · Increased DOL enforcement against employers.
For more information on the union strategy and to learn what employers can do to resist, visit the Website of the Workforce Freedom Initiative.
Business reporter Greg Griffin of The Denver Post covered the presentation by Glenn and his story appeared in yesterday’s edition of the Post.
The Initiative was created by the U.S. Chamber’s grassroots mobilization and advocacy campaign to counter organized labor’s effort to persuade Congress to pass EFCA as well as other union priorities. CACI actively worked with the U.S. Chamber on this campaign in 2009 and 2010, sending two delegations to Washington, D.C., to lobby the Colorado Congressional delegation to oppose EFCA.
The U.S. Chamber’s Initiative is a multi-million dollar effort to preserve democracy in the workplace, restrain abusive union pension fund activism and block the anti-competitive agenda advocated by many labor unions. Prior to joining the U.S. Chamber in 2007, Spencer worked for Citizens for a Sound Economy and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Senate Committee Hearing Set Monday for Unemployment Insurance Bill
The Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee is scheduled to hear HB-1288 when it meets Monday, May 2nd, at 1:30 p.m. in Senate Committee Room 354. The proposal addresses the insolvency of the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund (UITF). The Fund now owes about $530 million to the Federal Government.
This bill is notable in that not one vote was intentionally cast against it in the House. The bipartisan bill was unanimously approved by the House Economic and Business Development Committee on March 31st and by the House Appropriations Committee on April 8th.
On the House Floor, however, on final, Third Reading vote, which is recorded, all members present voted for the bill--with one exception: Representative David Balmer (R-Centennial) voted against the bill but later told The Denver Business Journal that he had accidentally hit the wrong button on his voting machine.
Loren Furman, CACI Vice President of Governmental Affairs, testified in support of the bill before the House Economic and Business Development Committee.
The Senate sponsor of HB-1288 is Senate Majority Leader John Morse (D-Colorado Springs. The bill’s prime co-sponsors in the House are Representative Larry Liston (R-Colorado Springs) and Representative Dan Pabon (D-Denver).
The primary goals of HB-1288 are two-fold:
1. Repay the Federal loan before federally mandated penalties against Colorado federal UI rates (FUTA) begin and rebuild a necessary fund balance before the next economic down-turn without harming employers’ ability to recover from the recent recession and increase jobs.
2. Construct a new UITF rate chart that reflects and grows with the size of the Colorado economy to provide adequate Fund reserves, that has less volatility and is simpler to administer, and reflects sound pooled-insurance principles for shared risk and non-charged benefits.
The bill is the result of a task force, convened last year by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) that worked for many months to study the problems of the UI system and develop recommendations for legislation. The members of the taskforce include CACI, the Colorado Competitive Council, NFIB, AFL-CIO, The Fiscal Policy Institute and CDLE staff.
For more information on HB-1288, contact Loren at 303.866.9642 or via e-mail.
Senate Finance Committee Passes Bill to Reinstate Software Tax Exemption
Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved HB-1293, and the next stop for the bill will be the Senate Appropriations Committee.
CACI Governmental Affairs Vice President Loren Furman testified in support of the bill.
The Senate co-sponsors of HB-1293 are Senator Cheri Jahn (D-Wheat Ridge) and Senator Linda Newell (D-Littleton). The House sponsors are Representative Amy Stephens (R- Monument), the House Majority Leader, and Representative Carole Murray (R-Castle Rock).
HB-1293 repeals last year’s HB-1192, which expanded the taxation of software. HB-1192, which became effective February 24, 2010, was one of the so-called “Dirty Dozen” bills that eliminated or suspended various business tax credits, exemptions and exclusions. CACI vigorously opposed a number of these bills that were important to the broad, statewide business community.
HB-1192 imposed the state sales-and-use tax on “standardized software,” which
means software that is either downloaded or installed. The Colorado Department
of Revenue’s Regulation 7--which the CACI Tax Council had advocated--had
excluded standardized software. Software in “tangible” packages, such as that
sold at the retail level, was taxable.
HB-1293
codifies Regulation 7 into law effective July 1,
2012. By restoring the exemption from the sales-and-use tax for “non-packaged” software, HB-1293 will allow businesses to retain an estimated $21.6 million in the state’s 2012-2013 fiscal year and $25.2 million in fiscal 2013-2014, according to the bill’s fiscal note.
HB-1293 is the result of the recent budget negotiations among the Senate Republicans, the Senate Democrats and the Governor’s Office. Loren represented CACI in the discussions about the budget.
Senate Finance Committee Passes CACI-Initiated Bill on Sales-and-Use Tax Refund Claims
Yesterday, Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved HB-1265, which sends it to the Senate Appropriations Committee. The bill’s Senate Sponsor is Senator Michael Johnston (D-Denver), who chairs the Senate Finance Committee.
The House sponsor is Representative Amy Stephens (R-Monument), the House Majority Leader. This bill is notable because of the strong bi-partisan support that it received in the House.
CACI members made their concerns known to the Colorado Department of Revenue (DOR) in recent months that taxpayers should continue to be allowed three years to file a sales-tax refund claim. This issue was raised based on inconsistencies being applied by the DOR in determining the length of time to be given for refund claims.
CACI Tax Council members stated that the 60-day rule in statute is simply an additional measure for taxpayers to use for faster processing of refund-claim decisions. This provision was never been intended to be used to supersede the three-year statute of limitations defined in Section 39-26-703(2)(e). The bill does the following: · Clarifies that a taxpayer who has established that they have overpaid the tax is allowed three years to request a refund; · Allows, but does not compel vendors to file claims for refunds on behalf of their customers within three years after the due date of a return; · Penalizes anyone that willfully submits false information regarding a refund.
HealthCare Council Takes Positions on Two Bills On Thursday, the Council convened its final 2011 session meeting to discuss bills that are still moving through the legislative process. The Council reviewed and determined positions on two new bills: SB 196 – Ephedrine Pseudoephedrine Classification (Sen. Boyd –Rep. Summers). The bill would classify drugs currently available as over-the-counter medication that contains ephedrine and/or pseudoephedrine as a Schedule III controlled substance, which would require a prescription for purchase and possession of the medication. The Council voted to oppose this bill based on the increased costs to consumers to visit a physician to gain a prescription and the potential for increased costs to purchase health insurance due to this measure. The bill was heard in the Senate Health and Human Services committee yesterday afternoon and died on a 2-7 vote. SB 205 – APN Participating Provider Status (Sen. Tochtrop-Rep. Miklosi). The bill, as amended prohibits health carriers from discriminating between physicians and APN’s when determining participating provider status. This measure would potentially increase litigation against insurance carriers for hiring practices and may cause a carrier to be forced to drop physicians as a participating provider in order to avoid litigation. The Council voted to oppose the bill, which passed third reading in the Senate this morning and will be sent to the House for committee assignment early next week.
Bill Partially Restoring Vendor’s Fee Allowance Heads to Governor’s Desk
On Tuesday, the legislature sent SB-223 to Governor John Hickenlooper for his consideration. The bill was approved by the House on final, Third Reading on April 14th. SB-223 was part of the budget agreement between House Republicans and the Senate Republicans and Democrats and the Governor’s Office.
The vendor’s fee allowance--which used to be 3.3 percent of sales tax collected by retailers to offset their real costs for acting as the sales-tax collector for state and local governments—will be partially reinstated to 2.2 percent and then fully brought back after three years.
Under SB-223, retailers will get to keep $45.6 million as their vendor’s fee allowance for the fiscal year beginning July 1st and $48.2 million and $50.4 million in the following two fiscal years, respectively. In 2009, the legislature totally took the vendor’s fee allowance away from retailers when tax revenues fell during “The Great Recession” of 2008-2009, and it had never been restored.
The fiscal note for SB-223 says the state will take in $22.8 million in fiscal year 2011-2012 and then $24.1 million and $25.2 million respectively in the following two fiscal years. In other words, the state’s $22.8 million is 1.1 percent of sales taxes collected by retailers.
Business Personal Property Tax Bill Set for Monday Senate Committee Hearing
The Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee is scheduled to hear HB-1141 when it meets at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, May 2nd, in Senate Committee Room 353. The Senate sponsor is Senator Mark Scheffel (R-Parker) and the House sponsor is Representative Chris Holbert (R-Parker). CACI supports the bill.
HB-1141 is intended to relieve the pressure of the onerous business personal property tax (BPPT) on Colorado’s business community. The proposal would exempt new equipment bought in 2012 or 2013 from the BPPT for the life of the equipment. Equipment purchased in 2014 or later, however, would be subject to the tax.
Legislation Requiring “Business Fiscal Impact Statements” Dies in Senate Committee
Sponsored by Senator Shawn Mitchell (R-Broomfield), SB-116 would have required legislative staff to create a memo detailing the potential fiscal effect of a bill or a proposed regulation on businesses. CACI supported the proposal.
The bill would have allowed legislative staff five days after a bill was introduced or a proposed regulation issued to receive comments from businesses as to the fiscal impact of a proposed regulation or bill. Staff would then prepare a “business fiscal impact statement,” which would accompany the bill’s fiscal note.
Legislative staff members currently create “fiscal notes” for bills. According to the legislature’s rules, “A fiscal note shall indicate whether the measure will have a fiscal impact on state government, local government, or the state's economy.” Unfortunately for the business community, the definition of “state’s economy” by the legislature does not generally include the fiscal impact on businesses of bills or proposed regulations.
For example, the fiscal note for SB-116 estimated a cost of about $400,000 in the upcoming 2011-2012 fiscal year and about $340,000 in the following fiscal year for increased staffing--6.3 full-time equivalent positions (FTE)--in the Legislative Council to carry out the additional work required by SB-116.
On Wednesday, the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee killed the bill on a partisan three-to-two vote. Democrats Rollie Heath (Boulder), Betty Boyd (Lakewood) and Bob Bacon (Fort Collins) voted to kill the bill. Republicans Bill Cadman (Colorado Springs) and Kevin Grantham (Canon City) supported the bill.
On-Bill Financing Vote Delayed
Senate Bill 32, On-Bill Financing Program for Energy Cost Savings by Sen. Johnston, was heard in the Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy Committee this week. CACI opposed the bill due to a variety of specific concerns voiced by numerous CACI members. Additionally, CACI feels strongly that the market is responding well to demand for weatherization and solar improvements, and that there is no need to impose additional mandates on businesses to create a new program to address a need that is already being met.
While Sen. Johnston drafted a strike-below amendment and several additional amendments to the re-write in an attempt to address those concerns, the proposed changes ultimately did not alleviate CACI opposition. The bill was laid over for a vote to give Sen. Johnston the opportunity to work with opponents to see if compromise on the language of the bill can be found. The bill will be heard for a vote by the committee early next week.
Bill to Move Air Quality Permits Quickly Flying Through Senate
Senate Bill 235, Third Party Air Quality Modelers by Senator Giron, was heard by the Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy Committtee this week as well. The bill aims to reduce the backlog of air quality permits at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment by directing the Air Quality Control Commission to contract with third-party modelers to perform air quality modeling reviews of certain types of permit applications. The bill passed both Senate Agriculture and Appropriations committees unanimously, and passed 2nd Reading in the Senate as part of the consent calendar.
“CACI Annual Golf Tournament Presented by Apokalyyis, Inc.,” Set for Friday, May 27th at The BroAdmoor
Only five weeks remain until CACI holds the “CACI Annual Golf Tournament Presented by Apokalyyis, Inc.” at The BroAdmoor in Colorado Springs. The Tournament begins at 1 p.m. on the West Course. Here are the Tournament sponsors:
Presenting Tournament Sponsor
Silver Corporate Hole Sponsors
For more information, contact Tricia Smith, CACI Vice President of Events and Political Fundraising, at 303.866.9629 or by e-mail.
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