Archer To Include
Death Tax Elimination in GOP Tax Bill
At a press conference today, Chairman of the House
Ways and Means Committee Bill Archer said the GOP bill
he’s crafting will include a phase out of the death tax.
While not offering specifics, it is likely that his tax
bill will follow the Dunn/Tanner approach (H.R. 8) that
reduces the tax rate by 5% per year over ten years. H.R.
8 now has 208 cosponsors and AGC is working to get 218
cosponsors – a majority of the House -- before the July
4th recess.
Full Senate to Debate Managed Care Reform
Starting July 12th: Senate Republicans and
Democrats this week reached an agreement to debate
managed care legislation beginning July 12th with a
final vote coming July 15th. Under the agreement,
Democrats will be free to offer "mandate amendments" –
such as extending liability to health care plans and
requiring plans to pay for services not covered but
deemed "medically necessary" by a physician. These
amendments will increased premiums. It is critical that
AGC members fax or write their Senators over the next
two weeks urging opposition to these and other mandate
amendments. A sample leter to Congress by contacting
Phil
Thoden with AGC Congressional Relations at
202.383.2764.
Senate to consider aviation bill after July
4th Recess: The Senate will consider Senate 82,
the two-year reauthorization of the FAA and AIP, in late
July. AGC is working with Senator Hollings (D-SC), who
is supportive of taking the Aviation Trust Fund
off-budget, to develop support for spending the aviation
revenues on improving our nation’s airports and aviation
systems. Please call
your Senators when they are at home for the July 4th
recess next week and urge them to support Senator
Hollings in his effort to spend aviation taxes for their
intended purpose.
One-Call Best Practices Study Released: The
Department of Transportation released Common Ground:
Study of One-Call Systems and Damage Prevention Best
Practices on June 30th. The study focuses on the shared
responsibility of underground damage prevention. AGC
Members played significant roles in developing the
study. The study outlines good practices for one-call
systems. A copy of the study can be obtained through
here.
Prompt Pay
Interest Rate:
The Prompt
Pay/Contract Disputes Interest rate is 6.5% for July 1,
1999 to December 31, 1999.
ACTION
REQUESTED: Urge your Senators to
cosponsor S. 1053 , legislation to reinstate EPA’s
grandfather clause. This legislation would allow
previously approved highway safety projects to continue
during a lapse in approval of state implementation
plans. EPA was prevented from using this clause by a
recent court decision. Call the Capitol Operator at
202-225-3121.
"MURKY" FMLA May Get Even
More Complicated: Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA) joined an effort, begun by the President, to
expand the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). At a
Capitol Hill press conference Wednesday, Sen. Murray
announced her attention to attach an amendment to the
next appropriations bill that is considered by the
Senate to expand the present FMLA to give parents to 24
hours of unpaid leave per year. This announcement comes
on the heals of last month’s proposal by President
Clinton to force state governments to pay unemployment
insurance to people who are on leave under the FLMA.
This effort has been roundly criticized by employers and
by many Governors and State Legislators who resent this
unprecedented intrusion into state control of
unemployment insurance. The Murray proposal is
especially troubling for employers because there are
already serious concerns about the ambiguity of the
current FMLA. Most employers already permit employees to
take personal time for such activities. A recent study
conducted by the US Chamber of Commerce indicated that
few employees are unsuccessful in negotiating for
time-off work for their children’s school activities.