by Craig S.
Brightup
More
Ballenger bills
Rep. Cass Ballenger (R-N.C.),
chairman of the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, has
introduced four narrowly focused bills that would amend the
Occupational Safety and Health Act and reform the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The Safety
Committees Act (HR 1434) would permit employer/employee safety and
health committees to evaluate and suggest workplace safety
improvements without going against the National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB). NLRB says employers cannot meet with groups of
employees in nonunion settings if the discussion concerns terms and
conditions of employment, such as workplace safety and health. The
Rulemaking Reform Act (HR 1436) would require OSHA to identify and
give fair notice to industries that will be influenced directly by
its proposed standards and perform cost analyses and risk
assessments for each affected industry. The Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Implementation Act (HR 1437) would
require OSHA to adopt specific waiver-of-penalties policies for
nonserious violations if the violations are corrected within a time
frame set by OSHA. And the Safety and Health Audit Promotion Act (HR
1438) would provide limited protection for businesses that conduct
self-audits, as well as encourage employers to correct any problems
they may uncover.
Tax
package
As required by the fiscal year 2000 budget
passed by Congress in April, the House Ways and Means Committee
should have a tax bill by now. NRCA has been lobbying Congress to
see that certain provisions are included.
For instance, NRCA
is a member of the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition, which has
been lobbying Congress to phase out the estate tax. Also known as
the death tax, estate tax generates little federal revenue while
making it prohibitively expensive to transfer family-owned
businesses to successive generations. In fact, a study released by
the Congressional Joint Economic Committee found estate tax to be
the leading cause of dissolution of family-owned
businesses.
On May 27, Rep. James Talent (R-Mo.), chairman of
the House Small Business Committee, introduced the Small Employer
Tax Relief Act of 1999 (HR 2087) to do the following: increase the
health insurance deduction for self-employed individuals to 100
percent; increase the meal expense deduction for small businesses to
80 percent; increase the expensing limit for small businesses to
$35,000; reduce payroll taxes by repealing the federal unemployment
payroll surtax; reduce the top individual income tax rate from 39.4
percent to 34 percent on the active business incomes of small
businesses; and allow small-business owners to use the cash method
of accounting without limitation instead of the currently required
accrual method. The bill defines small-business taxpayers as
taxpayers having average annual gross receipts of $5 million or less
for the prior three years. Such businesses typically are S
corporations, partnerships, limited-liability corporations and sole
proprietorships.
Skilled
Workforce Enhancement Act
On May 14, Talent and 16
bipartisan co-sponsors introduced the Skilled Workforce Enhancement
Act of 1999 (HR 1824). It would allow a small-business employer who
trains employees in highly skilled trades, which would include
roofing, to receive a tax credit of $15,000 per employee per year
for up to four years. In exchange for the credit, the employer must
provide 2,000 hours of shop training per year, including classroom
training. A small business is defined as any employer who employs
250 or fewer people per year.
Legislative conference
NRCA will hold its
Fall Committee Meetings and Legislative Conference Sept. 27-30 in
Washington, D.C. Participants will hear from Capitol Hill notables,
as well as lobby their Congressional members. For more information,
roofing professionals should contact Krista Kershner, NRCA's
assistant manager of meetings and convention, at (847) 299-9070,
ext. 215.
Craig Brightup is NRCA's associate executive
director of government
relations.
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