"That’s What It’s There For" 
By Tom Donohue - President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

 

Suppose you and your spouse had been saving money diligently for several years to pay specifically for your child’s college education. Suppose that during your child’s last college semester there is a sudden increase in tuition. You’ve already spent your yearly allotment, but thanks to your wise investing there is a surplus in the account. So, do you tell your child you’ve spent your annual budget and to drop out, or do you dip into the fund that was meant to pay for your child’s education to cover the added cost?

 

The answer is obvious. Unfortunately, Congress can’t seem to grasp this simple concept when it comes to transportation funding. Due to a slowing economy, the gas taxes collected at the pump and other fees that fund our highway system will total $8.5 billion less than what was expected - that would represent a 27% decrease over last year’s level.

 

Fortunately, the Highway Trust Fund has a surplus of nearly $20 billion. Doesn’t it make sense to dip into that fund and make up the $8.5 billion shortfall on something as critical as transportation?

 

Without it, state highway planners and small businesses involved in the construction industry would be thrown into turmoil. 180,000 construction jobs would be lost. And our roads, many still awaiting basic repairs, would become more congested - and as a result, create more pollution - and more dangerous.

 

With it, for every $1 billion invested in the construction and maintenance of the U.S. highway infrastructure, the nation’s economy generates more than $2 billion in economic activity. And we get to save those 180,000 jobs.

 

There’s a bill moving through Congress right now that deserves the business community’s support. The Highway Funding Restoration Act (H.R. 3694 / S. 1917) will restore 2003 funding for highways back to the originally authorized $27.7 billion level. This legislation will keep highway funding from slipping sharply at the time when our economy needs it the most. Contact your members of Congress today to remind them that America’s highways shouldn’t be stalled while huge balances sit unused.

 

The Bush administration is changing the focus of the Superfund hazardous waste site cleanup program by designating fewer sites for restoration and shifting the bulk of the costs from industry to taxpayers. The administration says it is dealing with much bigger and more complex sites and that Congress must decide how to pay for the program, which has been slowly running out of funds because Congress did not renew the Superfund tax last year.

 

Corporations have long complained that the tax was burdensome and Superfund was slow and badly managed. Rather than wait for the federal government to intervene, many corporations paid to clean up 70% of the sites on the Environmental Protection Agency's priority list because they could do it at a lower cost.

 

 

A Government Accounting Office report found "growing indications" that some sectors of the economy are experiencing economic problems because of the difficulty in obtaining terrorism insurance. This insurance difficulty is causing delays and cancellations of projects across the country.

 

The report also highlighted the devastation that would be wrought on uninsured businesses if another massive terrorist attack occurred. Business and insurance groups lobbied Congress last year to obtain federal guarantees to help pay any future claims from terrorist actions, but the bill was never taken up by the Senate after it passed the House.

 

The business community is leading the fight to urge the Senate to approve the House bill.

 

 

The White House is weighing new penalties to make it easier for the government to punish officers and directors of a company accused of misleading shareholders, reported the Wall Street Journal. The report said the new measures would penalize executives and board members even if they do not commit outright fraud. Instead, mere carelessness would be the new standard for penalties, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.

 

The new standards would allow the officials to face penalties if they are found to be merely negligent, such as not fixing a problem about which they should have known.

 

However, the damages are subject to dispute, and an arbiter's panel is taking up the matter and is expected to decide on a final figure in April 2002.

 

 

Legislative proposals and hearings about pension reform issues occupied both houses of Congress last week, spurred by the collapse of energy giant Enron Corp.

 

In the House, the Ways and Means Committee and the Education and Workforce Committee held hearings. A bill passed last fall by the House (HR 2269) and backed by the business community and White House would allow workers to receive investment advice from the same financial firms that manage their retirement plans. The Senate has yet to begin work on this bill.

 

The business community is urging Congress to carefully study its reform proposals, some of which may force companies to drop retirement savings plans as a benefit or discourage workers from participating in them.

 

For more information:
http://www.uschamber.com/press/releases/2002/february/02-16.htm

 

 

The U.S. tax code is too complex and is a "drag on our ability to create jobs in this nation," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. Speaking last week at a business event in Washington, O'Neill said his department would begin to highlight possible solutions to simplify specific areas of the tax code. He said smaller reforms to the tax code could be implemented more quickly rather than a complete overhaul, which he said he also supported.

 

To view the archived speech, go to:
http://www.chambercast.com/ramgen/video/pi/020221-20.rm

 

 

Welfare recipients will have to work 40 hours a week under President Bush's new welfare reform proposal. Bush's reform, part of the administration's plan to reauthorize the landmark 1996 welfare law, will require welfare recipients to work full-time "at a job or in programs designed to help them achieve independence." Adults are now generally required to work 30 hours a week, with 10 hours or less in job training or education programs.

 

Administration officials said the Bush plan would allow for creative combinations of job training, education, and work.

 

Copyright (c) U.S. Chamber of Commerce 2001-2003

 

Chambers of commerce, members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and accredited news organizations are permitted to reproduce this newsletter in whole or in part at no cost. The cost for non-members is $50.

 

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Reprinted by permission, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 2003. Copyright U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 2003.

 

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