Public Policy Initiatives
PTDA relies on its memberships in the National Association of
Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) and National Association of Manufacturers
(NAM) to fulfill all public policy and government relations
functions.
Through these organizations, PTDA is active in supporting efforts to
pass or amend legislation to address the following priority
issues. Visit the Government Relations section of the NAW Web
site or the Policy Issue Information section of the
NAM Web site. For direct links to their sites for a particular
issue, click a link below:
Energy Independence and Security Act
of 2007
Hiring Incentive to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act
Energy Independence and Security Act of
2007
Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)
PCI Compliance
Cap & Trade Legislation
Research and development credit
Health care issues
LIFO Repeal
Selling Counterfeit Goods
EU Monitoring Reports
In addition, through our partnership with EPTDA, we provide members
with access to up-to-date news and reports on the developments in key
European Union policy areas for the PT/MC industry. If you're
doing business in the European Union, policy areas--such as
environment, energy, trade and consumer protection--can affect your
competitiveness and profitability.
Click here  to
access the exclusive PTDA member logon and learn more about pending EU
legislation.
Hiring Incentive to Restore Employment (HIRE)
Act
On March 18, President Obama signed into law H.R. 2847, the
Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act. The two most
important provisions of the HIRE Act are a tax credit provision and a
limited payroll tax holiday provision, both of which encourage companies
to hire unemployed workers in 2010. Other provisions enhance expense
treatment for new equipment placed into service in 2010, extend
eligibility for tax credit bond issuers, increase funding to highway and
transit programs, create new anti-offshore tax abuse measures, and delay
the implementation of worldwide allocation of interest.
MORE
Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
The
U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) takes
effect on December 19, 2010, changing mandatory efficiency levels for
3-phase electric motors up to 600 volts, which are manufactured or
imported into the U.S. Under the EISA regulation, electric motors
previously required to meet EPAct efficiency levels must move up to NEMA
Premium standards. These include general purpose motors from 1 to
200 horsepower. In addition, products not previously covered by EPAct
will be required to meet EPAct levels. There are nine new product
categories impacted by the new. The motors in these categories will be required to meet the
energy efficiency levels by December 18, 2010.
These include
the following types of motors:
-
U- Frame
Motors
-
Design C
Motors
-
Close Coupled
Pump Motors
-
Footless
Motors
-
Pole Motors
(900 RPM)
-
Vertical
Solid Shaft Normal Thrust Motors (tested in horizontal
configuration)
-
All Polyphase
Motors with Voltages up to 600 volts other than 230/260
volts
-
Horsepowers
from 201to 500 General Purpose Design B per (NEMA MG1
12-11)
-
Firepump
Labeled Motors per (NEMA MG1 12-11)
EISA will
also maintain the IEEE12 method B or CSA 390 test methods.
Motors imported as a motor or as a
component of a piece of equipment will also be covered by this new
act.
For more information, read a summary of the act's provisions.
PCI Compliance
It is no secret that identity theft is becoming a
growing concern among businesses and consumers alike. Every day, there are new reports
of the devastating effects a breach of personal information can have on
its victims. Recognizing
this burgeoning threat, the United States government passed federal laws
called the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003
(FACTA). This detailed act
tackles many issues that revolve around identity theft from prevention
and credit history restoration to credit report access.
Since that time, identity theft has continued to
pose a major threat to consumers. In response to this growing problem, the major credit
card brands came together to put into place a set of standards that all
businesses are required to follow in order to maintain a secure
environment for their customers' credit card information. These standards, now known as
PCI Compliance (Payment Card Industry Compliance), require all
businesses to be compliant by July 2010.
If your business takes credit cards, this may
leave you with the obvious question, "How do I know if I am PCI
Compliant?"
Learn more with the five-step guide prepared for PTDA members by
Solveras, PTDA's credit card processing member benefit
provider.
Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA)
The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) (H.R. 1409, S. 560) is pending legislation in the United States
which aims to "amend the National Labor Relations Act to establish an
easier system to enable employees to form, join, or assist labor
organizations, to provide for mandatory injunctions for unfair labor
practices during organizing efforts, and for other
purposes."
PTDA opposes the legislation as
detrimental to both manufacturers and distributors and urges its members
to actively pursue its defeat.
Status: The latest version
was introduced into both chambers of the U.S. Congress on March 10,
2009.
Distributors: For more information, visit the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW)
Web site and use their "Tell Congress" link at the top
right corner of the Web page to send a message directly to your
Member of Congress. Click here for an update from
NAW.
Manufacturers: For more information, visit the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) Web
site to access resources from NAM's Web-based EFCA Tool Kit. Click here for an update from
NAM.
Cap & Trade
Legislation
A cap and trade system is a
method for managing pollution, with the end goal of reducing the overall
pollution in a nation, region, or industry. Under a cap and
trade system, a government authority first sets a cap, deciding how much
pollution in total will be allowed. Next, companies are issued credits,
based on how large they are, what industries they work in, and so forth.
If a company comes in below its cap, it has extra credits which it may
trade with other companies.
Status: The House of
Representatives passed a sweeping cap & trade bill on June 26,
2009 by a very narrow margin, 219-212. Notable about this vote was
the large number of Democratic Representatives – 44
– who voted against their Leadership's bill.
Also notable is the immediate fall-out from the vote, with reports that
some moderate Democrats and/or Representatives from
fossil-fuel-dependent states are already finding it necessary to defend
their votes.
Click here for more information about cap & trade
legislation.
Research and Development Credit
Congress passed legislation that was signed into law October 3, 2008,
that extended retroactively the R&D tax credit from January 1, 2008,
through December 31, 2009, and strengthened the credit by increasing the
Alternative Simplified Credit rate to 14% effective in 2009.
Prior to the renewal in 2008, the credit was expired for 9
months through September 2008. Nearly 18,000 companies of all
sizes use the credit that was renewed for the 13th time since its
original enactment into law in 1981.
MORE
Health Care Issues
Health care spending continues to grow beyond the rate of the rest of
the U.S. economy. Health coverage has increasingly become a burden for
the very manufacturers who helped to invent employer-provided coverage
during World War II.
MORE
LIFO Repeal
The U.S. Senate Finance
Committee recently has threatened to repeal the last-in, first-out
(LIFO) inventory and accounting method. The repeal would change a
70-year old GAAP approved accounting procedure that dominates the
distribution industry.
MORE
Selling Counterfeit Goods
The U.S. federal criminal laws that prohibit any person from
trafficking in counterfeit goods and services apply not only to the
counterfeiter; the law applies with equal force to any individual or
company that knowingly sells a counterfeit product. (18 U.S.C. 2320).
This law, known as the Trademark Counterfeiting Act of 1984, carries
substantial monetary fines (up to $5 million) and prison time (up to 20
years imprisonment or in some cases life) for individuals and companies
who violate the Act.In addition to the above liability exposure, a
wholesaler-distributor selling a counterfeit product (with or without
knowledge that it is counterfeit) faces legal action by injured parties
if the product is defective and causes death, personal injury, property
damage, interruption of business operations or other losses.
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