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After the Election: What Does It Mean To Our Industry ?. Karen Wanamaker, V.P. Industry & Government Affairs National Wooden Pallet and Container Association. Voters Said “Play it Again”. Congress is now less popular than: Root canals NFL replacement referees Head lice Colonoscopies
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After the Election: What Does It Mean To Our Industry? Karen Wanamaker, V.P. Industry & Government Affairs National Wooden Pallet and Container Association
Voters Said “Play it Again” • Congress is now less popular than: • Root canals • NFL replacement referees • Head lice • Colonoscopies • Traffic jams • Cockroaches • Used-car salesmen • Brussels sprouts • 90 percent of House Members (85% in 2010) • 91 percent of Senators – (84% in 2010) • Voters hate Congress but like their own Representatives
Regulatory Costs • $518 billion in new costs • 87-million man hours for regulatory paperwork • $236.7 billion for new rules initiated in 2012
Health and Human Services (HHS) & Internal Revenue Service IRS Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act • Employer mandate – “large businesses” must offer affordable insurance and meets minimum value to full-time employees and dependents or pay penalties • $2,000 non-offering penalties (30 “free” full-time employees) • $3,000 unaffordability/minimum value penalty • Essential Health Benefits (EHB) • Prohibits new group health plans establishing eligibility rules in favor of higher wage employees
Opting Out of Exchange • Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Georgia • Kansas • Louisiana • Maine • Missouri • Nebraska • New Hampshire • North Dakota • Oklahoma • South Carolina • South Dakota • Texas • Wisconsin • Wyoming
2013 Taxes • Increased Medicare Surtax (0.9%), New Investment Tax (3.8%) • $2,500 Cap on Flexible Savings Account Contributions • Increase threshold for medical expense deductibility • Taxes on medical devices • Last year for tax credit
2014 Taxes • Auto-enrollment (>200 employees) – delayed • Antidiscrimination requirements – delayed • Employer mandate penalties • Individual mandate tax • Annual Small Business Health Insurance Tax (HIT) - $400-$500 annual premium increase • Temporary Reinsurance Fee - $60-$84 three-year premium increase
What Happened to Affordable? • In California, 20 percent for small businesses and individuals without employer-sponsored insurance. • Florida and Ohio also 20 percent.
Are You a Large Employer? • Full Time: PPACA anyone employed an average of 30 hours per week or more. • Seasonal Workers: 50 full-time employees for 120 days or more during the year. • Part-Time Employees: Part-time employees’ hours will be converted into FTEs for the purpose of determining whether the employer is a large employer and subject to the employer mandate. • Formula: Add up all of the hours worked by employees who are not full-time employees and divide by 120. • Example: if 6 employees each work 5 hours per week, they will count as if the firm has one additional full-time employee, calculated monthly (6 employees x 5 hours per week each = 30 hours per week x 4 weeks = 120 hours/120 = 1).
ObamaCare Seminar at ALC NWPCA Annual Leadership Conference February 16-19, 2013 Loews Portofino Bay Hotel
Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) • USDA APHIS • American Lumber Standards Committee (ALSC) • Inspection Services • ALSC Board (Appointed by Labor Department) • Congress
Occupational Safety and Health Administration • Two national emphasis programs • Combustible dust • Amputations • Ergonomics • Fire • Noise • Safety Program Update
Food and Drug Administration • Food Modernization Act • Equipment – sanitized • Pallets – packaging or packing material • Wooden bins could be used if they are adequately clean and sanitary for their intended use. • Cleanable or designed for single use • Unlikely to support growth or transfer of bacteria • If you reuse food-packing material, you must take measures to ensure that food-contact surfaces are clean such as by cleaning and sanitizing or using a clean liner. • Pharmaceutical Best Handling Practices • Heat-treated wood • Household clean • 19% moisture content
Environmental Protection Agency • Reusable Transport Packaging • SMM Web Academy - Greener Packaging – Integrating Reusable Transport Packaging into Your Supply Chain • “Forward-thinking companies today are reaping the financial and operational benefits of replacing limited-life transport packaging materials—such as wood palletsand cardboard boxes—with durable, reusable alternatives.” • Gasses Produced by Painted Pellets
Federal Trade CommissionWhat is a Recycler? • Environmental Benefit Claims • Third-party Certification • Degradable • Free of Claims • Recyclable • Recycled Content • Renewable materials
$16,438,765,400,215.00 • Breaching the Debt Limit • Suspending the sales of state and local government treasury bonds; • Borrowing from federal employee pension funds; • Postponing the purchase and sale of foreign currencies.