NAW Winter 2014 Legislative Update

This legislative update is a benefit for NAFCD members, made possible through NAFCD's membership with NAW.

In this update:

• 2013 Congress Year in Review
• Labor and the National Labor Relations Board
• Marketplace Fairness
• OSHA Reform
• Regulatory Agenda
• Taxes

2013 Congress Year in Review

• Congress began and ended the year passing bipartisan fiscal measures. In January they passed the "fiscal cliff" legislation dealing with taxes and spending; they closed the year in December passing a Congressional budget and spending bill - the first budget passed by both houses of Congress since 2009.
• In February 2013, the Administration issued guidance delaying for one year implementation of the ACA's limitation on out-of-pocket expenses for non-grandfathered group health plans that use more than one provider to administer major medical and pharmacy benefits. Thus, group health plans with more than one benefits administrator don't have to combine their tallies of members' out-of-pocket spending into one total until 2015. 

Labor and the National Labor Relations Board

• Although labor has had few legislative victories, the pro-labor assault on the American workplace continues to manifest itself aggressively in the regulatory arena. Both the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Department of Labor (DOL) are expected to increase their activity and begin moving on regulations that have been in the queue in both agencies.

Marketplace Fairness

• In April 2013, the U.S. Senate passed S. 763, the NAW-supported Marketplace Fairness Act ("MFA"). The bill proposes to empower the states to require sellers not qualifying for a small seller exemption to collect and remit sales and use taxes on remote sales. Similar legislation has been introduced in the House, but neither the Senate-passed measure nor its companion House bill will be the vehicle for action in the House. Instead, proponents of marketplace fairness legislation are working with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Goodlatte (R-VA-6) to develop a bill based on seven principles Chairman Goodlatte unveiled in September.

OSHA Reform

• Legislation to reform the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), favoring confrontation over cooperation as the preferred approach to workplace health and safety regulation ("Protecting America's Workers Act" or "PAWA"), stalled in both the 111th and 112th Congresses and has gone and will go nowhere in the 113th.
• OSHA is continuing to develop "a rule requiring employers to implement an Injury and Illness Prevention Program," and publication of a long-delayed proposed "I2P2" rule is on the Agency's regulatory agenda for the fall of 2014. The proposal will involve "planning, implementing, evaluating, and improving processes and activities that protect employee safety and health," and will "build on OSHA's voluntary Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines."
• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has implemented a new system allowing workers to file whistleblower retaliation claims with the agency online. Previously an employee had to file a written complaint with OSHA or call the agency hotline or a regional office. Complaints filed using the online system will be automatically routed to the proper regional office for investigation. OSHA enforces the whistleblower protection provisions in 22 federal laws.

Regulatory Agenda

• NLRB continues to pursue its rule-making, including the NLRB Rule requiring employers to post a Notice of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act. Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) and others successfully challenged in court and both the DC and 4th circuit appellate courts struck down the rule, one ruling that the rule violated the constitutional free speech clause by compelling speech by business, and the other ruling that the NLRB lacked the statutory authority to require the notice postings. NLRB did not appeal which means that the lower court decisions stands, the notice posting rule is invalid, and the business community collaborative effort was a success.

Taxes

• A few tax provisions important to business, particularly bonus depreciation and Section 179 small business expensing, were extended for a year in the fiscal cliff bill, but not made permanent. These two provisions are among the 55-or-so expiring tax provisions that Congress allowed to lapse when it adjourned last December. It is unclear whether Congress can or will retroactively extend some or all of those tax provisions.

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For complete details on these and other topics that NAW is working on, please see the Winter 2014 NAW Update.

NACFD is a member of NAW, whose primary purpose is to represent the wholesale distribution industry before Congress, the White House, and the judiciary on issues that cross the industry's many lines of trade. NAW encompasses over 100 national line-of-trade associations, including NAFCD.

IMPORTANT: THIS NAW LEGISLATIVE UPDATE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. IT DOES NOT AND IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE LEGAL OR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE OF ANY KIND. PLEASE CONSULT YOUR COMPANY'S LEGAL/EMPLOYEE BENEFITS COUNSEL FOR ADVICE REGARDING THE APPLICABILITY OF THIS INFORMATION OR ANY PROVISION THEROF TO YOUR SPECIFIC SITUATION.

Action Alerts generated by NAW are sent to you as a member service of NAFCD. For additional information on the issues outlined on this update or any other issue being monitored by NAW, please contact NAW at: 1325 G Street, NW Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005 / 202.872.0885 / naw@naw.org