Jim Riley, Director, Government Affairs
John Boling, Director, Government Affairs
Paula Dietz, Director, Government Affairs
Patricia Maeder, Division Coordinator
www.nssga.org
Action Center
e-Digest
- TAKE TIME DURING THE CONGRESSIONAL RECESS TO MEET WITH YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
- FALL AGENDA COMING INTO FOCUS
- NSSGA WELCOMES NEW GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS DIVISION TEAM MEMBER
- GAS PRICES HOVER NEAR RECORD HIGHS; NSSGA REMAINS VIGILANT ON EFFORTS TO ROLL BACK STATE USER FEES
- INTERIOR, COMMERCE, AGRICULTURE, EPA, CEQ KICK-OFF LISTENING SESSIONS ON COOPERATIVE CONSERVATION
- REGISTRATION OPEN FOR NSSGA GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS/COMMUNITY RELATIONS FORUM
- THE NEW PENSION LAW - SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
TAKE TIME DURING THE CONGRESSIONAL RECESS TO MEET WITH YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
Congressional relationships require constant care and refreshing. The Senate and House are in recess for the month of August. Now is the time to meet with your elected officials at home during the August congressional recess. Repeal of the death tax has been a top priority of NSSGA and we notified senators prior to the recess that we would score the vote on the trifecta bill as a "key vote" for purposes of our voting scorecard. This is the ideal time to reinforce this message with your legislators. For example, John Albright of Caldwell Stone Co. in Danville, Ky., recently hosted U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler (D-Ky.) for a tour of that operation. Chandler is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a strong supporter of the aggregates industry.
During recess, legislators often are easily accessible. Typical meetings may last no more than 15 minutes, however, so it is best to prepare yourself ahead of time to make the most of the visit. Some things that you can do to maximize the positive impact of your meeting are:
Congress does not return to work until after Labor Day, but the outline of the fall Congressional agenda is beginning to take shape. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) plans to highlight security issues when the Senate returns in order to demonstrate to voters that Republicans have a strong record on protecting the country. In addition to the "trifecta" bill, which may be brought back to the Senate floor, the Senate is expected to consider the FY '07 Defense Appropriations bill, a conference report on the FY '07 Homeland Security spending measure, a port security bill and legislation addressing the Supreme Court's ruling against the Bush administration's interrogation policies, as well as the administration's warrantless wiretapping program.
House Republican leadership also is focused on a September agenda heavily weighted to issues they perceive as strengths headed into the elections: counterterrorism, national security and border protection. They also are likely to try to demonstrate their commitment to continued economic growth and fiscal discipline while tackling soaring energy prices by trying to reach an agreement on the offshore oil and gas development bill. GOP leaders plan to revive the lobbying overhaul package before resorting to consideration of House rules changes implementing new requirements to disclose earmark sponsors in tax and spending bills.
The House has completed work on all the FY '07 appropriations bills, except for the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education bill, which is likely to be postponed until after the fall elections. The Senate has passed the Homeland Security Appropriations bill but has yet to complete work on the remaining FY '07 spending bills.
FALL AGENDA COMING INTO FOCUS
On Aug. 21, NSSGA welcomed Paula Dietz as its new director of Government Affairs. Paula will serve primarily as NSSGA's Senate lobbyist. She joins NSSGA with solid experience in both the fields of lobbying and legislative affairs. Paula previously worked for the law firm of Van Ness Feldman as a government policy specialist where she focused on energy and environmental issues, including The National Wetlands Coalition of which NSSGA is a member. Prior to that, she worked for the American Petroleum Institute and was as a congressional staffer on both the House and Senate sides of Capitol Hill. Please join us in welcoming Paula to NSSGA.
NSSGA WELCOMES NEW GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS DIVISION TEAM MEMBER
As oil prices reach record highs and gas prices hover near records as well, NSSGA is keeping watch on proposals to roll back or suspend state gas user fees. In an effort to track these proposals, NSSGA has compiled a grid that can be accessed here. The chart details those measures, which have been enacted or proposed as well as whether a state's legislature is in session. Please review this chart for any efforts underway in your state that would undermine highway funding. If you have any questions or comments, please contact NSSGA's Government Affairs Division.
GAS PRICES HOVER NEAR RECORD HIGHS; NSSGA REMAINS VIGILANT ON EFFORTS TO ROLL BACK STATE USER FEES
The secretaries of Interior, Commerce and Agriculture, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality have announced the dates and locations for their listening sessions on cooperative conservation and environmental partnerships. Included among the approximately two dozen sessions that will be held around the country are:
The listening sessions will give citizens an opportunity to exchange ideas on incentives, partnership programs, and regulations that can improve results and promote cooperative conservation and environmental partnerships. These are the latest in a series of discussions the administration has hosted since the president's Conference on Cooperative Conservation in August 2005. The conference identified three broad approaches to improving conservation results: promoting cooperation within the federal government, promoting cooperation between the federal government and others, and eliminating barriers to cooperation in existing policy. Some aspects of these ideas are reflected in a recently released summary of new legislation. Other aspects will be explored in these listening sessions.
The meetings will focus on issues, programs, and policies mentioned frequently at the White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation. Discussion topics will include:
INTERIOR, COMMERCE, AGRICULTURE, EPA, CEQ KICK-OFF LISTENING SESSIONS ON COOPERATIVE CONSERVATION
NSSGA encourages members to attend these sessions if they are in your area. For more information, please contact NSSGA's Vice President of Environmental Services John Hayden or Pam Whitted.
Register today for the first-ever Government Affairs/Community Relations Forum, Nov. 12-14 at the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore hotel in downtown Baltimore, Md. The Government Affairs and/Community Relations Forum is tailored to meet the needs of aggregates professionals who represent their operations before the media, elected officials and community leaders. This forum will provide new and advanced tools to produce more effective communications, and it has been designed specifically for the employee who wears more than one hat in his or her organization.
In addition to the communications tools, sessions dealing directly with issues that predominate in the aggregates industry will be presented, including permitting and regulations; local, state and federal government relations; land use and your local government. Through these expert-led sessions, seasoned communications and government affairs professionals and beginners can study the basic and the newest techniques.
The Forum will also offer a VIP "Behind the Scenes Tour of The Rocks Gallery" at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. This exclusive tour will take you into the research halls of the Smithsonian to learn and view first-hand some of the "rocks" that have impacted the development of our quality of life. Stay-tuned to the Washington Watch and e-Digest for more information. When registering, be sure to enter promotional code GACR06ED. Click here to register.
REGISTRATION OPEN FOR NSSGA GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS/COMMUNITY RELATIONS FORUM
President Bush signed into law the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which is designed foremost to give the 44 million active and retired workers who have earned traditional pension benefits a better opportunity to receive their full pension when they retire. The new law requires companies to adequately fund traditional pension plans, use transparent bookkeeping methods in order to provide an accurate picture of a plan's health, and bar executives from promising their employees future benefits that they cannot pay for. Those companies with financially ailing pensions will be mandated to contribute higher premiums to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation that pays workers a portion of what they were due when a pension plan fails.
The law also extends certain tax incentives for retirement savings, modifies tax provisions relating to spending for health care, establishes a safe harbor for employers to provide investment advice to help employees manage their Section 401(k) accounts, and provides for automatic enrollment of employees in Section 401(k) plans. Finally, it clarifies the legal standing of cash balance pension plans, many of which have been in regulatory limbo for years in the IRS's determination letter program.
Following is a breakout of the changes by age bracket:
Ages 20 to 35
The new law encourages employers to offer automatic enrollment in 401(k) plans, allow for contributions to automatically increase as pay increases, and make it possible to automatically diversify holdings. Employees can elect to opt-out of a 401(k) plan - as opposed to the current system in which they must opt-in.
Ages 35 to 60
In addition to the new 401(k) opt-out provision, employees in this age bracket will be helped through the shoring up of traditional pension plans. They will also find it easier to save for college for their children since several expiring laws that promoted education savings were made permanent. Additionally, contributions to retirement accounts will be permitted to rise with inflation.
Ages 60 and over
The provisions pertaining to traditional pension plans will impact this age group the most since they are the most likely to be beneficiaries of such plans. These employees and retirees will receive more information from companies about the health of their pension plans and see their companies put more money into underfunded pensions.
All ages
NSSGA will continue to report on aspects of the new pension law as it is implemented.
THE NEW PENSION LAW - SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
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