FJI FIGHTS UNNECESSARY GOVERNMENT MANDATES
November 20, 2009
Forward Janesville recently took positions in opposition to three bills pending before the State Assembly that are of concern to the area business community:
Assembly Bill 30 – Among other things, this bill prohibits any employer from monitoring any email message sent or received by an employee unless the employer provides the employee written notice of the company’s email monitoring policy.
Our view: AB30 would create another unnecessary mandate on Wisconsin businesses at a time when many are struggling. Businesses should be able to reasonably respond to employee misuse of the businesses property.
Assembly Bill 116 - This bill would mandate that employers with fifty or more workers provide up to sixteen hours of employee leave for purposes of participating in school activities.
Our view: FJI has long opposed this concept (see below). While we certainly support active parental participation in school conferences and activities, we believe that AB116 is a solution in search of a problem. Numerous employers who are subject to the Family Medical Leave Act already have mechanisms in place to allow their employees to attend school functions, including personal time and vacation. Compliance with this government mandate will create more red tape for Wisconsin employers, and will likely increase the cost of doing business.
Assembly Bill 367 - This bill prohibits an employer from discriminating against a person in employment based upon their credit rating unless the credit standing is substantially related to their ability to perform the job.
Our view: AB367 will simply open the door for more unnecessary lawsuits against employers, driving up the already rising cost of doing business in Wisconsin and making it increasingly difficult to compete during these challenging economic times.
While none of these bills are likely to put anyone out of business, they are nettlesome and unnecessary. Many companies already have provisions and policies in place to handle the situations this legislation addresses.
The bottom line is that bills like AB30, AB116 and AB367 only make the goals of economic development and job creation more difficult to achieve by creating a more cumbersome regulatory climate and increasing the costs of doing business in Wisconsin. In this time of economic challenge, we urge legislators to view each legislative action through the lens of economic development and the state’s business climate.
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FJI OPPOSES HEALTH CARE REFORM BILLS
October 15, 2009
While Forward Janesville support the goal of making affordable health care coverage available to all Americans, we are concerned about the creation of a single government-run public health insurance plan. A government-sponsored health plan would reduce options for all Americans without controlling costs. The inevitable rush to the public plan will accelerate the insolvency of the current employer-based health care system, leading to runaway cost increases. Taxes will need to rise precipitously over time to pay for the program, leading to a crushing business and individual tax burden.
We are also concerned about the individual and corporate tax increases contained in the various health care proposals. The Senate bill contains new taxes on insurance companies, drug companies and medical device manufacturers. I fear that these taxes will be passed on to health care consumers, increasing costs for employers and workers alike. At a time when Wisconsin employers are struggling to provide their employees with affordable health care coverage, this provision will make health care coverage more expensive.
We believe that health care reform legislation must address the issue of reimbursement to medical service providers. Health care providers who serve certain patient populations (such as Medicaid patients) have seen the rate at which they are reimbursed by the federal government plummet below 50 cents for every dollar spent. This has forced some providers to not offer certain types of medical services, not accept certain patient populations, or both. This has a negative affect on our communities, as consumers are forced to travel great distances to receive the specialty care they need. Failure to provide a long-term fix to these inadequate reimbursement formulas will result in the continued loss of critical care options and health care jobs in Wisconsin.
Finally, we believe that successful health care reform should embody principles embraced by the business community: cost reduction through the implementation of successful wellness programs; strategies to ensure greater competition among health care insurers; and reform of the American medical malpractice liability system.
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FJI OPPOSES COMBINED REPORTING
February 22, 2008
Put simply, combined reporting would require large, multi-state businesses to report their Wisconsin and non-Wisconsin tax burden as a single unit. Current law uses separate entity reporting and imposes corporate franchise or income taxes on each separate corporation doing business in Wisconsin. These entities file separate tax returns reporting net income.
By imposing Wisconsin taxes on economic activity outside Wisconsin, combined reporting represents a job-killing tax increase for Wisconsin businesses. Combined reporting would increase business taxes by $90 million, and would introduce yet another administrative hurdle for businesses who are already dealing with an overly complicated tax code.
The bottom line is that combined reporting will reduce our state’s competitiveness, and will make Wisconsin’s already challenging business tax climate that much harsher. Taxes matter in economic development decisions, and corporate tax rates continue to be a key factor in site location decisions. Combined reporting is the wrong message to send to our state’s businesses.
FJI OPPOSES MANDATORY LEAVE BILL
December 21, 2007
Forward Janesville’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to oppose Senate Bill 195, a bill regarding mandated leave for school conferences and activities.
Under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), an employer employing at least 50 individuals on a permanent basis in Wisconsin must permit an employee to take six weeks of family leave and two weeks of medical leave in a 12-month period. SB 195 would allow any employee of a qualifying employer to take 16 hours per year for school conferences and activities that cannot be scheduled during nonworking hours.
While Forward Janesville certainly supports active parental participation in school conferences and activities, we believe that Senate Bill 195 is a solution in search of a problem. Numerous employers who are subject to FMLA already have mechanisms in place to allow their employees to attend school functions, including (but not limited to) personal time and vacation. Compliance with this government mandate will create more red tape for Wisconsin businesses, and will likely increase the cost of doing business.
Additionally, the lack of lack of agreement between Wisconsin’s FMLA and the federal FMLA makes the act difficult for employers to administer. Until broad conformity occurs between Wisconsin’s FMLA and the federal FMLA, Forward Janesville opposes any expansion of the state FMLA.
FJI OPPOSES “HEALTHY WISCONSIN”
July 19, 2007
Healthy Wisconsin is the wrong way to achieve health care reform. Allowing state government to get into the health insurance business is dangerous on many levels, and is an option that should be studied very carefully, not added to the state’s budget proposal at the eleventh hour. After several weeks of study and analysis, our organization has concluded that this plan could cause serious harm to businesses across the state. Our main concerns are:
- The plan is likely to get more expensive over time due to wage growth and escalations in health care costs. The bipartisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance estimates that if wages and health costs continue to grow at current rates, the plan will face a shortfall of $4.5 billion to $9 billion by 2017, forcing the state to raise taxes again to pay for it.
- Healthy Wisconsin does little to address the root causes of rising health care costs, such as unhealthy lifestyles, poor management of chronic diseases, and over-utilization of healthcare services. Forward Janesville supports addressing these issues by increasing consumer involvement in health care through tax credits, increased cost transparency, and incentivizing healthy lifestyles.
- The plan could have a very negative impact on Wisconsin’s workforce. Many full time workers would prefer to transition to part time employment or retire, but would lose their health care coverage by doing so. Since Healthy Wisconsin provides coverage to nearly all citizens, it creates a disincentive to work. This could create a huge unanticipated hole in Wisconsin’s already dwindling workforce.
- Finally, the plan will create unique challenges for Wisconsin’s border counties, as our communities could become a magnet for uninsured people from neighboring states who wish to take advantage of Healthy Wisconsin. All who move to Wisconsin are covered immediately if they are either “gainfully employed,” a dependent child, or a pregnant woman. Further, after 12 months of residency, any work requirements disappear. This possible influx could lead to a rapid and unforeseen cost escalation, making further tax increases necessary.