Legislative Platform
2004 Federal Legislative Platform
Approved Feb. 2004
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Federal Platform in PDF
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PRIORITY ISSUES
Introduction
In addition to the priority legislative
issues described below, the Olathe Chamber of Commerce monitors the legislative platform of the
United States Chamber of Commerce and concurs with many of its positions and initiatives. The
Olathe Chamber also supports the platforms of our
community partners: the City of Olathe,
Olathe District Schools, and the Olathe Medical
Center.
No Child Left Behind Act
Background
This past June, 50 legislators
co-sponsored legislation, HR 2394, Keeping
Our Promises
to America’s Children Act of 2003,
which provides that if Congress fails to keep its promise
to fully fund NCLBA, some new federal
requirements imposed under the law upon our local school
districts may be delayed. The Olathe
Chamber of Commerce supports HR 2394 legislation.
The Olathe Chamber of Commerce supports
the premise that all children should be
provided a quality public education and
that our schools should be held accountable for
teaching the skills our children need to
succeed. Further, we are convinced that the Olathe
Public School District does an excellent
job of preparing our children. However, the Chamber
has grave concerns about the No
Child Left Behind Act and
its effect on our schools.
Olathe Chamber of Commerce Position
The Chamber takes exception to this
legislation for a number of reasons:
-
It is an
unfunded mandate. To see the goals of this legislation
fulfilled, Congress must fully fund NCLBA and reform the law to
make it less burdensome for local schools.
The federal government’s failure to
fully fund NCLBA as promised—it fell about $8
billion short in Fiscal Year 2003 alone—undermines
the effectiveness of this
legislation and threatens our schools. The
federal government should:
- Cover the very
significant increased cost of testing.
- Provide
funding to cover the additional administrative costs of
this law, including the administrative cost associated with
school choice and supplemental services.
-
Subgroups
need to be redefined and a national consensus should be
reached so that
subgroup size represents a reasonable
percentage of a school’s enrollment. Students who do not speak English should not be
held accountable to reach national standards for five years and students with severe
special needs should not be included in the subgroup. Holding students with
disabilities and students with English as a second language to the same level of achievement
as other students is unreasonable.
-
The No Child
Left Behind Act is punitive. Congress should amend NCLBA
to ensure that national Blue Ribbon schools
such as Olathe’s are not labeled as “failing”
because one small subgroup does not meet
federal standards.
Transportation
Background
In 1998, Congress overwhelmingly passed
and the President signed into law TEA-21 to
reauthorize funding for the nation’s
highway and transit programs. TEA-21 authorizes
$218 billion for highway, transit,
research, and motor carrier programs over six years (1998
- 2003). The
measure must be renewed this year, and
we will strive to ensure that these programs
are fully funded and that the integrity of
the Highway Trust Fund is maintained.
TEA-21 established budgetary rules that
create a “firewall” or funding guarantee which
requires highway user taxes to be fully
invested in their intended purpose of fixing our nation’s
surface transportation infrastructure.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Position
A major focus of the U.S. Chamber this
year will be to ensure that TEA-21 is
reauthorized at funding levels that will
allow us to continue maintaining and improving our
nation’s infrastructure. The Chamber
seeks to ensure that the nation’s transportation system
is fully funded and meets the business
community’s needs and that measures continue to reduce the unnecessary government red tape that
delays the completion of transportation projects.
(Source: U.S. Chamber)
The Olathe Chamber of Commerce Position
The Chamber concurs with the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce. Further, to help the City
of Olathe build and maintain
transportation systems, the Chamber supports reauthorization
of
the Transportation
Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21).
TEA-21 funding should be
increased and the government should
continue cooperating with cities and other local
municipalities in transportation planning
and project priorities.
In addition, the Chamber supports the
following:
-
To help
accommodate Olathe’s growth—the city is the eighth
fastest growing city in
the United States—federal funds are
needed for a critical transportation project: an
interchange at Lone Elm Road and I-35. The
improvement is essential to keep pace
with growing commercial and industrial
traffic, ease congestion and encourage
economic growth.
-
Expanded
public transportation is necessary to help move workers
from across the
metropolitan area into and out of Johnson
County and Olathe. Johnson County
seeks funding for the for the I-35
commuter rail project.
-
The city is
seeking state assistance for a major rail overpass
improvement that would
eliminate grade crossings on the west BNSF
tracks on Santa Fe, a high-traffic arterial
street in Olathe. To help address funding
needs for such projects, the city supports
creation of a dedicated funding source for
highway/rail grade separation projects
through the 4.3 cent/gallon federal diesel
fuels tax on railroads.
E-Commerce Taxation/Streamlined Sales Taxes
Background:
In 1998, the Internet Tax Freedom Act
established a three-year moratorium on new,
multiple or discriminatory Internet taxes.
It also set up the Advisory Commission on Electronic
Commerce, which finished its rounds of
discussions in Spring 2000 but did not agree to a final
solution on the taxation issue.
In November 2001, President Bush signed
into law a measure to extend for two years the
moratorium on multiple and discriminatory
e-commerce taxes. The previous ban had expired in
October 2001.
In February 2003, several large retailers
voluntarily decided to collect taxes on their
online sales. Under a deal with 38 states
and the District of Columbia, consumers will pay sales
taxes based on the state in which they
live. Currently, the retailers only collected taxes in
states in which they have a physical presence.
(Source: U.S. Chamber)
This year Kansas joined the ranks of
states that have introduced streamlined sales tax
legislation in an effort to capture taxes
on Internet and catalog purchases made by Kansans. This
legislation, however, has had a negative
impact on Olathe and other cities in the absence of
federal legislation that puts in place a
system to allow for the collection of taxes on e-commerce
and catalog sales.
U. S Chamber of Commerce Position
Developing a new system of taxation for
Internet transactions requires untangling the
complex, massive, and archaic tax codes
that exist in thousands of taxing jurisdictions. That is
why a new tax system must be uniform,
simple, and fair and designed not to impede productivity
and growth. Such a monumental undertaking
requires a careful and innovative approach that
may take several years to develop.
Continuation of the Internet tax moratorium will ensure
that
during the development of a new tax system
(SST), the taxing jurisdictions do not add to the
current complexity and burden on American
businesses and consumers.
Therefore, the moratorium on new,
multiple, or discriminatory taxes on Internet
purchases and Internet access taxes should
remain in place until a workable solution is
developed. (Source:
U.S. Chamber)
The Olathe Chamber of Commerce Position
The Chamber asks Congress to enact a
federal law that allows for e-commerce and
catalog sales to be taxed uniformly so
that local businesses can fairly compete. Retailers who
market through the Internet and/or by
catalog enjoy an unfair competitive advantage over local
merchants. State streamlined sales tax
legislation without this interstate component also
imposes a significant burden on small
businesses and local governments without any offsetting
benefit.
Association Health Plans
Background
Under federal ERISA laws, small employers,
unlike large businesses, do not have the
resources to self-insure. Furthermore,
increasing numbers of small businesses have employees in
two or more states, and health coverage
must be arranged for their employees in each of those
states. Under legislation like the Small
Business Health Care Fairness Act,
HR 660/S 545,
small businesses could purchase coverage
through associations and other organizations that meet
federal requirements. No longer would
small businesses be subject to state mandates and
regulatory requirements that drive up
their costs, and small multi-state employers would enjoy a
much simplified health care benefits
program by being able to offer the same coverage to all
their employees—just like larger
businesses with whom they compete.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Position
The U.S. Chamber strongly support allowing
associations to offer health coverage under
ERISA to small businesses, individuals,
and the self-employed.
The Olathe Chamber of Commerce Position
The Chamber concurs with the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce.
Access to Affordable Health Care
Background
More than 176 million people in the United
States receive health coverage through
their workplace, representing 88% of all
private health insurance. In 2001, the number of
uninsured Americans increased after two
years of decline—to 41.2 million—as health care costs
grew and more people found they could no
longer afford their plans. Between 2000 and 2001,
the percentage of non-elderly Americans
with workplace health coverage decreased from 67.1%
to 65.6%.
About 62% of uninsured people live in a
household in which the head of the family
works full-time for the full year but is
either not offered health insurance or cannot afford to
pay
the premiums to participate. Uninsured
workers tend to be self-employed or work for smaller
businesses. About 12% of the self-employed
are uninsured, 36% of workers at businesses with
less than 25 people are uninsured, and
13.7% of workers at businesses with 25 to 100 employees
are uninsured. In addition, health care
inflation is at record levels, with premiums for large
companies increasing at a rate of 12%
while small businesses experience annual premium
increases of 18%.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Position
Dealing with problem of the uninsured and
access to affordable coverage should be one of
Congress’ top priorities.
We support strengthening and expanding the
current employer-based system while
developing alternatives for individually
owned health coverage. These proposals include
-
Allowing
above-the-line deductions for individuals who pay their
own health insurance premiums (including premiums for long-term
care insurance).
-
Creating
forward-funded, refundable tax credits for the purchase of
private health coverage for low- and moderate-income
individuals and families.
-
Allowing
associations to offer health coverage under ERISA to small
businesses, individuals and the self-employed.
-
Expanding
the availability of medical savings accounts and
eliminating market restrictions on their use.
-
Providing
independent, third-party reviews of medical claims
denials.
-
Reforming
the medical malpractice liability system.
(Source: U.S. Chamber)
The Olathe Chamber of Commerce Position
The Chamber concurs with the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce.
For up-to-date information about the
Legislature's actions, click
here.
Copyright © 2004 Olathe Chamber of Commerce
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