Presentation Transcript

1. HR Public Policy Outlook for the Final Months of the112th Congress “It’s Crunch Time!” Michael Layman and Bob Carragher July 25, 2012
2. November 2012 Election Presidential Job Approval Ratings July of Fourth Year Gallup
3. Congressional Productivity The 112th Congress — this Congress — is the last bar on the right.

4. Not All Spending Is Created Equal

   Mandatory Spending Is Consuming More and More of the Budget Total 2011 Spending – $3.598 Trillion Projected Spending 2012-2022 In Trillions Discretionary Spending $6 * $227 $700 $545 $4 In Billions $275 $646 $2 ** $480 Mandatory Spending $725 Source: Financial Management Service Bureau of the United States Department of Treasury; Congressional Budget Office Historical Budget Data, 2011.
5. Public Policy Agenda 2012 Health Care Reform Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) on June 28, 2012 Implementing regulations are being promulgated Efforts to “repeal and replace” will continue regardless of who controls Congress or the Administration In 2013, a Romney Administration and as few as 50 Senate votes could repeal any budgetary provision through budget reconciliation
6. Health Care Reform
7. Public Policy Agenda 2012 Taxes and Benefits Fiscal Cliff Bush tax cuts expire – December 31, 2012 Statutory spending caps – 2012-2019 Sequestration – January 2013 through 2021 Debt limit increase – Jan/Feb 2013
8. Employee Educational Assistance Act of 2012 (H.R.4137) Introduced by Representatives Sam Johnson (R-TX) and Richard Neal (D-MA) in March 2012 The legislation would extend and make permanent Internal Revenue Code Section 127, which allows an employer to provide up to $5,250 per year tax-free in tuition, fees, and books to employees for courses on the undergraduate and graduate levels Currently, Section 127 is set to expire on December 31, 2012 SHRM is the co-chair of the Coalition to Preserve Employer Provided Educational Assistance www.cpepea.com
9. Public Policy Agenda 2012 Employment Verification Federal government’s voluntary employment verification program, E-Verify, expires on October 1, 2012
10. Republican & Democratic Conventions - 2012
11. 2012 State Legislative Issues Snapshot As of today, only 6 states and the District of Columbia remain in session – California, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Looking back, it’s been a pretty quiet year in the states too – unlike the previous 2 years. Legislation mandating the use of E-Verify (Pennsylvania), curbing the use of Credit Checks (Vermont becomes the 8th state to enact limitations), dealing with Right-to-Work (Indiana), and allowing employees to store Weapons at Work in their vehicles parked on company property have become law. The hot HR topic for 2012 – restricting employer access to Social Media Passwords from applicants/employees. Maryland became the first state to enact a law (Illinois, California, and possibly others likely to follow suit).
12. Plan for the Remainder of 2012 I will be reaching out to the State Legislative Directors in those 6 states to see if they would be interested in advocating on 1 or more of the bills pending before their legislatures relating to the HR topic areas we track. To date, we’ve assisted 8 state councils in advocating in 13 issues on the state level this year.
13. Bob Carragher Government Affairs robert.carragher@shrm.org Michael Layman Government Affairs michael.layman@shrm.org