Posts tagged as:

federal issues

2011 Business Policy Conference Presentations

by Will Burns on November 4, 2011

Thanks to everyone who attended for making the 2011 Business Policy Conference such a great event. As promised, here are links to the presentations made by our speakers. I’ll share more highlights of the conference soon.

Maryland’s Competitiveness: Where We Lead, How We Lag

Green Business is Good Business

The Employer’s Role in Enforcing Immigration Law

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Employers’ Federal UI Taxes Going Down…at Least for Now

by guest on July 6, 2011

This is a guest post written for Maryland Chamber members by Ron Adler, President and CEO of Laurdan Associates and Chair of the Maryland Chamber Unemployement Insurance Subcommittee. For more information, contact Ronald Adler, president-CEO, Laurdan Associates, Inc. at (301) 299-4117 or radler@laurdan.com.

Effective July 1, 2011, the “temporary” federal unemployment insurance (UI) surtax of 0.2% or $14/employee — first imposed on employers in the 1970s, and thereafter temporarily extended 8 times -— has finally expired. As a result the net federal UI tax rate drops to 0.6% from 0.8%.

That’s the good news. The bad news: the federal UI Trust Fund has borrowed tens of billions of dollars from general revenues to pay for UI benefits. This debt has to be repaid and at some point the federal UI Trust Fund, which is financed through employers’ UI taxes, has to be replenished. Among the options being considered is an increase the federal taxable wage base from the current $7,000, which hasn’t been raised for more than two decades, to $15,000.

Raising the federal UI taxable wage base has state UI tax implications, since the various states must have taxable wage bases that equal or exceed the federal taxable wage base. Raising the federal taxable wage base to $15,000 will require 34 states, including Maryland, to raise their state taxable wage bases to match the new federal minimum.

As of June 29, 2011, 29 states had borrowed more than $41 billion from the Federal UI Trust Fund and owed more $874 million in interest payments. If these loans are not repaid, interest payments become due in most states this year. And since states are prohibited from making interest payments from their regular UI taxing structure, they will have to find alternative methods to pay the interest on these loans, including imposing additional state UI taxes on employers.

Additionally for 2011, employers in most of these states begin lose to a portion of the federal UI credit reduction and will have to pay their net 2011 federal UI tax at a higher net tax rate.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

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Feb. 7: Congressional Delegation Dinner

by Will Burns on January 24, 2011


The new U.S. Congress will be addressing many issues of importance to Maryland businesses, including the economy, transportation funding, business and environmental regulation, and more. The Chamber’s Maryland Congressional Delegation Dinner is your opportunity to hear directly from Maryland’s delegation. Join hundreds of Maryland business leaders at this town hall meeting style event.

The Maryland Chamber will hold the its Congressional Delegation Dinner on Monday, February 7, from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Martin’s Crosswinds in Greenbelt. Don’t miss this opportunity to discuss important federal issues with Maryland’s Congressional Delegation.

Each member of the delegation will briefly outline priorities and discuss how the delegation works together to get results for Maryland. Seven members of the delegation have already confirmed:

  • Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (confirmed)
  • Sen. Ben Cardin (confirmed)
  • Rep. Andy Harris, District 1(confirmed)
  • Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, District 2 (invited)
  • Rep. John Sarbanes , District 3 (invited)
  • Rep. Donna F. Edwards, District 4 (confirmed)
  • Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, District 5 (unable to attend)
  • Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, District 6 (invited)
  • Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, District 7 (confirmed)
  • Rep. Chris Van Hollen, District 8 (confirmed)

Thanks to AOL and ARINC, our overall event sponsors for the Congressional Dinner.

Registration is $80 per person for Maryland Chamber members. The nonmember rate is $140. Register online or contact Kristen Solis at (410) 269-0642, (301) 261-2858 or ksolis@mdchamber.org.

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Towson University 2011 Economic Outlook Conference

by Will Burns on December 6, 2010

Towson University will hold its 2011 Economic Outlook Conference on Wednesday, February 16, at the BWI Hilton, from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

This conference provides attendees the opportunity to learn more about current economic conditions and the outlook for the coming year. Highlights of this year’s conference include:

  • Maryland’s Economic Outlook presented by Daraius Irani, PhD, Towson University
  • Status Report on the 2011 Maryland General Assembly session by Maryland Chamber President/CEO Kathy Snyder, CCE
  • Lively discussion on Federal Monetary Policy, The Federal Reserve, and You! presented by The Federal Reserve Bank
  • Moderator and Commentator, Jeff Salkin, Host of MPT’s Business Connection Show

Opportunities for conference registrants to strategize on solutions to the housing crisis, workforce shortages, & the federal deficit
Conference registration is $50. Register online or contact Leslie Pachol at (410) 704-3776 or lpachol@towson.edu.

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Worker Classifications Are Under the Microscope

December 3, 2010

Earlier this year, the IRS announced a plan to audit 6,000 businesses over the next three years in regards to misclassification of independent contractors, which the federal government claims costs it billions of dollars in revenue each year. The Department of Labor’s proposed budget for 2011 includes $25 million to help it hit its audit [...]

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Federal Health Care Update – Coverage of Adult Children

May 7, 2010

On April 27, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidelines for how the new federal health care law will affect the extension of group health insurance coverage to an employee’s adult child. Notice 2010-38 states that: Group plans must provide coverage up to age 26 for adult children of employees for plan years beginning after [...]

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U.S. Chamber Rolls Out Health Care Primer to Guide Employers

April 27, 2010

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce unveiled a new publication yesterday to guide employers through the process of transitioning their benefits to meet the terms of the new health care law. This detailed primer, “Critical Employer Issues in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” focuses on the issues and timeline surrounding businesses complying with the [...]

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