Federal Issues
- Support repeal of the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). The AMT limits deductions for depreciation and restricts companies' use of other tax provisions. It penalizes companies whose business requires substantial investment to remain competitive in the global marketplace.
Americans With Disabilities Act
- Oppose any attempt, federal or state, to extend the ADA's coverage to those that are not in need of the ADA's protection.
- Oppose the classification of animal manure and poultry litter as a solid or hazardous waste.
- Support the creation of incentives for alternative dispute resolution to decrease litigation.
- Oppose any attempts to remove the federal mandate that supports the use of alternative dispute resolution programs.
- Support a cap establishing maximum allowable damages on all civil rights statutes. Currently, some plaintiffs are subject to a cap and others are not.
- Support the Commonsense Consumption Act which would block costly and frivolous lawsuits that blame the food industry for plaintiffs' weight and obesity.
- Recognizing the competitive nature of the communications industry, oppose unnecessary government intervention that would curtail a business environment which encourages investment, economic growth, technology innovation and availability of products and services that benefit businesses and consumers in Oklahoma.
- Support federal funding for Campus Life and Safety Security Task Force initiatives including early notification procedures on campus, rapid response training and additional counselors.
- Support the re-authorization of the federal 'No Child Left Behind Act'.
- Support education reforms, particularly those that relate to economic development, designed to raise the attainment level of every student.
- Support a rule regarding interagency cooperation under the Endangered Species Act. the rule's revisions will streamline and clarify the Section 7 consultation process and provide common sense solutions that will increase government efficiency in addressing the impacts of proposed actions on listed species, allowing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to focus limited resources on consultation issues that may truly impact endangered species.
- Support a cooperative approach of local, state and federal organizations and agencies to conserve the Arkansas River Shiner through a voluntary conservation management plan that replaces critical habitat designation.
- Oppose energy tax increase proposals, such as those submitted as a part of the Obama Administration's budget, which will reduce exploration and production investment as well as decrease natural gas supplies for all U.S. consumers - household and businesses. Specifically, oppose:
- Repeal of the intangible drilling cost (IDC) deduction
- International deferral reform
- Repeal of manufacturing deduction
- Increase in the amortization period of G&G
- Repeal of percentage depletion
Environmental Program Block Grant Funding
- Support Environmental Block Grants to states for all delegated programs.
- Support tax reform that provides permanent estate tax relief for the heirs of family owned farms and businesses.
- Support the passage of an FAA re-authorization bill that has a time span of two to five years, rather than the three-month extensions that have been in place since previous legislation expired in December of 2007.
- Support amending the FLSA to reflect current employment realities that would allow an employer to pay overtime only when an 80-hour bi-weekly work schedule is exceeded.
- Oppose any attempt to limit the definitions of "exempt employee" or otherwise expand employee eligibility for overtime.
- Support congressional efforts to authorize employers to voluntarily provide overtime premiums in the form of time-and-a-half compensatory time off.
- Support the tightening of the definition of "serious health condition" to reflect an emphasis on the word "serious".
- Oppose all efforts to require mandated paid family medical leave and all attempts to expand it.
- Oppose congressional efforts to lower the small business exemption from 50 employees to 25 or fewer employees or to increase the number of days allowed to be taken.
- Support full funding of the current farm bill.
- Support federal legislation to preclude the government from granting, giving or appropriating federal money to any organization or individual who has sued a federal agency.
- The State Chamber believes that efforts to reduce CO2 emissions should be grounded in realistic, achievable energy policies that preserve American jobs and competitiveness, promote new technology, encourage the development of existing and new clean energy sources and are international in scope. The State Chamber opposes any legislation that does not accomplish these goals.
- Oppose the EPA's attempt to regulate CO2 emissions without clear statutory authority.
- Oppose any future global climate change commitments and carbon tax proposals that do not use sound scientific evidence or give careful consideration to the economic and social costs involved. Additionally, oppose any treaty or commitment that unfairly favors third-world or developing countries over developed countries such as the United States. Such one-sided treaties impose enormous costs on America's citizens and significantly harm the nation's economy.
- Support an effective individual mandate requiring all Americans to maintain health insurance coverage.
- The State Chamber supports enhancing multi-employer health plan options, especially for small business, as an incentive for employers to offer/retain employee health benefits, provided the plans operate within state laws and regulations.
- Maintain state regulatory oversight over all non-ERISA private health insurance plans.
- Retain viable employer-sponsored health care.
- Limit liability for all medical providers to the same level as those entities covered under the federal tort claims act.
- Maintain current Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) provisions, allowing employers to self-insure and to avoid mandates.
- Recognize and support the continued use of licensed agents and brokers to serve as a bridge between the health insurance provider and the consumer.
- Oppose a new government sponsored public option health insurance plan that would compete unfairly with private insurers.
- Oppose the taxation of employer-provided health care.
- Oppose legislation allowing drug re-importation into the United States.
- Support tax incentives and public sector pilot projects for implementing evidence-based medicine, electronic medical records and alignment of interest models that are incorporated into health care delivery systems.
- Support employer-owned health reimbursement arrangements.
- Support the enhancement and implementation of the Health Savings Account Act.
- Support legislation to allow for the tax deductibility for all health care related out-of-pocket expenses, including premiums, deductibles and co-pays.
- Support efforts to address the infrastructure and payment reimbursement problems of Oklahoma's hospitals, to include OSEEGIB and Medicaid payments.
- Continue pursuing comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level to better secure our borders.
- Urge Congress, the administration and the U.S. State Department to correct delays, backlogs, and disruptions in our immigration and border management systems that impede the movement of legitimate business and tourists traveling across U.S. borders.
- Improve employment authorization verification systems to ensure a reliable tool for employers.
- Advocate for the continuation and expansion of both temporary and permanent visa programs for highly skilled workers (including the L-1, H-1B, and EB) as well as programs that enable employers to access and keep the talent necessary to compete in the global market.
- Create a new national temporary worker program so that employers can hire immigrant workers when U.S. workers are not available.
- Secure additional essential workers to counteract demographic trends; provide for targeted earned legalization of those essential undocumented workers already here; and expand existing temporary immigration programs, such as the H-2B visa program.
- Provide a reasonable pathway to legal status for undocumented individuals currently in the United States.
- Support congressional efforts to simplify the test an employer must follow to distinguish between an employee and an independent contractor. Also support federal legislation that would shift the burden of proof to the IRS in certain disputed cases.
- Oppose any efforts (statutory or regulatory) that would allow for different definitions of independent contractor as established in the Internal Revenue Code compared to definitions for workers' compensation purposes, employment compensation purposes, etc.
Industrial Development Bonds, Multi-Year Reauthorization
- Support the continuance of multi-year requthorization of the Industrial Development Bond (IDB) program and an increase in the state cap.
- Oppose all statutory mandates, either state or federal, as they relate to employer/employee relationships.
- Support efforts to ensure that the federal Daubert expert witness standard - which has been adopted by Oklahoma in all criminal, civil and workers' compensation claim proceedings - is uniformly applied in all federal and state legal and administrative proceedings.
- Oppose any federal or state legislative or regulatory measures that will interfere with an employer's and employee's freedom to contract, including efforts to pass the so-called Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009.
- Oppose any expansion of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, including efforts to pass the so-called Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act of 2009.
- Oppose efforts to require businesses to provide certain levels of health care services, time off or sick leave for employees or face statutory penalities.
- Oppose any effort to expand unionization in the workplace. (i.e."Card Check")
- Oppose punitive legislation that restricts the use of "last-in/first-out" (LIFO) accounting provisions and new limitations on foreign tax credits by businesses.
- Support the correction of problems such as, but not limited to, insufficient medical payment and excessive regulation.
National Ambient Air Quality Standards
- Require NAAQS and other EPA rules and regulations to be based on sound science and take into account costs and benefits.
- Support funding necessary to finish the job of dredging the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas Navigation System to a 12-foot draft.
- Support the Corps of Engineers' request for Operations and Maintenance funding to reduce the backlog of O&M needs.
- Revise the New Markets Tax Credit to support a five-year extension.
Occupational Safety & Health Act Reform
- Support any and all efforts to reform the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that would make the agency more responsive to the educational and training needs of American business. Consultation and compliance are the answers in all areas of OSHA standards, including ergonomics, not citations and fines.
Research & Development/Technology
- Support the reauthorization of the National Nanotechnology Initiative.
- Support the reauthorization of the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Program.
- Support legislation that creates a regulatory approval pathway for follow-on biologics.
- Support efforts to renew the Federal Research and Development Tax Credit and efforts to make it permanent.
- Support efforts to increase funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).
- Support legislation creating transparency of credit card company 'interchange fees' charged to retailers.
- Oppose efforts to incorporate an importation tax on international goods that would increase the cost of such goods and encourage retaliatory sanctions, thereby limiting free trade.
- Support the employer assisted housing initiative at the federal level.
- Improve Social Security Laws to allow senior citizens to work without social security benefit penalties.
- Support the reform of the nation's social security system to include meaningful and fiscally responsible structural reform of the system to ensure the retirement security of current beneficiaries and those near retirement, and to establish personal retirement accounts and the wealth-creating potential they contain for younger workers and their families.
- Support revisions to Superfund legislation that will produce a more efficient funding mechanizm, improve the site assessment and remedy selection processes, leading to speedier cleanups and lower transaction costs. Also, support legislation eliminating retroactive liability and joint and several liability for waste disposal, allowing for state delegation, limiting or capping liability for natural resources damages, eliminating barriers to voluntary cleanups and retaining the petroleum exclusion.
- Review any significant proposals to overhaul our federal tax system. Support those that are favorable to businesses and oppose those that would penalize businesses.
- Expand federal tax credits to include biofuel conversions.
- Oppose legislation that would allow the existing tax cuts to expire while increasing taxes.
- Press Congress to make the tax cuts passed in 2001 and later permanent and work for additional pro-growth tax reform that will help increase productivity and encourage durable, long-term growth.
- Encourage Congress to continue its quest to find an answer to the Internet sales dilemma that will preserve the competitiveness of Oklahoma businesses and not discourage the growth of Internet commerce. Oppose any tax on Internet access.
- Support legislation to allow those states that are not a part of the streamlined sales tax compact to collect sales taxes on mail order sales, preserving the competitiveness of Oklahoma businesses.
- Taxation of gas and diesel is no longer a viable way to fund the construction and maintenance of the nation's highway system. The State Chamber will work with the state's delegation to create a new, long-term funding mechanism for highway funding.
- The State Chamber will provide the necessary input toward the re-authorization of the Federal Highway Bill due in 2009.
- Work with the state's congressional delegation to resolve problems associated with the issue of TWIC (Transportation Worker Identification Card) to transportation-related workers.
- Support funding of the downtown boulevard in Oklahoma City and the I-244 bridge replacement in Tulsa.
- Support efforts to alleviate Oklahoma's donor state status in transit funding in order to help build a more effective public transit network in the state.
- Support the reauthorization of the Tribal Lands Tax Incentives for businesses that locate on former Indian lands in Oklahoma.
- Support a Reed Act distribution to states to help offset shortfalls in federal administrative grants to state unemployment compensation and employment services.
- Continue to support the issuance of Workforce Development federal grants to enhance the efforts of local communities and regions as they carry out the implementation of successful initiatives across the country.
- Raise the cap on Federal H-1B visas allowing highly technically trained immigrants to work in the United States.