Public Affairs - 2008 Chamber Legislative Agenda
A strong economy with better paying jobs is necessary to improve the standard of living, provide economic security for all, and combat social problems like unemployment, poverty and crime. A strong economy provides the tax base needed to support education, protect the environment, build infrastructure and support the needy. The Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce supports a wide variety of initiatives that build stronger local, state and national economies. The best of these measures seek to encourage entrepreneurs
to create jobs, help attract and retain capable workers and encourage more effective and efficient government services.
I. Taxation and Government Spending
Government should be held to the highest standard of responsibility in the use of taxpayer dollars. The Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce will look for ways to reduce the state and local tax burden, as well as encourage economic growth and development to expand the tax base ensuring a high quality of life in Eau Claire.
State
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Limit property tax increases.
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Reduce personal income tax rates sufficiently to make Wisconsin competitive among the 50 states in terms of income taxation.
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Reduce Wisconsin’s capital gains tax to encourage business investment and resulting job creation.
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Eliminate the estate tax in Wisconsin to discourage retiree out migration, and the related loss of investment capital.
Federal
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Promote efforts to extend or make permanent the Federal tax cuts.
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Repeal or substantially reform the alternative minimum tax (AMT).
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Preserve reduced tax rates on capital gains and dividend income.
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Ensure faster cost recovery of capital investment.
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Reduce corporate income tax rates.
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Advance simplification and ease of compliance with the Internal Revenue Code.
II. Health Care
The rising cost of health care is a significant factor in the ability of businesses to compete in the world marketplace and attract the best workforce. Cost containment efforts should be focused on engaging consumers in health care purchasing decisions, improving quality, increasing benefit flexibility and choices, minimizing cost shifting, reforming medical malpractice liability and improved information technology.
State
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Align state tax deductibility for health savings accounts with federal tax code.
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Address Medicaid reimbursement shortfalls.
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Tax credits for workplace wellness programs.
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Improve the collection and analysis of health care outcome data, make quality transparent and encourage consumers, business purchasers, and insurance companies to direct resources to providers who demonstrate a commitment to patient safety, improving quality, and reducing unnecessary or inappropriate treatment.
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Encourage employers with appropriate incentives, to promote healthy lifestyles and implement wellness and disease management programs to improve productivity, reduce costs and enhance the overall quality of life for their employees.
Federal
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Continue to support bipartisan legislation encouraging widespread adoption of Health IT and work to include in it a national standard for E-prescribing, a paperless approach that would reduce administration costs and human errors in prescribing and dispensing prescriptions.
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Support linking physician Medicare reimbursements to performance-driven benchmarks. Physician reimbursement rates currently are set by a sustainable growth rate formula that needs comprehensive reform.
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Support stand-alone legislation that offers tax credits for employer-sponsored workplace wellness programs for employees.
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Promote legislation that would allow money in Flexible Spending Accounts to be rolled over, eliminating the use-it-or-lost-it rule.
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Support changes in Health Savings Accounts to make them more flexible and appealing to consumers and plan sponsors.
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Support legislation that gives small businesses the option to purchase health benefits with the same tax advantages that large businesses have, pool together to leverage purchasing power, participate in benefits plans that are not burdened with costly state mandates, and permit the owners of small businesses to participate in their companies’ benefits plan.
III. Education
A world-class educational system is essential for businesses to remain competitive in a global economy. The Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce believes that adequate funding, measurement of education outcomes, improvement of accountability, encouragement of innovation and rewards for excellence are all important components of any effort to improve quality education from kindergarten to college.
State
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Promote Teacher Competency, authorize school districts to utilize teacher competency evaluations for purposes of continuing employment and enhancing compensation.
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Encourage employment training by establishing tax incentives to encourage the expansion of employer-sponsored education and training opportunities in the workplace, as well as in our colleges, universities and technical schools.
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Expand employment training grants by transitioning existing employment training tax credits into a cash grant program to more aggressively respond to potential business expansions.
Federal
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Continue efforts to strengthen and reauthorize the No Childe Left Behind Act (NCLB) as well as reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), and Trade Adjustment Assistance Act (TAA), and the Higher Education Act (HEA)
IV. Economic Development
The Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce supports and will aggressively advocate for economic development initiatives that will make area businesses stronger, healthier and more prosperous.
State
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State funding for the NanoSTEM initiative for UW- Eau Claire and UW-STOUT, as well as funding for CVTC nanoscience related equipment and positions.
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Expanded or reallocate tax credits for the I-94 technology zone.
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Support tax credits for nanotechnology related businesses.
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Increase angel and venture capital investment.
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Promote consolidation of existing tax credits to allow easy access to the credits to help foster job creation, capital investment and expansion.
Federal
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Develop a working group of Chamber members to address nanotechnology issues and advocate for continued federal funding for research into the environmental, health, and safety implications of nanotechnology
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Work to ensure that federal regulatory agencies, particularly EPA, implement a sensible regulatory structure that does not handicap U.S. leadership in the rapidly growing commercial area of nanotechnology.
V. Infrastructure/Transportation
The Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce will support efforts to strengthen our community’s infrastructure. This will enhance our ability to attract and retain quality businesses, which will lead to improved job opportunities, wages, and quality of life in the Greater Eau Claire Area.
Recognizing the importance of a quality, economical transportation system is vital to business, including airports, rail systems, mass transit and highways. The Chamber will support efforts to maintain and improve transportation into, out of, and within the area.
State
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Use state gas tax and vehicle registration funds exclusively for transportation.
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Broaden the Base of Transportation Funding. Dedicate motor vehicle sales taxes to the Transportation Fund, and consider toll roads and other options to reduce reliance on the gasoline tax to fund the transportation budget.
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Expand Transportation Infrastructure, focus scarce resources on needed highway capacity expansion projects to accommodate the growing transportation needs of the Wisconsin economy, such as the need for the expansion of I-94 from Eau Claire to Hudson.
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Expansion of HWY T to four lanes.
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Dedicate a portion of state’s General Purpose Revenue to improve Wisconsin’s multimodal transportation infrastructure, including airports, seaports, and rail systems, to meet the present and future needs of business and the general public.
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Ensure the inclusion of future passenger rail service for Eau Claire in state transportation plans.
Federal
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Through the US Chamber’s ‘Let’s Rebuild America initiative’, the Chamber will identify and drive solutions to our nation’s infrastructure challenges by:
1. Documenting the problem with solid research—defining quantifying, and illustrating the benefits of a well-designed national transportation and logistics system with adequate capacity in a way that the business community will champion and the average American will understand.
2. Educating the public, business community and policymakers on infrastructure needs,focusing on the capacity crisis.
3. Spurring private investment in critical infrastructure by identifying and seeking to reform those rules and policies that threaten the efficiency of our logistics system and obstruct positive investments in our nation’s future.
4. Fostering an honest dialogue on how to find the public money to meet critical infrastructure needs.