AUGUST 2006 GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS UPDATE
IN THIS ISSUE …
1. Lobby
Day 2006
2. Federal
Prison Industries Reform Update
3. 3%
Withholding Tax on Government Contracts
4. Help
Needed! Don’t Let the National Surveyor’s Week Resolution Die!
Lobby
Day 2006 Lobby Day 2006 will take place on
Thursday, September 28 in Washington, DC. On Wednesday, the 27th,
participants will meet to go over the issues and talking points. This year,
Lobby Day is taking place just ahead of the ACSM/NSPS Fall Meeting. If you are
planning to come in for the fall meeting why not come in a couple of days early
and join us for Lobby Day? In the past, our Lobby Day has been very successful;
let’s make this a success as well. We have several very important issues
affecting surveying professionals and we need as many people to participate in
Lobby Day as possible. If you are interested in joining us, please contact Curt
Sumner at Curt.Sumner@acsm.net, also, let him know who your Representative and Senator are.
We look
forward to seeing you on Lobby Day!
Federal
Prison Industries Reform Update The
rollercoaster saga of the Federal Prison Industries Reform legislation took
another dip recently. After several favorable factors took place for the likely
passage of H.R. 2965, the Federal Prison Industries
Competition
in Contracting Act of 2006, it now looks like the bill will not be considered until
September after the House returns from its Summer District Work Period.
This delay
give opponents of the legislation a little more time to make their case. In
addition to efforts by the lobbyist for the Correction Vendors Association,
there was hard evidence of lobbying against the entire bill by Federal
correctional officers, the Council of Prison Locals, and by some State
departments of correction or the Governor's Office on their behalf. They are eager to be able to continue to
offer without restraint inmate labor, at wages well below the Federal Minimum
Wage, to furnish services for the commercial market.
The Federal
Prison Industries Reform Coalition is now focusing its attention on the Senate
version of the House legislation as well as a bill by Senators Levin and
Thomas, which relates to Federal Prison Industries reform, but is not the same
as the House companion bill. This will provide two legislative vehicles to
reform Federal Prison Industries; the House companion bill will be referred to
the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Levin-Thomas bill is pending before the
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
3%
Withholding Tax on Government Contracts The newly
formed Government Withholding Relief Coalition met recently to discuss Section
511 of the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005. This issue
was discussed in the last Government Affairs Update, but as a reminder, Section
511 of the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005, which was
signed by President Bush in May, 2006 requires
Federal, State and Local governments to withhold 3% of payments on all government
contracts for goods and services beginning in 2011. The Government Withholding
Relief Coalition was formed to work for a repeal of Section 511.
Senator
Larry Craig of Idaho introduced legislation repealing Section 511, but there is
not yet a sponsor of similar legislation in the House. The coalition is working
on finding a House sponsor. There have been rumors that the proponents of
Section 511 may work to move up the start of the program from 2011 to 2008 or
2009 and/or increase the withholding amount from 3% to 5%. The coalition is
working to find out the accuracy of these rumors.
The
coalition feels that it is unlikely that anything will happen regarding Section
511 for the rest of 2006. Therefore, the coalition asked members to do a couple
of things during the rest of this year. The coalition would like member
organizations to work on a one-page white paper on how Section 511 affects the
member organization’s industry. Also, the coalition would like member
organizations to submit letters in opposition to Section 511 to Members of
Congress. The letters should come from both the member organization as well as
companies in the organization. ACSM has prepared a survey which asks surveyors
how Section 511 will affect them. Look for the survey and an article on this
controversial measure in the upcoming Bulletin magazine.
Help
Needed! Don’t Let the National Surveyor’s Week Resolution Die! We need everyone’s help to save the
House version of the National Surveyor’s Week Resolution from dying in the
House. Last year, we were able to get Resolutions recognizing National
Surveyor’s Week introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The Senate easily passed its version in January 2006, but the House still has
not brought its Resolution to the floor for consideration. We were told that
although the Resolution passed the House Government Reform Committee by
unanimous consent, it needed 50 co-sponsors to be brought to the House floor
for consideration by the full House. The Resolution currently has 14
co-sponsors; and time is running out! If the Resolution does not pass by the
end of this Congress, which is expected to end in early October, the Resolution
will die and must be reintroduced in the next Congress. DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN.
We need everyone to contact their Representative and tell them to co-sponsor H.
Res. 518, the National Surveyor’s Week Resolution. Here is a list of the
co-sponsors as of August 9, 2006:
H. Res. 518
--- National Surveyor’s Week Resolution Co-Sponsors (August 9, 2006)
Robert
Aderholt (AL)
Thelma
Drake (VA)
Virgil
Goode (VA)
Eddie
Bernice Johnson (TX)
Jeff Miller
(FL)
Bennie
Thompson (MS)
Adam Putnam
(FL)
Zach Wamp (TN)
Barbara
Cubin (WY)
Mark Foley
(FL)
Bart Gordon
(TN)
Dale Kildee
(MI)
Mark Sauder
(IN)
Chris Van Hollen (MD)
If your
Representative isn’t on this list, then we need to get them on by the end of
September. If you need more information or talking points, contact ACSM and
we’ll get information to you. Thanks for your help!