Jan Teague, President/CEO of the Washington Retail Association, testified to a House committee last week in favor of an unemployment insurance reform bill.
House bill 2204 reduces rates to employers who have been overpaying into the system to cover part time workers. It also will change the method for determining experience rated costs so that employers would be charged in the same amount that the benefits are paid out. This is known as "charge at two, pay at two" (two quarters of work).
In 2006, at the urging of the Washington Retail Association, the federal Department of Labor determined that a provision of Washington law was out of conformity with federal unemployment insurance laws. The provision governs the way unemployment benefits are paid and charged back to the employer.
One effect of the problem has been that WRA members have been subsidizing seasonal industries. Addressing this discrepancy in legislation would reduce UI payments by WRA members.
Teague's testimony in favor of the bill last week was before the House Commerce & Labor Committee. Prior to that, she testified in favor of Senate bill 5963 before the Senate Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection Committee.
The bills have bipartisan support.
They reflect the cooperative efforts of diverse industries to address inequities in unemployment insurance costs for employers, Teague said. Further, the agreement could easily fall apart if it is amended, but is a sustainable bill in its present form, Teague told legislators.
"We are hopeful that the bills will pass and leadership in both the House and Senate are supportive of a business agreement on rate structure," Teague said.
Many groups oppose data breach bills that shift costs
HB 1149 and SB 5564 would give credit unions a direct right of action against retailers and other businesses in the event of a data breach.
· This proposal is not sound public policy and will set a dangerous precedent in state law. · Businesses already pay transaction fees to credit card companies, which include coverage for theft, fraud, and data breach. · Businesses are required by the credit card companies to maintain certain security standards. If a business does not meet those standards, it is fined heavily. · Entities experiencing data breaches already compensate card issuers. In 2007, the TJX companies, which had experienced the largest breach of card information, paid $40.9 million to Visa card issuers and $24 million to MasterCard issuers to compensate them for fraud and card replacement. · Credit unions should already get reimbursed under their contracts with credit card companies when they have to reissue cards and change account numbers as a result of stolen information. Responsible financial institutions subscribe to monitoring services to watch accounts for suspicious transactions. · A majority of financial institutions believe that this is a contractual issue between those institutions and the card companies. They shouldn't be trying to shift their business costs.
The following is a partial list of associations and businesses opposed to these bills:
· Mark Johnson, Washington Retail Association · Denny Eliason, Washington Bankers Association · Brad Tower, Community Bankers of Washington · Dave Swartley, Bank of America · Emmett O'Keefe, Amazon.com · Clifford A. Webster, Consumer Data Industry Association · Holly Chisa, Northwest Grocery Association · Erik Strom, JP Morgan Chase · Gary Smith, Independent Business Association · Steve Gano, Wells Fargo · Jan Gee, Washington Food Industry · Tom Hosea, Key Bank · Michael Transue, Washington Restaurant Association · Troy Nichols, National Federation of Independent Business · Grant Nelson, Association of Washington Business
Retro bill considered political pay back
Tammie Hetrick, Vice President of Retail Services, testified last week against SB 6035, which would change the way retrospective rating workers compensation programs are administered.
The current bill and an amendment as passed out of the Senate Labor, Commerce and Consumer Protection committee this week would restrict groups from maintaining contingency funds that protect Retro members and associations from charging assessments, Hetrick said.
The bill was introduced earlier this month shortly after the Department of Labor and Industries announced it made mistakes on payments to Retro groups dating back to the 1990s.
"The current bill and its amendment has nothing to do with the current error by Labor and Industries and does nothing to 'fix' a program that has proven to be successful," Hetrick said.
Hetrick is part of a proviso group using $600,000 requested by Governor Gregoire to study reforms to improve the retrospective rating programs, which promote worker safety and seek to obtain premium refunds for companies that maintain safe workplaces. Recommendations from the proviso group are expected to be announced this summer and could have some positive outcomes for business participants.
"Any legislation at this time is premature ," Hetrick told legislators.
Retro programs have proven to be successful. Employers receive back from 20 percent to 30 percent of the premiums they pay to the Department of Labor and Industries because of their efforts to provide a safe workplace.
These programs are accomplishing what policy makers intended when they were established years ago. Programs work with employers to prevent injuries, provide ongoing safety awareness, and reward companies that have fewer costs than the premiums they pay, said Jan Teague, President/CEO of the Washington Retail Association.
Meddling with Retro now is ill-timed at best as the state is wrestling with an $8.3 billion shortfall in revenues to balance the budget.
If associations became discouraged enough to drop their Retro programs, the state's workers' compensation claims administered through the Department of Labor and Industries would drastically increase, Teague said. This would be an expensive new cost to the state that it will not be prepared to handle. Injured workers will be the ones to suffer because the state's program will not be ready to handle more customer service calls and questions which now are handled by the Retro programs' support services. Nearly half of all companies are enrolled in a Retro program.
In effect, SB 6035 could pose further challenges in dealing with the massive state shortfall in revenues, Teague said.
Rather than address L&I's calculation error, Teague said the bill appears to be politically-motivated to punish the Building Industry Association of Washington, which uses some Retro funds for campaign-related expenses.
"Mainly, this is a political effort to get at the Building Industry Association but it will do nothing to damage them," Teague said.
But for smaller Retro groups, drying up contingency funds would make it impossible to compete with larger ones, Hetrick said.
Though the bill is anticipated to hurt many Retro programs, sponsors of SB 6035 have agreed that the programs are successful and have contributed to safer workplaces. They seem to want change now to send a message to the Building Industry Association.
Hetrick encouraged legislators to follow the necessary steps to consider well thought out reforms that will improve the programs. The next step, she said, is to allow the Retro proviso group to complete the work Gov. Gregoire assigned it to do, and only then consider what changes to Retro programs should be made in next year's Legislative session.
Teague noted that the bill is being called "Retrobution" because the real agenda is not good public policy but pay back for the tough campaign methods funded by BIAW.
WRA tracks bills as halfway point of Legislative session nears
Thursday of this week marks Day 46 of this year's 105-day Legislative session.
As the session nears the halfway point, the Washington Retail Association has tracked nearly 150 bills of importance to retailers. WRA members tracking the bills include Jan Teague, President/CEO; Mark Johnson, Vice President Government Affairs; Tammie Hetrick, Vice President Retail Services; and Jim Szymanski, Director of Public Affairs.
Here is a summary of bills and major issues up until this point:
*The state's current revenue shortfall is $8.3 billion for the coming biennium. A revenue update the middle of next month will be the Legislature's basis for making spending cuts and possible tax increase proposals to balance the state budget.
*SB 5463, Brinks fix, paying wages to workers for drive time to their home if using a company vehicle. WRA supports the measure. The bill would have future, not retrospective impact. An employer would not be liable or penalized for failing to pay minimum wages or overtime if the employer acted in good faith and conformity with and reliance upon a rule related to any wage payment requirement. This bill must move out of committee this week to remain alive.
*HB 1947, trip tax. WRA opposes the bill to tax retailers based on travel volumes to their stores. Cities and counties could use the funds to pay for road maintenance.
HB 1528, Worker Privacy. WRA opposes the bill that would bar employers from requiring employees to meet regarding religious or political matters, including union organizing. An informal state Attorney General's opinion has concluded that federal labor relations law would pre-empt such a state law.
SB 5225, felony theft limit. There is talk of raising the felony theft limit from $250 to $500, which would be half the original proposal of $1,000. The bill also would increase restitution amounts to retailers for stolen merchandise. This bill must be acted upon this week to remain alive for further consideration.
HB 1180, SB 5282, bisphenol A removal from containers Both bills have been narrowed to apply only to containers used by children ages 3 and younger. The law would take effect in July, 2010.
*Hetrick is attending a series of weekly meeting with Republican House and Senate leaders of Commerce and Labor committees and House Commerce and Labor chairman Steve Conway. She also meets weekly with Senate Labor, Commerce and Consumer Protection chair, Senator Jeanne Kohn-Welles.
*WRA leadership meets weekly with House Speaker Frank Chopp and every other week with Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown to discuss bills, legislation and their impacts on retailers.
To request a full list of bills being tracked by the Washington Retail Association, contact Jim Szymanski, Director of Public Affairs, by calling 360-943-9198, Extension 12 or at jim.szymanski@retailassociation.org.
Retailers welcome organized retail crime bills
Three bills introduced in Congress this week would for the first time define organized retail crime as a federal offense.
The bills also would require operators of online auction sites to cooperate with retailers to track down thieves and in some cases, hold auction sites responsible for the sale of stolen merchandise that could have been prevented.
The National Retail Federation welcomed the bills and noted that retailers must recoup theft losses by adding to the price of their merchandise.
Retailers lose an estimated $30 billion a year nationally in sales attributed to organized retail crime. The crime is attractive to thieves because they typically can earn 70 percent of the sales value of merchandise they steal when it is sold online, a higher percentage than they can collect at flea markets or at pawn shops.
The Washington Retail Association supports such federal legislation and has urged Congress to act upon it. Organized retail crime is a growing problem in the state, robbing the state of an estimated $49 million a year in sales tax revenues. WRA has called for the appointment of a special retail theft prosecutor and the formation of a retail theft task force to assess the growth of the problem and identify solutions to contain it.
The federal bills introduced were the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2009, sponsored by Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Illinois); the Organized Retail Crime Act of 2009, sponsored by Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Indiana); and the E-Fencing Enforcement Act of 2009, sponsored by the House Judiciary Committee's Crime, Terrorism and Home Security Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Scott, D-Virginia.
Source: National Retail Federation
Macy's, Nordstrom adjust to recession
Two retailers prominent in the Northwest reflect how the industry is adjusting to the recession.
Cincinnati-based Macy's is reducing four operating divisions into one as it projects sales of stores opened at least one year will be down from 6 percent to 8 percent this year.
On Tuesday, Macy's announced it fourth quarter earnings dropped 59 percent, to $310 million from $750 million for the same time a year earlier. The company has announced it will eliminate 7,000 jobs this year.
Seattle's Nordstrom has shifted its store opening plans to put more emphasis on opening discount-oriented Rack stores as opposed to its full-line department stores that sell new, more expensive merchandise.
Ten of Nordstrom's 13 new stores this year will be Rack stores. In 2008, sales at full-line Nordstrom stores dropped 12.4 percent, but were up 3 percent for the year in Rack stores.
Nordstrom announced Monday that its fourth quarter earnings fell 68 percent, to $68 million from $212 million for the same time a year ago.
Worries about job security as the recession worsens are key to declining retail sales.
In November, surveyors from America's Research Group found that 15 percent of consumers were worried about losing their jobs. That percentage had grown to 30 percent by Christmas and now stands at 38 percent.
Sources: Puget Sound Business Journal; Cincinnati Business Courier
FEMA establishes phone-in legal help line
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has established a round-the-clock legal help telephone line for victims of the January winter storms and flooding in Washington State.
The helpline has been established to assist residents in the counties declared eligible for FEMA disaster assistance: Benton, Clallam, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, King, Kittitas, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum and Whatcom counties.
The toll-free hotline, 1-866-519-7099, is operated by the American Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division and is recorded in English, Spanish, Russian and Chinese. Callers are asked to leave a message so that a lawyer may contact them.
Lawyers are prepared to help with advice on a variety of needs including property insurance claims; hiring contractors; replacing wills and other legal documents; counseling on mortgage foreclosures and landlord/tenant problems.
Source: FEMA
WRA helps members resolve delinquent L&I taxes
With the current economic downturn, Labor and Industries (L&I) has reported that more companies are getting behind in paying L&I taxes.
The Washington Retail Association has been working with L&I to assist retailers in resolving outstanding accounts. The parties have been successful in resolving all affected member accounts for the third quarter of last year.
If you are unable to pay your premiums to Labor and Industries in a timely manner, please contact our office for assistance in working with L&I. We are finding because of cutbacks in various departments that new people are responsible for the premium payments and may not be confident regarding how to report and calculate premiums. WRA will be working with L&I to provide training to members to help them with online premium reporting along with assistance to employers who choose not to report online.
Tammie Hetrick, Vice President of Retail Services reported that employers are finding ways to reduce expenses. She said it's important that WRA assist members with the tools they need to keep their business running smoothly and avoid penalties and interest while meeting their L&I premium obligations.
Some workers receiving unemployment benefits are scheduled to begin receiving applications in the mail for extensions of up to 13 weeks of more benefits.
The extended benefits would be paid only after eligible workers have used up emergency unemployment compensation benefits, said Karen Lee, Employment Security Commissioner.
The U.S. Department of Labor has notified Employment Security that Washington qualifies for extended benefits as a result of the state's rising unemployment rate. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate in December was 7.1 percent statewide, up from 6.4 percent in November.
Extended benefits became available this week. Employment Security is asking those eligible to wait until they receive applications in the mail rather than calling the department, which is operating at capacity due to a high claims load, Lee said. Her department is identifying which workers are eligible for a benefits extension before mailing them an application, she said.
To hear an audio version of Lee's announcement, click here.
Source: Employment Security Department
The Washington Retail Association, WRA, is a 501 C 6 trade association formed to advocate for Washington State’s retailers at the local, state and national level. Since 1987, the WRA has protected Washington's retailers from unreasonable taxes, fees, regulations and legislation. The efforts of the WRA benefit all Washington state retailers and help fuel statewide economic growth.
