After the Election: What Does It Mean To Our Industry? Karen Wanamaker, V.P. Industry &...

After the Election: What Does It Mean To Our Industry?Karen Wanamaker, V.P. Industry & Government AffairsNational Wooden Pallet and Container Association

Voters Said “Play it Again”

Congress is now less popular than:o Root canalso NFL replacement refereeso Head liceo Colonoscopieso Traffic jamso Cockroacheso Used-car salesmeno Brussels sprouts

90 percent of House Members (85% in 2010)91 percent of Senators – (84% in 2010)Voters hate Congress but like their own

Representatives

Regulatory Costs

$518 billion in new costs87-million man hours for regulatory paperwork$236.7 billion for new rules initiated in 2012

Health and Human Services (HHS) & Internal Revenue Service IRSPatient Protection & Affordable Care Act

Employer mandate – “large businesses” must offer affordable insurance and meets minimum value to full-time employees and dependents or pay penaltieso $2,000 non-offering penalties (30 “free” full-time

employees)o $3,000 unaffordability/minimum value penalty

Essential Health Benefits (EHB)Prohibits new group health plans establishing eligibility rules in favor of higher wage employees

Opting Out of Exchange• Alabama• Alaska• Arizona• Georgia• Kansas• Louisiana• Maine• Missouri• Nebraska

• New Hampshire• North Dakota• Oklahoma• South Carolina• South Dakota• Texas• Wisconsin• Wyoming

2013 Taxes

Increased Medicare Surtax (0.9%), New Investment Tax (3.8%)

$2,500 Cap on Flexible Savings Account Contributions

Increase threshold for medical expense deductibility

Taxes on medical devicesLast year for tax credit

2014 Taxes

Auto-enrollment (>200 employees) – delayed Antidiscrimination requirements – delayed Employer mandate penalties Individual mandate tax Annual Small Business Health Insurance Tax

(HIT) - $400-$500 annual premium increase Temporary Reinsurance Fee - $60-$84 three-year

premium increase

What Happened to Affordable?In California, 20 percent for small businesses and

individuals without employer-sponsored insurance.

Florida and Ohio also 20 percent.

Are You a Large Employer?

Full Time: PPACA anyone employed an average of 30 hours per week or more.

Seasonal Workers: 50 full-time employees for 120 days or more during the year.

Part-Time Employees: Part-time employees’ hours will be converted into FTEs for the purpose of determining whether the employer is a large employer and subject to the employer mandate. o Formula: Add up all of the hours worked by employees

who are not full-time employees and divide by 120. o Example: if 6 employees each work 5 hours per week,

they will count as if the firm has one additional full-time employee, calculated monthly (6 employees x 5 hours per week each = 30 hours per week x 4 weeks = 120 hours/120 = 1).

ObamaCare Seminar at ALCNWPCA Annual Leadership ConferenceFebruary 16-19, 2013Loews Portofino Bay Hotel

Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)USDA APHISAmerican Lumber Standards Committee (ALSC)Inspection ServicesALSC Board (Appointed by Labor Department)Congress

Occupational Safety and Health AdministrationTwo national emphasis programso Combustible dust o Amputations

ErgonomicsFireNoiseSafety Program Update

Food and Drug AdministrationFood Modernization Act

o Equipment – sanitizedo Pallets – packaging or packing material

Wooden bins could be used if they are adequately clean and sanitary for their intended use.• Cleanable or designed for single use• Unlikely to support growth or transfer of bacteria• If you reuse food-packing material, you must take

measures to ensure that food-contact surfaces are clean such as by cleaning and sanitizing or using a clean liner.

Pharmaceutical Best Handling Practiceso Heat-treated woodo Household cleano 19% moisture content

Environmental Protection AgencyReusable Transport Packagingo SMM Web Academy - Greener Packaging –

Integrating Reusable Transport Packaging into Your Supply Chain

o “Forward-thinking companies today are reaping the financial and operational benefits of replacing limited-life transport packaging materials—such as wood pallets and cardboard boxes—with durable, reusable alternatives.”

Gasses Produced by Painted Pellets

Federal Trade CommissionWhat is a Recycler?

Environmental Benefit ClaimsThird-party CertificationDegradableFree of ClaimsRecyclableRecycled ContentRenewable materials

$16,438,765,400,215.00

Breaching the Debt LimitSuspending the sales of state and local

government treasury bonds; Borrowing from federal employee pension funds; Postponing the purchase and sale of foreign

currencies.