The 115 th Congress and the Trump Administration: The Washington Outlook for HR Public Policy

Transcription

1 The 115 th Congress and the Trump Administration: The Washington Outlook for HR Public Policy PA SHRM Legislative & Legal Conference Nancy Hammer, Sr. Government Affairs Policy Counsel Lisa Horn, Director of Congressional Affairs, SHRM May 5, 2017

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3 What We Will Cover Current Washington Environment Trump Administration Priorities Congressional Priorities Key HR Issues Health Care Immigration Labor and Employment Tax and Benefits SHRM A-Team Update 3

4 U.S. House of Representatives Republicans control the House in the 115 th Congress with 241 Republicans to 194 Democrats. * Why control of the House is important: Oversight hearings; All tax legislation must originate in the House; Party in control of House tightly controls policy and; Need 2/3 of House to override a presidential veto. *Results of 2016 elections, but several vacancies exist as Representatives are confirmed for Administration positions 4

5 U.S. House of Representatives 5

6 U.S. Senate Republicans control the Senate in the 115 th Congress with 52 Republicans to 46 Democrats, and 2 Independents. Why control of the Senate is important: Oversight hearings; Confirms presidential appointments and judges with simple majority; Approves treaties and; Magic number for control in the Senate is 60, not 51. Need 60 votes to ensure agenda moves forward. 6

7 U.S. Senate The president s party has lost Senate seats in 19 of 26 midterms; their only gains occurred during the president s first term 7

8 Congressional Job Approval 8

9 President Trump Job Approval 9

10 Presidential Transition About 4,000 presidential appointees must be replaced Over 1,000 will require Senate confirmation 10

11 Department of Labor Presidential Appointments Department of Labor Secretary of DOL Nominee: Alexander Acosta Head of Divisions within DOL: Wage & Hour, OSHA, EBSA, ETA, ODEP, VETS, BLS Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs 11

12 Department of Labor Presidential Appointments Department of Labor March 30 Committee (party-line) Vote now to floor of Senate April 27 Regulations under scrutiny: Overtime, Fiduciary Rule Has been confirmed by Senate for 3 previous government posts 12

13 Trump Administration Regulatory EOs Executive orders, memoranda and proclamations signed by President Trump Executive Order Date Details Enforcing regulatory reform Full text Feb. 24, 2017 This order instructs every federal agency to designate a Regulatory Reform Officer within 60 days These officers would be in charge of overseeing reform initiatives from earlier executive orders The order references Trump s January 30 th executive order to offset the number and cost of new regulations (among other executive orders from previous administrations) Reducing federal regulation Full text Jan. 30, 2017 This order requires any executive department or agency that proposes a new regulation to identify two regulations to be repealed For fiscal year 2017 it also instructs that the total (incremental) cost of all new regulations and repealed regulations should be no greater than zero For fiscal year 2018, the director of the Office of Management and Budget is required to set a maximum total cost of all new and repealed regulations for each agency this maximum may not be exceeded unless required by law or approved in writing by the OMB director Review manufacturing and industrial regulations Full text Jan. 24, 2017 This memorandum orders the commerce secretary to begin a 60-day review of regulations for American manufacturers, with the aim of finding ways to expedite permitting and relevant federal processes Reorganizing the executive branch Full text March 13, 2017 The order instructs the director of the OMB to propose a plan to reorganize the executive branch and eliminate unnecessary federal agencies and agency programs 13

14 DOL Regulatory Landscape - Overtime The DOL rule would have doubled to $47,500 the salary threshold below which workers would automatically be eligible to earn overtime; December 1, 2016 effective date; Federal court enjoined November 22, 2016 Obama s DOL appealed to Fifth Circuit court of appeals Next court date June 30 (second government delay) Acosta statement SHRM supports reasonable increase in salary level 14

15 DOL Regulatory Landscape Vulnerable Obama Administration Regulations Executive Order on Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces (a.k.a. Blacklisting ) Executive Order on Paid Leave for Federal Contractors? 15

16 DOL Regulatory Landscape DOL Regulatory Landscape Administrator Vulnerable Obama Interpretations Administration Regulations DOL Interpretive Guidance on Misclassification of Workers DOL Interpretive Guidance on Joint Employer 16

17 EEOC Regulatory Landscape Presidential Appointments - EEOC Acting Chair Victoria Lipnic Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (political balance required) Commissioner five positions (five-year terms of office) General Counsel (four-year term of office) Acting Chair Victoria Lipnic President must appoint permanent chair 17

18 EEOC Regulatory Landscape Regulatory Landscape - EEOC EEO-1 Compensation & Hours-Worked Reporting March 2018 effective date for 2017 compensation information EEOC Proposed Enforcement Guidance on Harassment Comment submitted for review Task Force on Workplace Harassment - April 5, 2017 Meeting - State of the Workforce and the Future of Work 18

19 EEOC Regulatory Landscape Regulatory Landscape - EEOC EEOC National Enforcement Priorities ) Eliminating Barriers in Recruitment and Hiring 2) Protecting Vulnerable Workers, Including Immigrant and Migrant Workers, and Underserved Communities from Discrimination 3) Addressing Selected Emerging and Developing Issues * Pregnancy accommodation, LGBT discrimination, gig economy, joint employer 4) Ensuring Equal Pay Protections for All Workers 5) Preserving Access to the Legal System 6) Preventing Systemic Harassment 19

20 NLRB Regulatory Landscape Presidential Appointments - NLRB Chairman Phillip Miscimarra National Labor Relations Board Trump Appointments - Political balance is not required, but, by tradition, no more than three members are from the same party. Members five positions (five-year terms of office) General Counsel (four-year term of office) Cases Ripe for Review Joint Employer (Browning-Ferris) Micro-bargaining Units (Specialty Health Care) Arbitration Agreements w/class Action Waivers (D.R. Horton; Murphy Oil) 20

21 Executive Orders 21

22 New HHS Secretary Tom Price 22

23 HHS Options to Dismantle ACA HHS options to unilaterally dismantle the ACA Sources: Sarah Kliff, Today in Obamacare: 17 ways Tom Price can start dismantling the ACA, Vox, February 10, 2017; Nicholas Bagley and Adrianna McIntyre, Executive actions Trump could take to change the ACA, The Incidental Economist, January 23,

24 Immigration Reform Trump Recommits to Hard-Line Immigration Stance Hillary Clinton Donald Trump 24

25 Trump Administration EOs on Immigration Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements Includes first steps President Trump's Executive Orders for construction of a physical wall on the southern border. Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States Cuts off federal funding for sanctuary cities. Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States Called the "extreme vetting" executive order, includes a ban on entry for foreign nationals from 6 countries (Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen), as well as a pause on refugee programs. Also includes increased visa interview requirements. Buy American and Hire American To bolster protections for certain Americanmade goods and calls for a review of the H-1B visa program for skilled workers. Directs federal agencies to more strictly enforce H1-B visa laws and propose reforms to the program to prevent fraud and abuse and ensure visas are awarded to the most-skilled applicants. 25

26 Immigration Reform Buy American & Hire American Executive Order Signed 4/18/17 by President Trump The order has instructions for four federal agencies (DHS, DOJ, DOL, DOS) Prevention of fraud and abuse in the immigration system H-1B reallocation Instructs rulemaking and guidance that could cover all visa categories Instructs agencies to suggest reforms to ensure H-1Bs are awarded to the mostskilled or highest paid beneficiaries.

27 Immigration Reform Immigration Reform Buy American & Hire American Executive Order What could be on horizon for H-1Bs? Increased fees An adjusted wage scale (revised prevailing wages) DOJ Enforcement Reallocation of visas favoring the highest skilled and paid 27

28 Immigration Reform Support creating an entirely electronic employment verification system that protects against identity theft through knowledge-based authentication (KBA) option. 28

29 Health Care 29

30 Health Care 177+ million Americans and their families have health insurance through employersponsored plans. 16x the number of individuals who get their coverage through the Affordable Care Act s (ACA s) federal or state exchanges. 30

31 Health Care The vast majority of Americans have employment-based coverage Rate of health care coverage of U.S. population, % 20.0% 40.0% 60.0% Employment-based 55.7% Direct purchase 16.3% Medicaid 19.6% Medicare 16.3% Military health care 4.7% Uninsured 9.1% Source: Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2015, US. Census Bureau, September

32 Health Care H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act (AHCA) vote canceled. Reduces employer mandate penalty Reduces individual mandate penalty Creates a continuous coverage requirement surcharge Repeals the Health Insurance Tax Repeals increase of tax on HSAs Repeals the limit on contributions to FSAs Delays the excise tax on high-value health care plans State Flexibility (Essential Health Benefits and Community Rating) Congress is still likely to consider targeted legislative proposals to make modifications to the ACA, as well as regulatory changes. 32

33 Health Care Highlights from CBO s scoring of the American Health Care Act 33

34 Health Care The Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act (H.R. 1313) Introduced on March 2 by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee. Provides uniformity to the regulation of wellness programs and clarify that such programs are consistent with the ADA and GINA. Protects employer-sponsored wellness programs. The bill reaffirms the ACA that allows employers to offer wellness programs tied to a financial reward for employees who participate. SHRM supports the legislation. 34

35 Health Care Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act (HR 173 / S.58) Bipartisan legislation introduced in the House by Representatives Joe Courtney (D-CT) and Mike Kelly (R-PA) and in the Senate by Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Dean Heller (R- NV) to amend the Internal Revenue Code. The legislation repeals the 40 percent excise tax on employer-sponsored health coverage valued at more than $10,800 for individual coverage and $29,100 for families, which is scheduled to go in effect on January The repeal would be effective for tax years after December 31, SHRM supports the legislation. 35

36 Health Care Percentage of employers with plans that will be subject to taxation by the specified year if they make no changes to their current plans. Estimates based on data from Mercer National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans 2016; premium trended at 6%, excise tax threshold trended at 3% in 2021 and 2% in future years. CBO proposal threshold trended at 2% beginning in 2020, and Patients First Act proposal threshold trended at 2% beginning in

37 State and Local Paid Leave Laws 37

38 Paid Leave Legislation Working Families Flexibility Act (S.801/HR 1180) Would allow private employers to offer comp time to employees. Employees would be allowed to accrue up to 160 hours Healthy Families Act (S. 636/HR 1516) Requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide up to 56 hours of paid sick leave FAMILY Act (S. 397/HR 947) Creates a paid family leave insurance fund through a payroll tax to provide partial wage replacement for FMLA qualifying events Proposals to address maternity leave are high on Trump Administration priority list for first year 38

39 Workplace Flexibility Policy Options 39

40 21 st Century Workflex Policy Tomorrow s Workplace Doesn t Work By Today s Rules 40

41 Workplace Flexibility in the 21 st Century Act Representative Mimi Walters (R-CA) is expected to introduce SHRMdeveloped legislation that would expand paid leave and workplace flexibility opportunities for all employees: Employers that choose to participate by offering a minimum threshold of paid leave and a flexible work option to all employees will automatically satisfy all state and local requirements. Provides participating employers flexibility and predictability in designing workplace flexibility offerings, rather than a patchwork of conflicting government mandates. 41

42 Tax and Benefits Key Areas of Tax Reform CORPORATE VS. INDIVIDUAL TAX REFORM TAXATION OF EMPLOYER- SPONSORED BENEFITS ENTITLEMENT REFORM AUTO ENROLLMENT FOR PENSION PLANS PBGC REFORM 42

43 Tax and Benefits Tax reform will be a focus of the 115 th Congress and second budget reconciliation legislation for Speaker Paul Ryan s Better Way to Develop Bold Agenda for a Confident America included a task force on tax reform. Significant changes to employer-sponsored benefits will be part of any tax reform discussion. The tax reform task force included recommendations to: Review current tax incentives for employer-provided retirement and pension plans to determine what incentives will remain. Consolidate many of the higher educational tax credits; including Section 127 employer-provided educational assistance. Groups continue to engage in various congressional working groups to discuss impacts of changes to the tax treatment of retirement and benefit plans. 43

44 Tax and Benefits Ten Largest Individual Tax Expenditures Projected to Cost the Government Over $4.7 Trillion from 2016 through 2020 Estimated Revenue Loss from 10 Largest Individual Tax Expenditures Billions of dollars, FY Source: Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of federal tax expenditures for fiscal years , January 30,

45 Tax and Benefits Pension and Budget Integrity Act of 2017 (HR 761 / S.270) SHRM-supported, bipartisan legislation introduced in the House and Senate. Would ensure that Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premiums are no longer counted in general fund revenue, eliminating the incentive for legislators to raise premium costs to pay for unrelated initiatives and programs. Employer Participation in Student Loan Assistance Act (HR 795) Bipartisan legislation introduced in the House by Representatives Rodney Davis (R-IL). Expands Section 127 of the Internal Revenue Code to include student loan repayment. As Chair of Coalition to Preserve Employer-Provided Educational Assistance, SHRM supports this legislation. 45

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47 The 21 st Century Workplace is: 1) INNOVATIVE: The 21st Century Workplace provides employers and employees the flexibility to address how, when and where work is accomplished and allows for the design of employee benefit programs that attract and retain employees, while managing the fiscal realities of modern business. 2) FAIR: The 21st Century Workplace provides fair employment practices in hiring, training and compensation, regardless of non-job-related characteristics, and encourages practices that meet the goals of the organization and the needs of its employees. 3) COMPETITIVE: The 21st Century Workplace gives employers the ability to attract, recruit, hire and train talent, as needed, to remain competitive in a global economy. 47

48 SHRM Advocacy Team: Advancing the Profession Ensures the voice of HR is heard by policy decision-makers via a local network Helps inform legislators of policy impacts upon employers and employees in her/his district SHRM members are constituents who develop credible and influential relationships with elected officials 9,000+ Active A-Team Members! 700+ Advocacy Captains! 48

49 Pennsylvania Melissa Sims Philadelphia PA Evelyn Reed Philadelphia PA Michelle Mott Cranberry Township PA John Breon York PA Diane Campanile West Chester PA Daniel Krautheim Springfield PA Susan McMenamin Lansdale PA Scott Kramer Chalfont PA William Scandone New Hope PA Tiffany Bloyer Waynesboro PA Loretta Hartley Middleburg PA John Wolfe Lewisburg PA Phyllis Hartman Freedom PA Burnett Coke Plymouth Meeting PA Eapen Johnson Lansdale PA Joshua Parkes Wyndmoor PA Roslyn Schaffer Glenside PA Joseph Welsh North Wales PA Janet Manuel Pittsburgh PA Kristen Hovorka Palmyra PA Cynthia Karchner Bethlehem PA Shane Ulrich Lititz PA Cheryl McCann Pittston Township PA Kelly Scott Moon Township PA Faith Ann Stipanovich Carnegie PA 49

50 2017: Get Active! 50

51 The Last Word PERSISTENCE is the answer, and a sense of humor helps Quentin L. Cook Get Involved: 51

52 Contact Info Nancy Hammer Senior Government Affairs Policy Counsel 1800 Duke Street Alexandria, VA Direct Lisa Horn Director, Congressional Affairs 1800 Duke Street Alexandria, VA Direct 52