Today is: February 11,
2010
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Speaker Preview...
Mike
Wagner
White Rabbit
Group
"Taking Care of Your
Brand"
Wed.
June 9th 9-10 a.m.
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ABI
Day on the Hill
Risk Management Conference
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To foster a favorable business, economic,
governmental and social climate within the State
of Iowa so that our citizens have the opportunity
to enjoy the highest possible quality of
life. | |
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 Legislative News
Week Five: Funnel Week
Round-Up
Bill
Violating Right to Work
Advances
HSB
702 is pending in the Iowa House
Labor Committee. The bill would require
all executive branch non-union employees
(including the regents) to pay up to 65% of
union dues for bargaining services. The bill
requires employees to have money taken
from paycheck.
Representative Geri Huser (D-Altoona) is
chairing the subcommittee. Continue
reading>>>
ABI
Launches Campaign to Defend Paychecks,
Jobs
To
fight this attack on Iowa's Right to Work law,
ABI has begun airing statewide radio ads to
educate the public about this attack on their
freedom.
You can listen to the radio ads by going
to www.iowaabi.org and
clicking on the link in the upper-right hand
corner of the page. ABI is
committed to defeating this violation of Iowa's
Right to Work law. For
information on supporting the ads to run in your
area, contact John Gilliland at 515-975-2426 or
jgilliland@iowaabi.org.
Funnel Week Proves Costly for
Employers
Friday,
February 12 is the first "funnel" of the 2010
legislative session. This is
a self imposed rule the general assembly uses to
narrow the focus pending legislation. All
bills need to have been approved by a full
committee to remain alive (ie...House bills
approved by a House committee or Senate files
approved by a Senate committee). This
rule does not apply to budget or tax bills so
legislation in the Appropriations or Ways and
Means committees remains alive for the duration
of the session. Continue
reading>>>
Senate
Labor Gives Go Ahead to Paid Sick
Time
The
Senate Labor Committee also decided to add to
the cost of doing business in Iowa by mandating
all Iowa employers provide paid sick
leave to current employees. The
proposal takes away the flexibility and requires
employees to give both full AND part-time
employees paid sick time. The
current proposal would require 18 days of paid
sick time per full-time employee. The
Senate Labor Committee is expected to approve
this bill
Thursday.
House
to Debate Government Reorganization Bill
Friday The
media has been reporting quite frequently on SF
2088, also known as "government
reorganization." The
latest report we have is the House plans to
debate the bill all day on Friday and over 160
amendments have been proposed. You can
receive live updates during the debate by
following ABI_JGilliland and ABI_NMolt on
twitter. Continue
reading>>>
REGISTER
NOW: ABI Day on the Hill March
10th
On Wednesday, March 10th ABI will host its
third annual ABI Day on the Hill. Please click here to
register. |
With
technology accelerating in the 21st
Century, companies in Iowa are experiencing a
growing need for tech-savvy workers just as
their knowledgeable "Baby Boomer" employees are
retiring.
Fortunately, an increasing number of Iowa
schools -- along with community colleges and the
regent universities -- have embraced a highly
effective STEM (science / technology /
engineering / mathematics) program called Project Lead The Way
(PLTW). Because
businesses play a key role in its success, ABI
and its members are being called upon to help
implement this program in more
schools.
Project
Lead The Way provides middle and high schools
with a rigorous, comprehensive curriculum,
developed jointly by K-12 educators, college
faculty and engineers. PLTW
courses emphasize "hands on" learning, giving
students the opportunity to apply math and
science concepts to a wide variety of
challenges, including many of the type found in
today's businesses. Continue
reading>>>
Did you miss the Monday Memo
from ABI President Mike Ralston? For this week's
memo click
here. |
Senator Grassley Meets with
ABI
Last Tuesday, U.S. Senator Charles
E. Grassley's staff contacted ABI. The
Senator requested the opportunity to meet with
ABI board members to share news from Washington
and to seek input from ABI about issues facing
the Senate.
Friday, 20 ABI Board Members and
Past Chairs participated in a working lunch with
Senator Grassley. ABI Vice Chair Sarah McDonald Hasken
(A.Y. McDonald Manufacturing Company, Dubuque)
led the meeting and members had the
opportunity to hear the latest report regarding
legislation facing the Congress. Senator
Grassley then joined in a dialogue with those
present and much information was
shared.
This
was not a political event, as ABI accepts all
invitations to discuss issues with members of
Iowa's Congressional Delegation. Thank you
to Senator Grassley and to those board members
who came from all across Iowa to
participate.
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WELCOA
Recommends 10 Great Resources To Learn More
About HIPAA and
GINA
"Content
provided by the Wellness Council of Iowa. ABI
members receive a special membership discount to
the Wellness Council of Iowa. Contact
info@wellnessiowa.org for more
information."
1.
Final
HIPAA Nondiscrimination Regulations
Spur
Employers
to Review Workplace Wellnes
Programs
For
50 years, Jackson Lewis has placed a high
premium on preventive strategies and positive
solutions in the practice of workplace law. They
partner with employers to devise policies and
procedures promoting constructive employee
relations and limiting disputes. In this
article, they provide a solid overview of the
HIPAA non discrimination act and how it impacts
employers and workplace wellness
initiatives.
2.
Final HIPAA Nondiscrimination and Wellness
Program Regulations
In this excellent whitepaper, McGrath
Gardner highlights the issues related to the
HIPAA Non-Discrimination Act and how it applies
to employers and their workplace wellness
program. She does a particularly good job in
highlighting HIPAA's five conditions of a
standardsbased wellness
program.
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