Today is: February 25,
2010
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Platinum
Sponsor
We would like to
thank BrownWinick for sponsoring our Chair's
Dinner on Wednesday, June 9th.
There are more
opportunities available if you would like to be a
sponsor for the 2010 "Taking Care of Business
Conference". If you are interested please click
here.
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ABI
Day on the Hill
Worksite Wellness &
Prevention:
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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
Time
Running Out to Register for ABI Day on the
Hill
Wednesday,
March 10th, ABI will host its third
annual ABI Day on the Hill. Please click
here to register.
After an issue update by ABI
Government Relations staff, we'll shuttle to the
capitol with meetings with key legislative
leaders as well as time to talk with your
individual legislators. Several
groups have rallied at the Capitol and lobbied
legislators to ensure their position is
known-now its ABI members' opportunity!
Lawmakers know business is serious when
you meet them at the Capitol. Please
join
us!
Right to Work Violation
Expanded
As reported, ABI is leading a
broad coalition to defeat HF
2420 which allows
executive branch unions to collect up to 75% of
dues from non-members.
Representative Mary Mascher (D-Iowa City)
this week filed amendment H-8173 to expand this bill to ALL public
employees.
That means school teachers; city and
county employees would all be forced to pay fees
to unions they've chosen not to belong to. Be sure
to bring the "Bad for Iowa" bill up at local
forums with legislators. Continue
reading>>>
Sick
Time Bill May Be
Amended
After
much push-back from employers across Iowa,
Senate leaders are considering amendments to the
mandatory sick leave bill SF
2337.
Originally requiring accrual of up to 18
days of paid sick and safe time, the bill may be
amended down to a minimum of 3 days, but would
require all employers to provide paid leave
policies consistent within the bill's mandated
parameters. Continue
reading>>>
State
WARN Act Discussed Before Senate
Subcommittee
HF
681 which requires employers to
provide 30-day WARN notices was discussed in a
Senate subcommittee Wednesday. The bill
negatively impacts large employers already
subject to federal WARN requirements, but also
places new restrictions small businesses. The bill
applies to all Iowa employers who will lay off
more than 25 employees, and includes rolling
layoffs. Continue reading>>>
Hanawalt
Testifies on Job
Creation
ABI
Board member Mark Hanawalt testified Wednesday
before the House Economic Growth Committee.
Hanawalt, President of United Equipment
Accessories in Waverly, shared an entrepreneur's
perspective on job creation which included
elimination of regulatory burdens as well
cost-drivers that make hiring more
feasible.
Action on Tax Bills
The legislature is beginning to
focus more on tax and budget issues as several
meetings took place this week.
SSB
3234 is the
Department of Revenue's policy bill this
year.
It contains provisions for the department
to turn over all audit information to Iowa
Workforce Development's Worker Misclassification
Unit.
ABI continues to work with a bipartisan
group of legislators on this issue as well as a
number of issues related to tax credits and
exemptions.
Several Environmental Bills Pass
Legislature
ABI members have been increasingly
interested in legislative proposals affecting
the environment. This
past week the Iowa House and Senate passed
several pieces of legislation that are aimed to
"improve" environmental quality. Many of
the proposals only add another task force, or
make a temporary one permanent. Continue
reading>>>
Friday, March 5 is the second
funnel deadline for the 2010 legislative
session, which means all bills must be out of
one chamber and a committee in the other chamber
in order to stay "alive" for the year. All
appropriation and ways and means bills are
exempt from this deadline.
Additionally, leadership bills and bills
referred from one committee to Appropriations or
Ways and Means are also exempt. Continue
reading>>> |
From
the Desk Of...Jim Masterson,
Gently
Down the
Stream...  I'm
writing this just after listening to the
Safeguard Iowa Flood Prediction webinar and
unfortunately based on the model predictions
from the National Weather Service and leading
hydrologists, the streams might not be so gentle
this spring. While
nothing is completely certain at this point, the
above average snow pack, above average ground
saturation and ice depth on some rivers make the
majority of Iowa extremely "sensitive" to any
other contributing factors (i.e. above average
rainfall this spring, fast snowmelt and/or ice
jams).
The red flag was
originally raised soon after the
January 29th flood outlook was published. A
mere 20 days later the outlook has grown even
worse due to additional snow
storms in Iowa and to the north. With
this early warning the Iowa Corp of Engineers
has been working to reduce reservoir levels to
their minimum to compensate for the melt water
to come.
Jeff Zogg, Senior Service
Hydrologist for the National Weather Service,
heavily stressed two important points in his
webinar discussion: 1) The models give
predictive information that allows hydrologists
to understand threats and probabilities, but
there are many factors that come into play in
such large system. A dryer
than average spring, slow melting and preventive
measures such as lowering reservoir levels may
reduce the probability in many areas that are
shown as at-risk in the simulations. Continue
reading>>> Did you
miss the Monday Memo from ABI President Mike
Ralston? For this week's memo
click here. |
Connecting Young Professionals
Event Scheduled for Cedar Rapids
ABI members are invited to join
fellow business leaders and young professionals
in Cedar Rapids on March 11, 2008 @ 4:45 p.m.
for the first in a series of events connecting
Iowa's young talent base with our current
business leaders. ImpactCR
will be the regional host for the networking
event which will take place at the Cedar Rapids
Museum of Art. The event
is free but requires registration.
Register
Here
The purpose of the networking
events is to build the talent base of Iowa's
regions by retaining young professionals and
helping them to understand the skills they will
need to be successful through connections with
existing business leaders. In
addition, it is a great opportunity for our
current business leaders to know and connect
with the existing young professional talent base
in Iowa.
The event is funded and supported
by the Iowa Workforce Development's Lay-Off
Aversion Grant. ABI in
partnership with the Iowa Innovation Gateway and
the Young Professionals of Iowa is working with
IWD to help organize these networking events in
the regions across the State of Iowa.
For more information on this event
or similar events across the state, please visit
www.ypiowa.com or send an e-mail to
info@ypiowa.com. |
WELCOA's
Financial Wellness:
10 Thrifty Ideas for Turbulent
Times
"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. Assess
current health insurance plans - a significant
financial impact can result for your business
and your employees when changes are made in this
area. Make sure that you are working with your
benefits advisor and your health insurance
carrier to ensure that cost-effective options
are implemented.
2. Evaluate
or consider offering "voluntary" benefit options
- these benefits include individual life
insurance, accidental injury coverage, critical
illness insurance, dental, vision, disability
income, long-term care and other benefits that
employees choose and fund through payroll
deductions.
3. Examine
pension offerings - most organizations offer a
401 (k)- type defined contribution pension plan
that encourages employees to make pre-tax
contributions to individually-owned accounts. To
increase employee participation in the plan,
most employers will offer some type of matching
contribution. Continue
reading>>> | |
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