Our Members of Congress are home for their Memorial Day District Work Period from May 31 to June 4. Following are important issues you may want to discuss with them.

Health Care:

Businesses, large and small, have many questions regarding the new, 2400-page heath care overhaul law, the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (PPACA).  This legislation includes many new requirements and mandates for employer-sponsored health care coverage.  The Albany Area Chamber and Doherty, Duggan, and Rouse, Insurors recently co-hosted a seminar to review and discuss the legislation. If you missed it but are interested in learning more, please contact Wendy Martin at [email protected].

Paperwork in Health Care Bill:

H.R. 5141, the “Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act” is a bill designed to repeal the section of PPACA which requires businesses to file 1099 MISC information returns. Unless it is repealed, virtually all businesses, especially small businesses, will be subjected to massive amounts of data collection and information filings with the IRS on all business-to-business transactions aggregating $600 or more in a calendar year.  Please ask your Congressional representatives to supports H.R. 5141.

Energy and Climate Change:

Another key issue for all of us is energy and climate change. Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) recently introduced the “American Power Act,” after months of collaborative meetings and research.  For more information on real energy and climate change solutions that address today’s needs as well as those of the future, visit the www.energyxxi.org and take a look at “Solutions for securing America’s energy future.”

Trade:

A key component of the goal of creating 20 million jobs over the next 10 years is a call to double U.S. exports over the next five years.  President Obama echoed this call during his State of the Union speech. To learn more about opportunities to promote trade visit: www.traderoots.org.

Immigration:

Immigration has morphed from a potential legislative issue into a purely political one by the enactment of SB1070 in Arizona. Immigration should receive early attention in the next Congress. For more information visit: http://www.ewic.org/.