Policy Clearinghouse

Member Profile - Brynn Allio

Government Relations Division Member Profile

Brynn Allio
Manager, Government Relations
Council of Smaller Enterprise (COSE), part of the Greater Cleveland (OH) Partnership

Brynn is an active member of the Government Relations Division and regularly contributes information to the Policy Clearinghouse. As Manger of Government Relations at COSE she is responsible for overseeing issues on the state and federal levels, including workers' compensation, energy and regulatory reform. She also works with her team to manage issues such as Card Check, and Mandatory Paid Sick Leave. COSE is the Northeast Ohio region's largest small business support organization and provides cost-effective group purchasing programs, advocacy on legislative and regulatory issues, and networking and educational resources to help small businesses grow.

ACCE: How did you get started in chamber work, and what keeps you in the profession?

Brynn: I was working for a homebuilder and enjoyed the job, but every day when I drove home I couldn't help thinking, "so what." I wanted my work to make a difference in the community, so when I saw that COSE was hiring in their government relations department, I applied. I've been here for over three years now.

I have small business owners in my family, and I know that they are the lifeblood of the community. My passion for helping our amazing members run their businesses successfully keeps me excited to start work everyday.

ACCE: What policy issues are currently occupying your most of time?

Brynn: On the federal front we are maintaining our focus on Card Check. The national debate on health care is also taking center stage. At the state level we are spending a lot of time on regulatory reforms, specifically related to economic development policy. We're also working on an electricity rating statute. COSE is focused on energy efficiency; we are actually working on a project with the local utility provider to help them meet efficiency goals by educating business customers about energy saving techniques.

The state budget is also a big focus right now. Ohio is facing a $3.2 billion deficit, and we're actively monitoring budget proposals to watch for possible tax increases that will negatively impact businesses.

ACCE: What are the biggest challenges your chamber/community currently face?

Brynn: I think our biggest ongoing challenge is getting our member's attention and then converting that interest into involvement. Our small business members are always short on two things, money and time, so getting them to spend time to understand a policy issue and then take more time make calls or write letters is a challenge.

Big, galvanizing issues like Card Check, however, have helped us move members from interest to action. Early this year we set up a special website about Card Check that helped facilitate outreach to elected officials. Within 3 days small businesses in Cleveland had sent more than 1,400 letters opposing Card Check legislation. Many of those people are now more likely to get involved in other big issues.

ACCE: Finish this sentence. Never again will I ...

Brynn: Never again will I ... take for granted the value of member feedback and participation. With over 17,000 members, we have access to a diverse and passionate group of small business owners whose knowledge and experience serve as a critical resource for us as we develop and implement our policy objectives. Further, the interaction and involvement from members is invaluable as we continue work to build a large network of individuals who will work together to fight for small business interests. Bottom line – I've learned the importance of utilizing members as a resource for information and support in order to strengthen our message and our impact.

Chamber Hits the Track

If you watched the NASCAR Nationwide series race on June 13 at Kentucky Speedway you may have glimpsed an interesting logo roaring around the track.  Yes indeed, that is the logo for the Greater Owensboro (KY) Chamber of Commerce on the bottom quarterpanel near the rear tire on the Number 0 car.

Mark Green, the car's driver, is an Owensboro native and when car owner JD Motorsports was looking for a sponsor for the Meijer 300 in Kentucky they turned to Owensboro Chamber President Jody Wassmer for help.  Jody turned to K. Wayne Foster, founder of American Patriot Getaways and 2009 Board Chair of the Owensboro Chamber.

"I knew Wayne was a big NASCAR fan," Wassmer said. "I told him about it, and he got everything on the car."

"Wayne is very community oriented," said Wassmer. "It's not costing the chamber anything. And it's not every day a chamber of any size gets to have its name on a car."

NASCAR fans, eat your hearts out.

ACCE Convention Speaker Profile - Gene Barr, Pennsylvania Chamber

Want to learn more about where Card Check is at, where its headed, and what we can take away from the past 6-10 months battling this proposal?  Join us at the ACCE Convention.

Gene Barr, Vice President of Government and Public Affairs for the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, will cover all those topics at the ACCE Convention workshop - Card Check: Lessons Learnedon Friday, July 31 at 11:15 am.  Barr will recap the history of this bill and it's potential implications for businesses and examine where the legislation is headed including the possibilities for a Card Check Lite compromise.  He'll also dig in to the lessons the chamber community can take from the ongoing Card Check fight about grassroots engagement, effective lobbying, and coordinating efforts.

Gene began his career at the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry in 2003.  His overall responsibilities include all legislative, regulatory, and political activities, as well as external communication. He was also appointed by Governor Ed Rendell to the Stimulus Oversight Commission and Unemployment Compensation Advisory Commission.

Card Check Lite?

2009 has been a roller coaster year for Card Check.  EFCA was riding high at the start of the year, but has seen support erode as businesses ramped up grassroots advocacy efforts.  House Democrats would likely pass a Card Check proposal, but have deferred leadership to Senate Democrats.  Even with Al Franken (who was seated yesterday as Minnesota's junior Senator) the Senate Democrats lacks a filibuster proof majority on Card Check because several Senators, including Lincoln, Feinstein, and Specter, have voiced opposition.  Others such as Landrieu, Nelson and Webb have expressed concerns.

But you shouldn't count out Card Check yet. Not by a long shot. Compromise discussions are underway businesses could soon be faced with "Card Check Lite" that may contain many of the onerous provisions of the first bill including binding arbitration.

If you haven't tuned in to the Card Check discussion for a few weeks, you need to get plugged back in.  This article - Stay Tuned For Card Check "Lite" by the US Chamber's Glenn Spencer - offers a good recap of where a compromise might be headed and what that means for business.

State Tax and Budget Trends and Resources

Most states started their 2010 fiscal year today, but not all have budgets in place.  Late night budget deliberations yesterday in California, Pennsylvania, and Illinois broke down before any resolutions were reached, leaving those states operating without any way to pay bills or state employees.  Many others scrambled to get budget finished, some still have major holes, some are only running by executive order.  Click HERE to read more about the budget troubles from Connecticut to Arizona.

Merely having a budget in place does not put your state in the clear.  48 states are facing significant budget deficits, so unless you are in Montana or North Dakota, this issue is immediately pressing.

How can states bridge the gap between their projected expenses and projected revenue?  In some cases federal stimulus money is helping, but that's obviously a short term fix and the feds signaled to California last week that they are not interested in stepping in to cover operating budgets.  That leaves two basic options - cut costs (i.e. slash services) and/or raise revenue (i.e. hiketaxes and fees).  Neither are easy and chambers of commerce must be on guard for both.

There are certainly ways to cut state government expense and waste, however, many government services from police and fire protection to education to economic development and tourism promotion are integral to the prosperity of our communities.  On the revenue side, businesses are often a target for tax increases as opposed to broader taxes like income, sales or property.  But chambers know that increased business taxes impact everyone by dissuading hiring and investment by business.

Some trends to watch -

• Income Tax Hike on the Wealthy - New York increased income taxes more than 2% on individuals earning more than 500K
• Sin Taxes - Florida and Rhode Island increased cigarette taxes $1 per pack, others have followed suit with tobacco and alcohol tax hikes
• Increased court fees, vehicle registration fees and other sources of non-tax revenue

Here are some website that offer helpful resources related to state tax and budgets:

Stateline.org - Legislative Year in Review  - this Pew Foundation funded project offers a great collection state legislative trends.  The website also has links to other articles about state issues.

National Association of State Budget Officers - their Fiscal Survey of States, conducted in conjunction with the National Governor's Association, offers analysis and raw data about how states are faring financially.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - this left leaning DC think tank has good aggregated trends data about how states are coping with budget deficits.

Tax Foundation - this DC think tank offers analysis of local, state and federal tax with an emphasis on tax policy that is simple, transparent, neutral, stable, not retroactive and broad based.

Climate Change Bill Passes House

Last Friday the American Clean Energy and Security Act (Waxman-Markey Climate Change Bill) passed the House by a seven vote margin, 219-212.  44 Democrats opposed the measure, 8 Republican voted in favor.  President Obama is urging the Senate to take up debate about the bill quickly.  The bill would implement a cap-and-trade system to regulate CO2 emissions.

If you are getting up to speed on this important issue, here are a few articles you should read:

This Reuters piece offers an overview of the bill's basic provisions - FACTBOX: Key energy elements in U.S. climate bill

For info on tariffs and protectionism in the legislation, check out this article from the Washington Post - Obama Praises Climate Bill's Progress but Opposes Its Tariffs

For info on how CO2 credits were allocated and the impact on that would have on utility and oil companies, read this Bloomberg article - Climate Bill Helps Utilities More Than Oil Companies

For thoughts on the political ramifications of this bill, check out this Politico article: Climate change bill: Obama's must-win

NAM - The National Association of Manufactures - opposes Waxman-Markey.  Click to access their Climate Change Toolkit which includes a pdf of their letter to Congress opposing the legislation.

Looming Crisis in Federal Transportation Funds

This Wednesday, Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Pocari sent a letter warning state transportation departments that the Federal Highway Trust Fund is short on cash.  In the near term, this shortfall will impact reimbursements to states for federally funded highway projects, potentially  impacting state's payments to contractors and thus threatening highway construction jobs.

Click here to read the press release from AASHTO (the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials)

In the longer term, this shortfall underscores the need for a stable, sustained source of funding for transportation in America.  Changing driving habits - partially a result of the economic downturn - and increased vehicle fuel efficiency are contributing to a decrease in gas tax revenue, the traditional funding stream for transportation.  The Obama administration has called for an 18 month extension of highway funding at existing levels to give Congress time to reach a longer term solution.  A letter this week to Obama from 43 House Democrats from the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee calls, instead, for "a six-year, $500 billion bill that would increase highway aid 40 percent and double transit funding."

Click to read more in this article from the Seattle Times.

Green Buildings by Mandate

An article in the July issue of Shopping Centers Today, the International Council of Shopping Center's industry magazine, highlights a growing regulatory trend - mandated green building standards for new construction.

Cities, rather than states or the feds, are leading the push for green building standards. The SCT article sites a 2006 mandate in Washington, D.C. which demands that "all new private developments over 50,000 square feet meet at least the lowest LEED standard."  Boston followed suit in 2007 with a similar law that also included green standard obligations for some renovation projects.  San Francisco took green building mandates a step further in 2008 with "an ordinance that applies green building standards to new commercial structures over 5,000 square feet... (and) to residential buildings taller than 75 feet."

The first state to implement mandatory green building standards will likely be California where an existing voluntary green building code is set to be phased in as regulation.

What does this trend toward green building regulation mean?  It certainly has the potential to add time and headaches to the building permitting process.  It will also impact architecture and engineering firms that are not well versed in green building standards.  Added cost to new building projects is also a concern, however there are examples of green buildings that have been constructed at or below the cost of a similar conventional building. 

A 2003 US Department of Energy report titled The Business Case for Sustainable Design in Federal Facilitiescites six large scale green building projects, including one in the private sector, with an initial cost closely comparable to or even less than that of a similar conventional construction project.  The private sector case study from this report, a Herman Miller complex in Zeeland, Michigan, was constructed at a cost of $89 per square foot, a figure $46 less than they spent on another traditional office building, yielding a savings of over 4 million dollars.  Click HERE for a link to the US DOE report.

The US Green Building Council also argues that green buildings can also lead to long term cost savings through reduced operating costs by using less energy and water, and improved productivity through lower employee illness and absenteeism due to improved indoor air quality.

The US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification program for green buildings has been around for more than a decade and is the most widely recognized green building standard.  The US GBC website describes the LEED program as:

"...third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO₂ emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts."

Last year's ACCE Convention was held in Pittsburgh's David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the largest LEED gold certified green convention center in America.  The Raleigh Convention Center, where we'll be for the 2009 Convention, expects results from their LEED certification application this summer.

For more on this issue, check out the Green Building Issue Brief from ACCE's Policy Clearinghouse.org.

Tobacco Taxes on the Rise

Tobacco made headlines this week when President Obama signed legislation authorizing FDA regulation of the tobacco industry.  A lesser reported tobacco story is the tax hit smokers are taking in this economy.

47 states face major budget deficits, and no one has the stomach for broad income, property or sales tax hikes, particuarly since we're trying to claw our way out of the downturn.  Thus, "sin taxes" are one of the few politically viable ways to generate revenue and narrow groups may end up shouldering a disproportionate share of the budget gap burden.

Here's an excerpt from a Stateline.org article on the topic:

"For lawmakers scrounging to balance state budgets in a recession, tobacco taxes were one of the most popular options on the table this year. Seven states  — Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Mississippi, Rhode Island and Vermont — tapped smokers’ wallets to help fill their budget gaps, up from two states in 2008. More than 20 additional states debated whether to follow suit, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures."

The same Stateline article includes a chart listing all the state cigarette taxes, from the lowest in South Carolina ($.07 per pack) the the highest in New York ($2.75 per pack).  Click HERE.

ACCE Convention Speaker Profile - Keith Trent, Duke Energy

Questions about the Waxman-Markey Energy Bill? Interested in the economic development potential of solar and wind energy?  Want to know what role nuclear might play in our national energy policy?  Get answers to those questions at the ACCE Convention in Raleigh, July 29-Aug 1.

B. Keith Trent, Chief Strategy, Policy, and Regulatory Officer at Duke Energy, will examine national energy policy at our convention workshop: Energy: Renewables, Mandates and the New Economy on July 30 at 11:15 am.  Trent is responsible for strategy, federal policy and government affairs, energy efficiency and technology initiatives, environmental health and safety policy, corporate communications, and sustainability and community affairs. He was formerly Duke Energy's chief development officer and general counsel.

Headquartered in Charlotte, NC, Duke Energy is one of the largest electric power companies in the United States.  They supply and deliver energy to approximately 4 million U.S. customers and have approximately 35,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity in the Midwest and the Carolinas.

For more information about the 2009 ACCE Convention and to register go to www.acce.org/convention.