BCA Supports Regulatory Reform Effort

The Business Council of Alabama this week joined hundreds of similar organizations, chambers of commerce, and businesses nationwide in urging House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., to quickly pass the Regulatory Accountability Act that would alter the onerous federal regulatory process.

Nearly 400 entities in a letter from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce urging quick consideration of regulatory reform legislation by the 115th Congress that will be seated in January.

The BCA joined 380 associations from 47 states and the District of Columbia representing a multitude of sectors including agriculture, energy, transportation, and manufacturing in support of reform legislation championed by the U.S. Chamber.

“We believe that federal regulations should be narrowly tailored, supported by strong and credible data and evidence, and impose the least burden possible, while still implementing Congressional intent,” the letter stated. “The Regulatory Accountability Act builds on established principles of fair regulatory process and review that have been embodied in bipartisan executive orders dating to at least the Clinton administration.”

“The ‘Regulatory Accountability Act’ will improve transparency of regulations and require agencies to  gather data, evaluate alternatives, and receive public input about the costs and benefits of its rules much, much earlier in the process than is currently the case,” BCA President and CEO William J. Canary said. “Support for this bill is critical in impressing upon all of Congress that regulatory reform must happen in the next Congress.”

This multi-industry letter is just the start of the U.S. Chamber’s push for regulatory reform in the coming year.


VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT VISITS NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS

Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Thursday sat down with National Association of Manufacturers’ officials. Vice President-elect Pence met with the members of the NAM’s Executive Committee, a group of the country’s most influential manufacturing leaders, at the NAM’s Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

They had a wide-ranging and robust conversation about the policies needed to create jobs and support working families by growing manufacturing in the United States, NAM reported on its website.

Vice President-elect Pence and the leaders discussed the need to work together to deliver tax reform, make necessary investments in our infrastructure, address regulatory burdens, rethink how regulations are developed, rein in health care costs and unleash our energy resource.

The Vice-President elect asked the NAM to help the Trump Administration prioritize which regulations should be reviewed for possible repeal that will best help support, and grow manufacturing jobs in America.

Manufacturers also communicated to the vice president-elect their appreciation of the president-elect’s willingness and commitment to constructively engage with manufacturing leaders and support manufacturing to create jobs and a better business climate in the United States.

The Business Council of Alabama is the NAM’s exclusive representative in Alabama.


MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OF THE STATE OF ALABAMA LAUDS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES PICK

The Medical Association of the State of Alabama applauds the nomination of U.S. Rep. Tom Price for secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, MASA said in a statement.

The Medical Association strongly feels physician leadership of HHS and in the President’s Cabinet would provide the necessary perspective that has been lacking in the health care decisions of our country. Rep. Price is a physician who has worked in private practice as an orthopaedic surgeon for 20 years.

“Congressman Price is a strong advocate for preserving the patient-physician relationship, which includes fighting for patients’ rights as well as preserving physician autonomy,” said Medical Association President David Herrick, M.D. “Dr. Price has worked with our Medical Association leadership for many years on the national level to deregulate medicine and ease the administrative burdens placed on physicians. We feel that as a physician, Dr. Price understands firsthand what the health care system needs to get back on track so our physicians can focus more on treating their patients and less on red tape.”

Should Dr. Price be confirmed as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, he would be the first physician to serve in that position since 1989 and the third physician in the 63-year history of the department.


IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

GOP Readies Cuts to Federal Workforce Under Trump; Reductions Part of Long-Sought Civil Service Overhaul
Roll Call (Miller 12/6) – “For years, Republicans in Congress have been eyeing an overhaul of the federal workforce – by reducing the number of workers and curtailing benefits and pay while making it easier to fire bad employees. Now, with a president-elect who has promised to do much the same, 2017 could be the best time in recent memory to make sweeping changes affecting those who work for the bureaucracy.

“One major plan is being readied by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The Utah Republican calls it ‘high on our agenda’. While details remain sketchy, it would likely mean big changes to the generous retirement benefits given federal workers, mainly by looking to shift new employees from a defined benefit into a market-based 401(k).

“He is also interested in making it easier to fire workers who perform badly and wants to reduce the federal civilian workforce, which currently numbers 2.1 million employees, not including U.S. Postal Service employees. In fiscal 2016, the House and Senate budget resolutions called for a reduction in the number of civilian employees using a formula that would allow agencies to hire one new employee for every three who leave, reducing the workforce by roughly 10 percent while exempting ‘national-security positions’.

“The House budget resolution also called for an eventual phase-out of the defined benefit pension while increasing employee contributions to 6.35 percent, among other benefit changes. The House plan would have saved roughly $281 billion over 10 years, according to figures compiled by Government Executive.”

 

Manufacturers Laud Trump’s Small Business Choice
National Association of Manufacturers (Drogus 12/8) “National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons issued the following statement on the nomination of business executive Linda McMahon as administrator of the Small Business Administration:

“‘President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Linda McMahon is the type of ‘smackdown’ nomination manufacturers in America need. It says loudly and decisively that small businesses, and the manufacturers who are the backbone of the U.S. economy, are a top priority for President-elect Trump.

“‘From her entrepreneurial success at World Wrestling Entertainment to her unabashedly pro-growth U.S. Senate campaign, McMahon has shown throughout her career not only the fitness to lead but also the determination to build businesses and create jobs for all Americans. Her experience adds more muscle to President-elect Trump’s jobs team, as he tags yet another formidable champion for an economy that lifts everyone up and leaves no one behind’.”