Local Fighter Wing Receives Overwhelming Response from Business Community

MADISON – The men and women of the 115th Fighter Wing will host the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce Big Night Out. The interactive event with local business leaders is July 18, from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at Truax Field.

“The backbone of the Air National Guard is citizen Airmen who work in area businesses in addition to serving in uniform,” said Col. Jeff Wiegand, Commander 115th FW. “The continued support of the business community for these citizen Airmen both at home and abroad ensures our success.”

The event will allow attendees to view displays of an F-16 Fighting Falcon, inert munitions, the Truax Fire Department, security forces, a mobile medical unit, and an explosive ordnance disposal unit with a bomb defusing robot.

“The local annual impact of the 115th FW is more than $86 million employing nearly 1200 Airmen from Madison and the surrounding areas,” said Zach Brandon, president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce. “Thursday’s event has had an overwhelming response and will be one of the largest business events of the summer. This is a tremendous show of support and recognition for the Fighter Wing and their contributions to our community, region and country.”

A brief program will begin at 5:30 p.m.

About the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce:
The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce is the voice of business with nearly 1,400 organizations – ranging from one-person shops to corporations with more than 6,000 employees – working to bring the Greater Madison area to its full potential. The Greater Madison region is a leader in innovation. From cutting-edge technologies to distinctive retail shops to inventive services and products, Madison businesses vary greatly but are united by the region’s entrepreneurial spirit. More information can be found at www.greatermadisonchamber.com.

Contact: Jo-ell Carson, Communications Director, at 608-443-1952 or 608-213-1799

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Business and Labor Agree on Madison TIF Reform

Unified in support of needed reform to Madison’s Tax Incremental Finance (TIF) policy, the Greater Madison Chamber and the Building and Construction Trades of South-Central Wisconsin issued a joint letter to Mayor Soglin and Madison Alders supporting policy revisions which will grow the city’s property tax base.

Although the existing TIF policy has successfully increased value throughout the city, research also shows that Madison’s created value is lower relative to its tax base compared to neighboring municipalities. Further, Madison’s relative use of TIF has declined, yielding conservative investments within the city at a time when ambitions to redevelop areas of Madison are high. Increased flexibilities within the proposed policy include removing the equity participation payment for profitable projects and modifying the conservative assumptions used to evaluate projects, including the “50% rule” that prohibits more than 50% of the new tax increment generated from being available to the project as gap financing. Further, the policy’s amended “but for” standard, which states that but for city assistance, the project would not otherwise occur, allows for additional competitive factors to be considered for employment-oriented projects.

The EDC’s proposed policy represents a balance of effective and competitive TIF usage, while also providing public protections and discussion to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used prudently and strategically.

Madison’s TIF Policy Review Ad Hoc Committee next meets on August 1 to compare the existing policy and proposed changes and determine their next steps.

“Pay or Play” Delay: What Does It Mean? – Member Commentary from Barbara Zabawa, JD, MPH, Attorney and Health Care Team Leader for Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek

Last week, the US Treasury Department issued a shocking notice that it would delay the employer “pay or play requirement” until 2015.  This delay effectively gives employers more time to determine whether they must offer health coverage to their full-time employees and if they must, how much coverage to offer in order to avoid a $2,000 or $3,000 per full-time employee, depending upon the circumstances.

The Treasury Department’s notice states that it is really postponing the requirement that insurers and employers with 50 or more full-time employees provide the IRS and individuals with notices about the health coverage offered to employees.  Because it is delaying these notices, the Treasury believes that it will be impractical to determine whether employers owe a shared responsibility payment. Because of that impracticality, employers get a reprieve in 2014 from facing any possible financial penalty based on employee health coverage decisions.

The notice indicates that the pay or play  delay does not impact any other part of the Affordable Care Act, such as the individual mandate (i.e., the requirement that each person purchase health insurance coverage by January 1, 2014), the insurance exchange initiatives, or the premium tax credits available to help individuals purchase insurance.

Immediate response to this delay has been mixed.  While many employers have welcomed the additional time to make decisions on offering health coverage, the fact that the individual penalty and insurance exchange provisions remain on track raises some interesting issues. Throughout late Summer and Fall 2013, federal and state efforts will promote the health insurance marketplaces and encourage Wisconsin residents to purchase health insurance to avoid the individual penalty.  Employees who are uninsured and work for employers with more than 50 full-time employees will be directed to the exchanges to meet their individual obligation to purchase insurance.  By the time the employer pay or play mandate takes effect in 2015, many of these employees may have become accustomed to obtaining health coverage through the exchange.  Will this lead to less interest by employees of employer-based coverage?  If so, how will this reduced interest impact the cost of and American society’s reliance on employer-based coverage over the long-term? How will larger employers whose employees obtain coverage in the exchange over the next year lure those employees back to employer-based coverage, if at all? Will less employee interest in employer-based coverage impact the cost of providing coverage to fewer employees who would seek employer-based coverage?

Of course, these questions assume that the exchanges are successful in their marketing efforts and in their operation, which at the time of this writing is not clear.  Ensuring insurance exchange success in 2014 will be a monumental effort by many different players on the state and national level, and public and private spheres.  But, to the extent employee interest in exchanges grows in 2014, employers, employees and the government may need to use the pay or play delay to evaluate the future role of employer-based coverage.

Senate Immigration Bill Includes Key Skilled Worker Reforms Advocated by Greater Madison Chamber

MADISON – The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce released the following statement by Chamber President Zach Brandon in support of the skilled worker provisions contained in the bipartisan immigration bill passed today by the United States Senate:

“The bipartisan legislation passed today advances the needs of U.S. businesses competing in a talent-driven, global marketplace. Specifically, the bill includes a number of key Chamber-supported provisions to significantly increase the number of visas for highly-skilled workers, graduates and entrepreneurs. Such reforms are critical to Greater Madison’s continuing ability to attract the brightest and most innovative minds from across the globe.

“The Chamber has been working to advance these reforms through its participation in ‘Business for Skilled Worker Immigration’, a national coalition of 50 regional Chambers working for skilled worker immigration reforms in this session of Congress. The Senate bill passed today advances each of the Coalition’s priorities, including expansion of H-1B skilled worker visas, increased availability of green cards for STEM graduates, and the creation of entrepreneur visas.

“Enactment of these key immigration reforms, coupled with an increased focus on domestic education priorities and skills training, will help ensure that the U.S. remains a global capital for talent for generations to come. The Greater Madison Chamber and its national coalition partners will continue to work with our respective Congressional delegations in the days and weeks ahead to secure enactment of similar skilled worker immigration reforms in the House.”

About the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce:
The Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce is the voice of business with nearly 1,400 organizations – ranging from one-person shops to corporations with more than 6,000 employees – working to bring the Greater Madison area to its full potential. The Greater Madison region is a leader in innovation. From cutting-edge technologies to distinctive retail shops to inventive services and products, Madison businesses vary greatly but are united by the region’s entrepreneurial spirit. More information can be found at www.greatermadisonchamber.com.

Contact: Jo-ell Carson, Communications Director, at 608-443-1952 or 608-213-1799

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Click here for electronic version of press release

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Proposed fetal tissue ban impairs critical research and local jobs

The Greater Madison Chamber opposes an assembly bill that would ban breakthrough medical research taking place at UW-Madison and in our private sector bioscience community. Read the Chamber’s letter to state lawmakers on Assembly Bill 224 and what it would mean for lifesaving medical research, funding at the university and Wisconsin’s image of being a hub of innovation. The Greater Madison Chamber has taken a position opposing such bans since 2001.