AAC F A M I L Y & F R I E N D S » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » About NACo – The Voice of America’s Counties
www.naco.org Treasury issues final rules exempting county
volunteers from ACA coverage requirement By Hadi Sedigh On Feb. 11, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued final rules, af- ter an initial announcement on Jan. 10, clarifying that the hours worked by volunteer firefighters and other bona fide volunteers will not trigger the health insurance coverage requirement under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In response to concerns raised by NACo, the International Associa- tion of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and other local government groups, the final regulations clarify that bona fide volunteers include any volunteer who is an employee of a government entity or 501(c)(3) organization whose only compensation from that entity or organization is “in the form of (i) reimbursement for (or reasonable allowance for) reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of services by volunteers, or (ii) reasonable benefits (including length of service awards), and nominal fees, customar- ily paid by similar entities in connection with the performance of services by volunteers.” Under the ACA, employers with 50 or more full time workers are re-
quired to offer affordable comprehensive health insurance to their em- ployees or be subject to a penalty. Te ACA generally defines full-time employees as those who work 30 or more hours per week, with the hours of part-time workers combined into full-time equivalent employees (FTEs).
Long-term debt ceiling bill clears congress Before departing Washington for the President’s Day recess, Congress
approved legislation (S. 540) that would suspend the statutory debt ceil- ing limit of $17.2 trillion through March, 2015. On Feb. 11, the House approved the measure by a vote of 221 to 201. Te Senate followed suit on Feb. 12 by a final vote of 55-43. Te final vote in the Senate occurred after Minority Leader Mitch Mc- Connell (R-Ky.) and Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) led efforts to hold a cloture vote – a procedural method to end debate on a measure – which was needed because of opposition from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Te chamber voted 67-31 in favor of ending debate. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) had originally contemplated offering a bill that included a provision to restore a one percent cut to military pensions. However, when it became clear that the Republican caucus would not vote for the cut, he offered a clean bill to the Demo- crats, who accounted for the vast majority (193) of the votes in favor of the bill.
House Endangered Species Task Force release recommendations On Feb. 4, the House Endangered Species Working Group released a 64-page report detailing its findings and recommendations related to reforms of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Te Task Force recom-
mended changes to the ESA that would: n Ensure greater transparency and prioritization of ESA with a focus on species recovery and de-listing;
COUNTY LINES, WINTER 2014
National Association of Counties (NACo) is the only national organization that represents county governments in the U.S. NACo provides essential services to the nation’s 3,068 coun- ties. NACo advances issues with a unified voice before the federal government, improves the public’s understanding of county government, assists counties in finding and sharing innova- tive solutions through education and research and provides value-added services to save counties and taxpayers money.
n Reduce ESA litigation and encouraging settlement reform n Empower states, tribes, local governments and private landowners
on ESA decisions affecting them and their property and; n Require more transparency of ESA data and science.
Te group was established last spring by Chairman Doc Hastings (R-
Wash.) of the House Committee on Natural Resources. NACo has ad- opted policy which supports efforts to reform the Act, and will continue to work individually, and within the National Endangered Species Act Reform Coalition, of which NACo is a member, to promote reforms in the ESA.
FCC to start trials on retiring traditional landlines, announces new funding for rural broadband By Yejin Jang On Jan. 30, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued
an Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking outlining the requirements for telecommunications service providers to begin experi- ments in substituting new phone technologies (namely, Internet Proto- col-based technologies) for the copper-based traditional landlines that are used today. Telecommunications providers would begin these experiments with intent to discontinue landline services while preserving values inherent in America’s communications network like universal service, public safety, competition and consumer protection. In essence, the FCC is collecting proposals from telecommunications providers for transitioning consum- ers off of copper-based landlines to an Internet, IP-based network which will allow telecommunications carriers to experiment with providing voice and other services using Internet protocol, delivered over coaxial cable, fiber or wireless technologies. Telecommunications providers will now start submitting experiment
proposals to the FCC. Te proposals must ensure the following: n Continued consumer access to 911/E911 emergency services; n In the event of a public safety failure in the course of an experiment, the provider must be able to immediately fix the IP-based service, restore
its legacy (copper-based landline) service or provide a comparable service; n Protect cybersecurity; n Ensure access for persons with disabilities and; n No consumer should lose access to service or critical functionalities
as a result of the experiment. All proposals will be subject to public comment. Te FCC is scheduled to make a decision on submitted proposals at its May 15 meeting. In addition to outlining principles and conditions for an IP transition experiment, the FCC also intends to provide funding for experiments to extend Internet and Internet-based services to rural areas using unallocated amounts from the Connect America Fund. Te FCC intends to use these experiments to help craft a long-term Connect America mechanism that would ensure that consumers in rural
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