PUBLIC POLICY
Advocates Argentum For You
Argentum Public Policy Institute & Fly-In From September 11-13, Argentum hosted more than 65 senior living advocates for the annual Public Policy Institute & Fly-In in Washington, D.C. Panelists and speakers from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Coalition to Transform Advanced Care, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Ser- vices, among others, shared updates and insights on programs and policy that impact senior living and those we serve. Argentum members also had the opportunity to meet with several federal legislators and their staffs on Capitol Hill during the annual fly- in, including the offices of Senators Casey (D-PA), Whitehouse (D-RI), Duckworth (D- IL), Scott (R-SC), Collins (R-ME), Gardner (R-CO), and Ernst (R-IA), among others.
State Legislative Activity Over the past several months Argentum has tracked hundreds of bills, narrowing the pool down to about 180 as the most critical to senior living; about 90 of those bills were highly impactful pieces of legis- lation. Thanks to the help of Argentum’s state partners, 21 supported pieces of high impact legislation were enacted, and we were successful in defeating eight high im- pact opposed bills. It is no surprise to see a high level of
state activity in the early months of the year when the majority of state legislatures are in session. Among the legislatures, there were several senior living trends that percolated across the country such as criminal back- ground checks, regulatory requirements for continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs), licensing for independent living, medication aides, and restrictions on refer- ral agencies. Currently, only legislatures in Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New
56 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE / ISSUE 5 2017
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) was presented with the Argentum Senior Living Champion Award during the annual Argentum advocacy fly-in. (L to R): James Balda, Argentum president & chief executive officer, Ed Kenny, LCS chief executive officer, Emily Schweitzer, NRC Health national accounts manager, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Randy Richardson, Vi president, Maribeth Bersani, Argentum chief operating officer, Mike Pochowski, Brookdale Senior Living director of government affairs
York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia are still in session for the re- mainder of 2017. Argentum is closely mon- itoring policy areas that may be addressed in the 2018 state legislative cycle.
Ambush Elections On June 9, Argentum sent a letter to Chair- man Walberg (R-MI) and Rep. Wilson (R- SC) thanking them for sponsoring H.R. 2776, the Workforce Democracy Fairness Act, and H.R. 2775, the Employee Privacy Protection Act. Argentum also sent a letter on June 14 thanking Chairman Alexander (R-TN) for introducing S. 1350, the Work- force Democracy and Fairness Act, which rolls back the ambush election rulemaking.
Tax Reform The Trump administration, the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Senate Committee on Finance recently introduced their unified framework on tax reform. The framework aims to help tax-writing commit- tees draft legislation that will broaden the tax base and help grow the economy. Some high- lights of the framework include lowering the corporate tax rate, creating a new lower tax rate and structure for small businesses, and lowering rates for individuals and families. House Ways and Means Committee Chair- man Kevin Brady is encouraging bipartisan support to accomplish the tax reform goal.
Labor On September 25, the U.S. Senate confirmed William Emanuel to the National Labor Re- lations Board in a 49-47 vote; Republicans now hold a 3-2 majority on the five-seat panel. Emanuel, a labor lawyer at the law firm Littler Mendelson in Los Angeles, has extensive expe- rience in labor-management relations including labor arbitration, labor injunctions, persuader reporting requirements, and public sector labor law, among other matters. Argentum is hopeful that the new fully constituted board will address issues such as the ambush election rule, micro-unions, and other anti-employee and anti-employer decisions made by prior boards. On September 22, Argentum also sub- mitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor in response to the request for information to the proposed overtime rule.
Specialty Healthcare In addition to efforts related to overtime, Argentum supports legislative efforts in the House and Senate to reverse the Specialty Healthcare decision and reinstate the stan- dard for determining bargaining units, which has been in place for over half a century. On May 25, Argentum signed onto letters to both Rep. Rooney (R-FL) and Sen. Isakson (R-GA), thanking them for introducing H.R. 2629 and S. 1217, the Representation Fair- ness Restoration Act, which would reverse the Specialty Healthcare decision.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68