Tag Archives: bill

International Musician, Legislative Update

Federal Government Tax Reform: What It Means for You

The Republican-led Congress and administration have now embarked on a debate over another feature piece of legislation promised during the 2016 campaign: tax reform. At this writing, the Republican-led House of Representatives has introduced its far reaching reform proposal, which it claims focuses on a tax savings for middle-class Americans. Along with White House regulatory reforms, the House says the bill will provide tax savings and incentives for American businesses, especially those with overseas or offshore operations.

Working alongside the majority party in Congress, the White House is expecting delivery of a complete tax package to the President’s desk before Christmas. The steady grind of the legislative machine in both the US House and Senate since the end of the August recess may drive this package through (loopholes and all), especially if the House and Senate can make a final deal with disgruntled Republicans and some nationally recognized outside groups like the Mortgage Bankers Association, national real estate organizations, and others who are on the fence.

Though the philosophy of the majority party is to move this process through before too many stakeholders weigh in, there are those who believe that the package as written, containing a limit on interest deductions for new home purchases of $500,000 or more and an expansion of the standard deduction (as outlined in a November 3 New York Times article), is a losing proposition, too difficult to sell to their constituents. In the same New York Times article, others, including Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation and the independent Tax Foundation, find that America’s highest earners would receive at least twice the tax cut that middle-class workers would get, as a percentage of their income.

Democrats, along with other outside groups who sit in opposition to the package, say that the plan is not well thought-out and is moving too quickly. It will harm, not help, middle-class Americans because it will raise taxes. Meanwhile, it will eliminate some much sought-after and expected annual tax staples such as state and local tax write-offs (businesses will continue to be able to deduct state and local taxes incurred in the conduct of a trade or business) and House reductions in the mortgage interest cap. Also, it will use funds from the elimination of important programs, such as the CHIP and state Medicaid Expansion, which were put in place to help middle-class Americans. Opponents say this, along with other loopholes, is all to help pay for a tax reform package designed to help wealthy taxpayers.

Concerns for Members

A look at the tax reform package reveals some issues—changes for the average American and for musicians and others in the media and entertainment fields.

The House Ways and Means Committee, the committee that oversees the drafting and implementation of tax legislation, has outlined what the new tax law does. You can read the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act at https://waysandmeans.house.gov/taxreform/. The committee states that the bill:

Lowers individual tax rates for low- and middle-income Americans

Eliminates special-interest deductions

Establishes a new Family Credit, which includes expanding the Child Tax Credit

Reduces the tax rate on the hard-earned business income of Main Street job creators

Significantly increases the standard deduction

Takes action to support American families

Preserves the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit

Lowers the corporate tax rate to 20%

Opposition forces say that the bill falls short of all these goals and leaves the average American subsidizing proposals that only benefit the rich.

Yeh Shen of Local 6 (San Francisco, CA) states, “Under GOP’s tax plan, all of the necessary costs associated with maintaining a freelance career and professional activities are not tax deductible, if players continue to be paid as W-2 wage [earners].”

Winners v. Losers

But, who are the winners and losers? An article from The Hill  describes who stands to gain and who stands to lose. Here’s a summary:

Winners—Corporations will see their tax rate go down from 35% to 20%. Companies would be allowed to deduct the full costs of buying new equipment for five years. And businesses that had been keeping profits overseas to avoid the 35% tax rate would be able to bring the money back, or repatriate to the US, and pay only a 12% tax for cash assets. Major business groups like the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers back provisions to lower rates for businesses, in order to move to a “territorial” tax system that exempts dividends from companies’ foreign subsidiaries and to enhance expensing of capital investments.

Super wealthy individuals will keep the top tax rate in place, but they have a lot to gain from the bill.  First off, the income tax bracket thresholds increase, which will accrue savings at the top. Second, the bill would double the limit on the estate tax and then phase it out altogether. Currently, the estate tax only applies to estates of $5.5 million or more, and twice that for couples. The bill would immediately double that, giving tax shelter to anyone with an estate between $5.5 million and $11 million (or, again, double those amounts for couples). After a few years, the tax would be eliminated altogether, meaning that the very wealthiest in the country could receive their inheritances tax-free. Third, the plan would lower the taxation rates of “pass-through” corporations, or S-corps, to 25%, allowing certain business owners to claim part of their income at the lower rate. Fourth, it would eliminate the alternative minimum tax, which was intended to create a floor on tax exemptions.

Losers—Blue states, the budget deficit, universities, homeowners, and nonprofit organizations.   

House v. Senate Bills

As for House and Senate bill comparisons, Sarah Babbage from Blumberg outlines direct differences in the bills. You can read her analysis at: https://about.bgov.com/blog/bgov-onpoint-comparing-house-senate-tax-bills/.

For musicians, the tax plan in its earliest form hit on two issues that would have directly impacted artists and their supporting institutions. The first was a provision in the code that provided the time and manner rules for electing capital asset treatment for certain self-created musical works. The original temporary regulatory proposal was published in the Federal Register February 8, 2008. No comments appeared in response of the proposed rulemaking and no request for a public hearing was received. The Treasury then decided to adopt the proposed regulation with some minor changes. However, on November 6, 2017, the provision was removed from the Ways and Means Manager’s Report. The Manager’s Report would have allowed a taxpayer to treat the sale or exchange of a musical composition or a copyright of their personal musical work as a capital gain or loss.

Secondly, the House bill eliminates certain language referring to business entertainment write-offs. This could mean fewer business professionals using theater, restaurant, and other performance venues as write-off activities for their clients. Section 3307 entitled “Entertainment, etc. Expenses,” denies a business deduction for entertainment, amusement, recreation, and other fringe benefits in the media and entertainment industry to embrace or entice business partners. The provision goes on to say: “No deduction otherwise allowable under this chapter shall be allowed for amounts paid or incurred for any of the following items … this may impact any entertainment, amusement, or recreation activity; membership dues; amenities not directly related to the taxpayers trade or business; or on-premise athletic facilities, not related to a trade or business.” 

The Senate bill, introduced November 14, is currently under debate. We must consider that, at this writing, the House bill is still under consideration and the Senate bill, though just introduced, has additional changes. No new policy is set in stone until the chamber has a final vote on it. However, we expect those votes very soon. The AFM will continue to work with its affiliates and outside partners to help mitigate the negative effects of this legislation.

Recent News

On Labor Day Workers Demonstrated for Minimum Wage Raise

During Labor Day, the Fight for $15 movement organized protests in 300 cities across the US. In Chicago, hundreds of fast food workers, hospital employees, and airport workers advocated for higher wages and better benefits through a series of walkouts and marches. Members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) demonstrated with supporters of the national Fight for $15 movement. Illinois Republican Governor Bruce Rauner recently vetoed a bill that would have raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022, arguing that it would negatively affect businesses and reduce jobs.

Fast food workers in Boston went on strike Labor Day to highlight their demand for a $15 minimum wage. In Massachusetts, the $15 minimum applies to home care workers and select companies that have chosen to offer it. A planned November 2018 ballot proposal would incrementally raise the minimum from $11 to $15 by 2022.

The $15 minimum wage has been implemented in New York City, California, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis.

health care
Legislative Update

Renewed Focus on Arts, Health Care, and Performance Rights

NEA and CPB Funding

In a May 31 communique, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka released an analysis of the White House’s FY 2018 federal budget. Within the Document entitled, Budget of the US Government: A New Foundation for American Greatness, the White House made several recommendations that cut short the ability of the US Government to invest in arts and culture. Under the section “Other Programs and Agencies Eliminated,” they list the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.  

The White House’s March 18 budget release was merely an outline of the budget, which allowed AFM members to organize a Save the NEA campaign, an email campaign to Members of Congress expressing AFM members’ discontent over White House budget cuts to the arts. This successful mobilization program allowed AFM members, family, and friends to send approximately 4,301 emails to members of Congress encouraging them to make adjustments in the congressional appropriations process to recognize the intrinsic value of arts funding. In particular, such funding promotes a vibrant economy that, in turn, generates and contributes significant tax dollars designed to reinvest in local communities. For every dollar contributed by the NEA, the agency generates eight dollars to the community’s financial well-being.

Our work continues with the letter writing campaign in support of the tireless efforts of the House Arts Caucus led by Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ), along with the Department for Professional Employees of the AFL-CIO, the Congressional Arts Group, and myriad other individual artists and arts organizations across the country. If you have not written a letter to Congress on this vitally important issue, please visit the AFM website (www.afm.org/2017/02/nea) for information.

Health Care

Republicans are looking to complete the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare. The new legislation, which passed the House May 4 by a vote of 217 to 213 (with 20 Republicans and all Democrats voting against it), is now under consideration in the Senate. The House bill suffered through interparty squabbling as various Republican caucuses disagreed with certain provisions. There were fears that, if passed, the poorly crafted bill could lead to a Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives.

Among principal concerns from Republicans was the belief that the bill should include provisions for coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, as well as those with employer-based health insurance. After a month of wrangling, the bill was yanked from the floor, with both moderates and conservatives threatening not to vote for the bill until these issues were worked out.  

In the House, the Budget Office (CBO) score was not released until after the bill was passed. It showed that more than 23 million Americans could lose their health care benefits by 2026—more people than if Obamacare remained intact.

After House passage, the bill moved to the Senate where Senators agreed to disagree with the content of the bill and decided to totally rewrite it. As the House moved as quickly as it could to put a bill in place, the Senate worked behind closed doors with 13 Republican Senators drafting a revised bill. There was major concern over the bill being drafted without a CBO score analyzing its costs. The Senate decided to delay releasing its bill until all the pieces are in place. Democrats protested because the bill will apparently not be the subject of committee hearings or debate on the floor. Democrats also complain the bill may cause unnecessary spikes in premiums for low-income families, older Americans, and those with pre-existing conditions.

As of this writing, the Senate is looking to release its bill by June 19, aiming for a full vote in the chamber just prior to the July 4th holiday recess. Many senators are hoping for a revised CBO score before they vote for the bill.

Fair Play Fair Pay Act

The AFM’s work toward a legislative solution to a performance right on AM/FM radio continues. H.R. 1836, the Fair Play Fair Pay Act, which was introduced by Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), is a key piece of legislation being spearheaded by the musicFIRST Coalition. First, the bill levels the playing field by having AM/FM radio stations pay performance royalties for music they air. Secondly, it provides real protection for small, local stations (AM/FM stations with annual revenues below $1 million) to pay just $500 a year. Public, college, and other noncommercial stations would pay only $100 a year. Religious radio, talk radio, and those stations with incidental use of music would not pay royalties. The bill also contains language that provides copyright protections for pre-1972 artists who currently do not receive royalties for their works.

The coalition is currently working with House Judiciary Chair Robert Goodlatte (R-VA) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI) to bring the parties together. Nadler, Blackburn, and the musicFIRST Coalition continue to build support of cosponsors for the package. Despite broadcaster efforts to stop the bill, and thanks to the work of an ambitious team of legislative representatives, the bill continues to build bipartisan co-sponsorship.

More importantly, through musicFIRST, the AFM is working to help build a comprehensive music package that includes Copyright Office Reform and HR 1914, the PROMOTE Act offered by Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA), which would provide the right to copyright owners to prohibit the use of sound recordings by broadcasters, unless permission is granted by the copyright owner.

Right to Work
Recent News

Protect Your Union Against National Right to Work

by Todd Jelen, AFM Symphonic Services Division Negotiator, Organizer, Educator

“Right to work” laws may soon be coming to every state in the union. On February 1, Representative Steve King (R-IA) introduced a bill crafted by the National Right to Work Foundation that would make private sector workplaces in every state right to work. This means that employees would receive the benefits of collective bargaining without being required to be union members. In addition, the bill would alter the Railway Labor Act, making railway and airline jobs right to work, which will not only affect our brothers and sisters in those industries, but could possibly make our airlines and rail systems less safe. The arguments against right to work have been well documented in the International Musician over the past few months. I would like to discuss what each of us can do to fight against the effects of these laws and to grow our power in the face of coming adversity. Following are a few simple things you can do to prepare your contracts. 

1) Negotiate multi-year contracts before the law takes effect. Contracts in place when the law takes effect will be enforced (including the union security clause) for the life of the agreement. Use this time to organize and get ready for the future.

2) Don’t eliminate union security clauses. Despite what management may assert, retaining your current union security clause is not illegal; these clauses are just unenforceable. In the event right to work legislation is later repealed, your union security clause will once again come into effect.

3) Don’t alter work dues check-off language or forms. Management often tries to convince the union that dues check-off is a part of right to work. Dues check-off is, instead, governed by several National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) cases and is unaffected by right to work legislation. Management acts only as a pass-through for dues remitted pursuant to an agreement between the union and its members.

4) Maintain the role of the union as exclusive bargaining agent. Management may attempt to dilute this role through “artistic policy” committees or through musician representatives to symphony boards. By discussing wages, hours, and conditions of work under the guise of “artistic policy” or board privilege, they hope to circumvent the union and its agents, the orchestra committee. Don’t agree to provisions in your contract that would overempower these committees. Be vigilant of management pressuring musicians who serve on committees into overstepping their roles.   

In addition to the above precautions, the single best practice against right to work has always been to organize your members. For those of us currently in free bargaining states, it is time to start analyzing your workplaces for possible fault lines. You should have an accurate idea of what everyone’s issues and concerns in the workplace are so you can effectively address them all. Create short and long-term plans to realize each issue and include members in their planning and execution. 

As we analyze our workplaces, we must also analyze ourselves. Do we truly hear others’ opinions or do we brush them off? Do we include minority opinions in our conversations, or do we push on without regard to them? Organizing is difficult and takes time to do effectively. Well-meaning advocates can often perpetuate the very divides we are trying to heal when they cut corners. We can only engage everyone in the process when all are heard and given an opportunity to participate. Inclusion leads to ownership, which leads to solidarity and true power to fight for our interests in the workplace!

For those of us already in right to work states, this may seem like business as usual, but it doesn’t have to be. There are many cases in process that seek to challenge, as well as to expand, right to work laws and national right to work may be ineffective for some time, pending the outcomes. In addition, you are about to see your brothers and sisters in free bargaining states come together to combat right to work.  Now is your time to join their call to action to bring the fight to all 50 states. If we all work together, we can improve our circumstances no matter what congress and corporate interests try to impose on our workplace democracy!

Recent News

Bill Changes Overtime Protections

Though the Working Families Flexibility Act has been touted as an attempt to provide employees with work flexibility, what it really does is provide employers additional flexibility in allowing them to compensate workers with paid time off (comp time) instead of overtime. The Republican backed measure was just passed by the House of Representatives and the Trump administration has come out in support of the bill in its current form. Democrats strongly oppose the bill because it gives employers final say in when comp time is used.

 

Recent News

Conservatives Force Anti-union Bill into Law in Canada

An unconstitutional, anti-union bill (Bill C-377) has been forced through the Canadian Senate. Seven provinces oppose the bill, stating that it intrudes into provincial jurisdiction. Experts agree that the bill is unconstitutional for several other reasons as well, and when challenged in courts, will not survive. The bill attempts to force unions to disclose all of their financial information employers and to the general public. Unions and individuals across the board oppose the bill, from the NHL Players Association to the AFM to Conservative and Liberal senators to constitutional experts. The best opportunity for the public to oppose Bill C-377 is in the upcoming federal election.

Recent News

The NEA Needs Your Support Now

The House is currently considering legislation that funds the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and other cultural agencies. Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY), who is the Congressional Arts Caucus co-chair, is urging musicians to remind their members of Congress about the importance of arts and arts funding. Efforts to increase NEA funding from $146 million to $2 million, as requested by President Obama, have so far failed. We are currently hoping to maintain level funding for the NEA, and to reject any attempt to reduce it. Share this Top 10 Reasons to Support the Arts and to get your message of support across visit: https://www.votervoice.net/ARTSUSA/Campaigns/41478/Respond.

 

Recent News

Working Families Blocked from Reading TPP Text

On June 2, working families, labor leaders, members of Congress, and community allies gathered at the AFL-CIO headquarters, behind the White House, and unveiled a giant banner with two simple requests: “show us the text” and “show us the jobs.” If TPP is in fact the “most progressive trade deal in history,” which will lead to the creation of 700,000 jobs, why aren’t Americans being allowed to read it? After the unveiling, rally attendees marched to the US Trade Representatives office to ask to read the text. The normally open door was locked and when the workers knocked there was no answer. The workers promised a mass calling of Congress on June 2. Do your part and tell Congress to stop Fast Track  and the bargaining of trade deals behind closed doors.

Officer Columns, Vice President from Canada

Copyright Extended and Anti-Union Bill C-377 Moves Forward

 

Prior to May of this year, the copyright on sound recordings in Canada extended 50 years after release. In a surprise move, the Harper government, without any public consultation or discussion, moved to extend protection to 70 years as part of the budget. Sadly, the change did not include authors and publishers, where copyright protects the song for the life of the author plus 50 years.

Continue reading →

Recent News

Healthy Families Act Would Let Workers Earn Sick Time

In February, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CN) introduced the Healthy Families Act to give workers the opportunity to earn up to seven paid sick days. More than 43 million American workers currently earn no sick time and have to make a choice between losing wages and staying home if they or a family member are ill.

According to the AFL-CIO website, more than four in 10 private-sector workers and 81% of low-wage workers do not have paid sick days. A 2014 study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research shows that Latinos and those who make less than $20,000 a year are the workers least likely to have paid sick days. Even worse is the fact that many of the workers without sick days are food preparation or service workers, despite health department recommendations that these workers not go to work sick.

There is growing momentum across the country to pass paid family leave and paid sick days legislation. Twenty jurisdictions nationwide now have paid sick day laws in place. Philadelphia is the most recent city to pass legislation.

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