News from NUCA of NM

Clean Water Council Endorses Water Trust Fund Bill
Last week, NUCA chaired a meeting of the Clean Water Council (CWC) to strategize for the next several months and plan for CWC activities in 2010. Included on the agenda was a discussion about what (if any) official position the CWC would take on the establishment of a water infrastructure trust fund. The consensus of the group was that the CWC will support efforts to provide a dedicated source of revenue for water infrastructure through a new water trust
fund, but that several issues will have to be addressed in the process. The group also agreed to support Rep. Earl Blumenauer's "Water Protection and Reinvestment Act" (HR 3202), which would establish a water trust fund paid for through new taxes on water-based beverages, "flushable" products, certain pharmaceuticals and a new corporate tax. The general feedback from the CWC groups at the meeting was that while the bill is certainly not perfect, it is a good starting point. NUCA will prepare a letter of support on behalf of the CWC along with a "statement of principles" that need to be considered when establishing a water trust fund. Issues related to "Buy American" provisions, "green infrastructure," asset management of local water and wastewater utilities, and matters relating to "smart growth" initiatives are examples of issues the CWC believes need to be addressed. NUCA has notified Rep. Blumenauer's office of the CWC's initial support, with the stipulation that we believe several issues will need to be vetted as the legislation moves forward.

Coalition for Workplace Safety Lays out Guiding Principles
The Coalition for Workplace Safety (CWS) is a national alliance comprised of associations and employers who work collectively to address a variety of safety issues, largly those arising from OSHA-related legislation and regulations. The CWS recently released a list of principles outlining what the organization stands
for. The principles include:

� Cooperation: Workplace safety can only be achieved when all parties-employers, employees and OSHA-work together to achieve better results. To facilitate OSHA's relationship with employers to improve workplace
safety, personnel such as compliance officers must be fully trained as to what they are inspecting in order to make informed judgments.

� Assistance: Helping employers protect their employees and maintain safe workplaces through effective assistance would produce more results than merely punishing them when they fail to meet all requirements. OSHA should be as much of a resource as an enforcement agency.

� Transparency: Safety regulations must be developed with full transparency of the data, science and studies relied upon. Those who are subject to these regulations must be able to assess and critique the quality of them.

� Clarity: Regulations must be written in simple and clear terms so that small employers and others who need to understand their requirements can do so without the expense and complications of consultants and attorneys. Greater clarity will lead to greater compliance and inevitably to improved workplace safety.

� Accountability: All parties involved in workplace safety must be accountable for their roles. Employers must provide the training, equipment and resources to employees that are needed to ensure a safe work environment.

At the same time, employees must accept that workplace safety also depends on their actions.

Sen. Baucus Unveils Health Care Plan
The long-awaited Senate Finance Committee outline on health care reform was released today by Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT). The "America's Health Future Act of 2009" would require nearly all Americans to have health insurance and restrict insurance companies from dropping coverage based on health status or denying coverage because of preexisting conditions.
The plan would provide for new Web-based insurance "exchanges" to allow consumers to shop for and compare insurance plans. The package would also expand Medicaid and place caps on patients' annual health-care costs. The $856 billion measure would be paid for with $349 billion in new taxes and fees and $507 billion in cuts to government health programs.
Regarding a matter of great importance to NUCA members, the bill would create a state-based "Small Business Health Options Program" to allow small businesses to compare and purchase health care coverage for employees just as individuals would be able to do in the insurance exchanges. Although the plan does not include an "employer mandate" requiring employers to offer health insurance, all employers with more than 50 workers that do not offer coverage would have to reimburse the government for each full-time employee receiving health care affordability tax credits, starting in 2013. Addressing the most contentious issue currently on the table, the plan does not call for a government-run insurance option, as advocated by the president and the more left-leaning members of the Democratic caucus. In an effort to lure at least some Republicans, the plan calls for the establishment of a system of nonprofit consumer-owned cooperatives to compete with private insurers. Initial reaction from Republican lawmakers directly involved in the discussions suggest that the effort didn't work. At press time there was less than enthusiastic feedback from Senate Republicans. NUCA will continue
to provide additional information about the Baucus health care bill as it becomes available, as well as information on other plans floating around the halls of Congress as the debate over America's health care system moves forward.

Excerpted from the Washington Report by NUCA Government Relations Vice-President, Eben Wyman, and NUCA Government Relations Coordinator, Ben Gann.