PUSH CONGRESS TO KEEP VITAL EXPORT-IMPORT BANK ALIVE

There's still time to urge your member of Congress to support renewal of the charter of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. It's in danger of closing on Sept. 30 because the charter that authorizes its operation expires then.

You can lend your voice to support this vital financial institution that has enabled thousands of Alabamians to continue working and their companies to conduct foreign trade by clicking here to send a letter to Congress.

Since 2007, the Bank has provided financing to 82 Alabama exporters supporting $789 million in exports and 5,041 jobs. In 2013 alone, it financed $37 billion in U.S. exports supporting 200,000 jobs nationwide.

The BCA is part of the broad-based Ex-Im Coalition that seeks to support more jobs. The BCA considers renewal of the bank's charter a top federal priority.

Congress returned to Washington, D.C., this week after its August recess and began discussing the bank. House Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, said he was working on a short-term extension of the charter of the 80-year-old agency that provides loans and other financial assistance to foreign customers of U.S. products at no cost to taxpayers.

Extending the bank has bipartisan support, making temporary reauthorization likely if Boehner allows a vote. The Senate would support such a measure.

Last week, U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, said the House's options include temporarily extending the bank to beyond the January installation of new members of Congress, allowing the merits of a multi-year extension to be fully debated and considered in 2015.

The bank pays for itself through interest and fees on its assistance. Last year it sent a $1.1 billion to the U.S. Treasury.

For more information on the reauthorization of the Ex-Im Bank, click here.

Above: Attending a Sept. 3 luncheon sponsored by the Business Council of Alabama and the Birmingham Business Alliance to promote the Export-Import Bank's renewal were, front row from left, Fred McCallum, BCA Chairman and President of AT&T Alabama; U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham; U.S. Export-Import Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg; U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills; top row, from left, BBA President and CEO Brian Hilson; Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama President and CEO Jeremy Arthur, BCA President and CEO William J. Canary; and William C. Cummins, export finance consultant, Alabama International Trade Center.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley and 14 other Republican governors have written President Obama concerning his June 2 proposal to use the Clean Air Act in an attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at existing power plants.

"I am confident the new EPA proposal will hurt hard working families in Alabama by increasing their electricity bills," Governor Bentley said. "The goal of this letter is for governors to identify the concerns we have with the proposal and encourage the President to develop an energy policy that pursues affordable and reliable energy instead of one that will increase electricity bills and, more importantly, cut jobs in Alabama."

In addition, 53 U.S. senators from both parties, including Alabama's Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions, have asked the EPA to extend the public comment period an additional 60 days for states and stakeholders to fully evaluate and respond to a regulation as complex and far-reaching as what EPA is pursuing.
 

The Environmental Protection Agency recently released the Clean Power Plan, which seeks to cut carbon pollution from existing power plants by 30 percent by 2030. Governor Bentley said he also believes that the EPA would exceed its authority if it issues the new regulations.

Earlier this year Governor Bentley wrote EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on behalf of the Southern States Energy Board, which he chairs, expressing concerns with the EPA's direction on power plant emissions. Governor Bentley wrote that economies based on coal and natural gas helped develop a critical manufacturing and industrial base that has improved the quality of life.

The governors' letter highlights five compliance issues and requests an informed plan for the states to address compliance concerns prior to the Oct. 16 comment deadline.

One of the compliance issues is the environmentally destructive requirement to promote unreliable renewable wind energy, which, for example, requires thousands of acres in land space in order to gain the same electricity production of a nuclear power plant that has a relatively small acreage footprint.

The letter also points out that shuttering coal fired generation plants would leave states without adequate backup during extreme weather.

The National Association of Manufacturers says that federal regulations cost business more than $2 trillion a year, or 12 percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product. The impact is greatest on manufacturers with 50 or fewer employees, according to the NAM.

NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said the most "onerous" for manufacturers are environmental and labor regulations. NAM Chief Economist Chad Moutray in a television interview said that the study, released Wednesday, shows that "88 percent of manufacturers see regulatory compliance as a top business challenge." The regulatory costs restrict the economy that still hasn't fully rebounded from the recession.

The Business Council of Alabama urges Washington to enact policies that help businesses to better compete globally and to help them expand and hire more employees.

The NAM study showed that business spent $2 trillion in 2012 to comply with federal regulations, with a disproportionate impact on small businesses and small manufacturers.

The study said that the regulatory cost per employee averaged $9,991 for all firms and $19,564 for manufacturers. The cost for businesses with fewer than 50 employees was $11,724 per employee for all firms and $34,671 for manufacturers.

The cost for large companies of 100 or more employees was $9,083 for small firms and $13,750 for manufacturers.

The differences are the result of fixed costs that smaller firms cannot readily absorb and the per-employee cost advantage due to economies of scale for large employers.

The BCA is the exclusive representative in Alabama of the National Association of Manufacturers.

Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a constitutional amendment backed by Democrats that was designed to reverse two recent Supreme Court decisions on campaign spending. Democrats needed 60 votes to end debate but got only 54 votes.

The symbolic amendment faced tremendous odds of passage because it needed a two-thirds vote in the Senate, then the House, and then ratification by two-thirds of the states. Republicans said the vote was a political stunt by Democrats.

"I have to say it's a little disconcerting to see the Democrat-led Senate focusing on things like reducing free speech protections for the American people," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said. "This is what they chose to make their top legislative priority this week? Taking an eraser to the First Amendment."

The Business Council of Alabama and numerous industries and business-advocacy groups signed a letter opposing Senate Joint Resolution 19 that would eliminate many of the free-speech protections guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The letter signed by 173 businesses and organizations opposed the motion filed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to bring to a vote the proposed amendment allowing the federal government to prohibit or limit speech relating to state elections and to allow states to prohibit or limit speech relating to federal elections.

The letter was drafted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It says that Sen. J. Res. 19 goes against the First Amendment's bedrock principle that the government should not restrict expression based on its message, ideas, content, or political viewpoint.

The amendment's supporters fear "outsiders" - not party bosses - who support candidates who might oppose incumbents. An editorial in the Wall street Journal addresses the amendment.

Republicans support the Supreme Court's decisions in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and McCutcheon v. FEC. Citizens United struck down restrictions that had barred corporations and unions from spending money from their general treasury funds to support or oppose candidates. The McCutcheon ruling struck aggregate limits on individual contributions to candidates.

Democrats argued the Supreme Court decision allows billionaires to flood the campaign spending system with "dark money" in order to buy election results but Reid ignored the millions spent by his billionaire friend, Tom Steyer.

The Business Council of Alabama is one of 400 organizations that signed a letter urging the U.S. House to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. The letter was created by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The letter asks the House to approve a long-term, bipartisan reform bill, which passed the Senate 93-4. The coalition of business and chamber groups asked Congress in April to strongly urge reauthorization of the act, which will expire at the end of 2014 unless action is taken.

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks fundamentally changed insuring against the risk of terrorism in the U.S.   Because there was no way to model risk, insurers were forced to pull out of the marketplace. An inability of insurance policyholders to secure terrorism risk insurance contributed to the economic paralysis, especially in the construction, travel and tourism, manufacturing, and real estate finance sectors.

The TRIA passed in 2002 made it possible for the American economy to get the coverage it needs and at the same time protecting the taxpayer. "TRIA fosters certainty in the marketplace by ensuring that private terrorism risk insurance coverage remains commercially available at virtually no cost to the taxpayer," the U.S. Chamber said.

House Could Vote to Avert Government Shutdown Next Week

The Hill (Wong 9/11) "Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday that the House is still on track to vote next week on a funding bill to avert a government shutdown, but he didn't say whether President Obama's request to authorize training and arming Syrian rebels would be attached to the measure. Boehner said GOP leaders would punt the Syria decision to next week, but that he believed the House could wrap up work before lawmakers return to the campaign trail.

"'I would hope so', Boehner said when asked at a news conference whether the House could finish the funding bill by next week. 'There is no reason to be around here that much longer'. After a closed-door caucus meeting Thursday morning, some GOP lawmakers had suggested the House might have to come back the week of Sept. 29 to get its work done, given the unresolved debate over Syria.

"Boehner said some in his conference were uneasy with the strategy laid out by Obama Wednesday night that included aiding Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), sending more humanitarian aid and deploying 475 additional armed service members to provide non-combat support. Yet Boehner shot down rumors that leaders had decided to link Obama's Syria request to the continuing resolution (CR) funding bill. Some members have been clamoring for separate votes on the items."

The House is scheduled to meet five days next week. Senators have next week to pass a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government operating beyond Sept. 30 and reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank before recessing for November election campaigning.