LEGISLATIVE ISSUES — CAN A LAME DUCK FLY?

IMMIGRATION REFORM: This is a highly hot button, national issue that has significant ramifications on industries such as food service and agriculture. While some printers and trade finishers rely on foreign-born, undocumented employees to handle unskilled tasks, the subject of immigration reform hasn’t been considered a key graphic arts industry issue. But in a recent PIA/GATF survey immigration reform and, in particular, the employee liability ramifications of immigration reform, ranked in the top 15 issues of concern for printers nationwide.

However, future immigration bills could impact businesses across the spectrum, particularly those with provisions that call for owners to have more accountability in terms of verification. “There are some in Congress who would like employers to be the immigration police, and we don’t believe that employers should be forced into the role of policing immigration policies,” Lyons contends.

She feels it is unreasonable to expect businesses to be able to spot a counterfeit document—printers may have an advantage over most vocations in their ability to pick out phony documents, but a restaurant owner likely has no experience in evaluating them.

ESTATE TAX: Talk about the myriad of issues surrounding postal reform to a group of commercial printers, and you’ll receive some polite nods. Change the subject to the permanent repeal of the “death tax,” and you’ll have those printers leaning forward in their seats. Alas, you cannot force people to fall in love with a cause; they gravitate toward whatever they feel lies in their best interests.

The estate tax repeal sunsets on December 31, 2010, notes the PIA/GATF vice president of government affairs. Making the repeal permanent before then, while ideal, isn’t realistic under the current Democratic Congressional hold.

According to USA Today, the tax rate is up to 46 percent on estates that exceed $2 million. Barring permanent repeal or reform, that high end rate will reach 60 percent in 2011 and the tax will kick in at $1 million. Increasing the exemption trigger substantially could be the basis for reform.