News and Analysis
SBA Wants Your Comments on Regulatory Barriers, Sessions in Cincinnati and Cleveland
July 21, 2017Ohio manufacturers are invited to participate in upcoming roundtables organized by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
The purpose of these roundtables is to help the federal government identify specific regulatory barriers to small business growth through first-hand testimony. You’ll be assisting federal agencies in complying with the president’s directive to eliminate burdensome regulations.
Representatives of federal agencies and congressional offices are expected to attend the roundtables.
The Cincinnati roundtable will take place at the Hyatt Regency beginning at 9:00 a.m. on August 1. The Cleveland roundtable will be held at the Hilton Downtown beginning at 9:00 a.m. on August 3. Here are the details. Sign up here.
The SBA has also established an online form for small businesses that may not be able to attend, but have regulatory issues on which they’d like to comment. 7/17/2017
Manufacturers Oppose Nomination of Garrett for Ex-Im Bank Leader
July 14, 2017This week, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the OMA declared their opposition to the nomination of former Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) to chair the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) and called for Ohio Senators Brown and Portman to oppose the nomination.
NAM President & CEO Jay Timmons said in this Wall Street Journal op-ed: “(Garrett’s) confirmation would be a terrible trade deal for our country. His record of aggressively undermining the Ex-Im Bank is tantamount to a vicious trade war against American manufacturing workers.”
Ex-Im Bank programs, such as working capital loan guarantees and credit insurance guarantees, enable thousands of U.S. small businesses to export by ensuring that they have the financing they need to manufacture goods for export and provide competitive terms for their customers.
Countries like China, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy are devoting hundreds of billions of dollars to official export credit agency (ECA) financing for domestic manufacturers while U.S. exporters have no access to official export credit financing.
Here is the NAM-OMA joint press statement. 7/12/2017
OMA Government Affairs Committee Heading to Cleveland, Aug 28-29
July 14, 2017Save the date for the OMA Government Affairs Committee on Tuesday, August 29 at The Sherwin Williams Company in downtown Cleveland.
Members have asked for more regional meeting opportunities.
The agenda will cover legislative and regulatory topics of concern to manufacturers including House Bill 233, a gun bill recently passed by the Ohio House to the consternation of the business community. The bill takes away a manufacturer’s ability to keep firearms off of its property even if a sign prohibiting the carrying of a firearm is posted (read more in this analysis).
Please also plan to have dinner with us on August 28, the evening before the meeting. Save the dates; more details will be available soon. 7/13/2017
Ohio’s Maritime Assistance Program Vetoed
July 14, 2017On June 30, before the voluminous state budget bill (House Bill 49) went into effect with his signature, Governor John Kasich used his veto pen 47 times.
Veto number 45 would have earmarked $4 million from ODOT for maritime port infrastructure. The governor’s veto message justifies the veto by noting that ODOT is presently conducting an assessment of need to be completed before the end of the year.
Maritime ports serve an important purpose for Ohio manufacturers and receive no ongoing funding from the state. 7/13/2017
House Moves Gun Bill Despite Business Concerns
July 7, 2017This week the House of Representatives ignored a united business community and quickly moved House Bill 233, a new gun bill, from committee and off the House floor.
The bill originally intended to protect those who mistakenly bring weapons into prohibited areas now provides a carve-out for a concealed handgun licensee or a qualified military member who ignores posted signs prohibiting persons from carrying firearms onto the land or those premises. The bill takes away a manufacturer’s ability to keep firearms off of its property, even if a sign prohibiting the carrying of a firearm is posted in a conspicuous area.
In its opposition testimony the OMA stated that, “… current law sufficiently protects licensees in these (mistaken) situations. In order to violate current law a licensee has to “knowingly” violate a prohibition. The law already protects those who unknowingly or mistakenly bring a weapon onto a prohibited property.
“Businesses own the decision about whether or not an individual can bring a concealed weapon onto their private properties. The law already provides clear guidance about who breaks the law in these situations. House Bill 233 is unnecessary and is a solution to a nonexistent problem.”
The bill still needs to be approved by the Senate. 7/6/2017
House Overrides Eleven Kasich Vetoes
July 7, 2017The House of Representatives overrode 11 of the governor’s 47 budget vetoes. Seven of the overrides addressed the Medicaid program. However, a veto of the freeze on Medicaid expansion was not among the overrides.
The legislature had included a freeze on Medicaid expansion effective July 1, 2018. The governor vetoed the freeze, saying it would negatively affect hundreds of thousands of Ohioans. The votes to override the veto apparently were not there, although the matter could be revisited over the coming year.
With its Medicaid veto overrides, the General Assembly sought more authority over the spending in the enormously expensive program as it waits to see what the federal government does with Obamacare. 7/6/2017
Any Friday: Catch an Informative Manufacturers Marketplace Webinar
July 7, 2017
With hundreds of thousands of leading manufacturers in the U.S. listed in our Manufacturers Marketplace, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states, we offer a comprehensive search capability to help you identify and engage with the best possible partner for your unique supply chain needs, while mitigating risk and increasing visibility for your business.
Every Friday at 1:00 p.m. there is an informative webinar so you and your sales and purchasing team members can learn about the benefits of Manufacturers Marketplace. Sign up here.
Ready to enroll? Use code OHIOKLJ00717 anytime in the month of July to qualify for your OMA member annual fee of $500, a $2,000 discount. Enroll here. 6/27/2017
Summer Brought to You by … Manufacturers
July 7, 2017From the hotdogs you ate to the boat you took out on the lake, everything that made your Independence Day holiday week enjoyable was manufactured! Take a look at this fun little video from Friends of Manufacturing in celebration of summer fun, and a reminder about the importance of manufacturing to everyday life. 7/5/2017
State Budget on Governor’s Desk
June 30, 2017The House and Senate this week passed the state operating budget, House Bill 49, after its late night reporting out by the conference committee of the two bodies. The bill is under review by the governor, as he considers items he might veto. The governor must act by 11:59 tonight (June 30).
The conference committee addressed two issues requested by the OMA: It eliminated an electric utility grab for above market charges (for the purpose of improving utility credit ratings), and it revised a gun provision that would have created a new cause of action against employers.
Unfortunately, the committee left in place a raid on Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and Industrial Commission funds that are paid for by employers within the state workers’ compensation system, and not by taxes.
The legislature has now adjourned for summer recess, and will return in the fall.
OMA policy committee members participated in a teleconference to learn about all the various budget changes that impact Ohio manufacturing. Here are the support materials from that call. 6/28/2017
State Budget Raids BWC Fund
June 30, 2017Undeterred by the united opposition of business groups and labor, the House and Senate conference committee on the state budget bill retained a provision that would raid the budgets of the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and the Industrial Commission, budgets paid for by employer premiums and assessments, not taxes.
The OMA and its business allies have asked the governor to veto the provision stating, “We are very concerned that this language sets a dangerous precedent authorizing the siphoning of funds when budget shortfalls occur. There could also be a legal issue with directing funds to the GRF (General Revenue Fund) that are constitutionally reserved for the treatment of injured workers and the promotion of safer workplaces.” 6/29/2017