Paul Suplizio

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Urgent WOTC Update – Inform Your Republican Senators Now

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Our friend Paul Suplizio, President of the WOTC Coalition, issued two urgent updates this morning from Washington DC.  The immediate extension of WOTC and other tax incentive programs faces what amounts to a precarious opportunity.

As the calendar year winds to a close, opportunities to extend the WOTC program are few in number. The good news is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has announced his intention that Congress will NOT adjourn until tax extenders are done.  He made this announcement in a news conference after the Senate Democrats’ most recent weekly luncheon.

“There are five things we’ve got to do, the Omnibus (bill to fund the government), payroll tax, unemployment compensation, doc fix, and tax extenders.”

 What to do Right Now:
According to Mr. Suplizio, if the tax extenders are not passed before December 31, there is a strong possibility they won’t be passed until after the elections next fall.  For this, and other reasons:

“It’s imperative we now work to persuade Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to commit to enacting the tax extenders before adjournment. Please concentrate urgently on your Republican senatorial contacts. . . .”

Specifically,

  1. Inform your Republican contacts in the Senate about Majority Leader Harry Reid’s goal to pass tax extenders before adjournment
  2. Urge Senate Republicans to support the tax extenders
  3. Urge them specifically to talk with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican Whip Senator Jon Kyl about the importance of including tax extenders in whatever bills emerge from their negotiations with Senate Democrats.

 

Posted in Work Opportunity Tax Credit | No Responses »
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Urgent WOTC Call to Action – Unique Opportunity Limited to This Morning

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

I received late arriving news on Tuesday from Paul Suplizio of the WOTC Coalition that Congressman Aaron Schock will be making the case for WOTC renewal at the House Republican luncheon today. The luncheon will be from noon until 1:00 PM (eastern), on Wednesday November 16th.

The immediate goal THIS MORNING is to give other Republican House members an advance notice that Congressman Schock will be speaking on this subject and to ask them to support him.

If you’ve been lobbying a Republican House member in this effort, this morning is a crucial opportunity. Call your member and speak to their Legislative Director, Appointment Secretary or other staff members and give them the information and request.

Here is the message, as suggested by Mr. Suplizio:

“At the House Republican luncheon today, Congressman Aaron Schock will call for action on a bill to extend the work opportunity tax credit and several other important tax provisions. Please get word to Congressman _______________that Congressman Schock will be asking for action on WOTC and several other important provisions of the tax code which will expire on December 31st . Tell Congressman_____________ it will be very helpful if he or she would support Congressman Schock in this matter.”

Please note, the recent VOW to Hire Heroes Act has already passed the Senate and is being shepherded through the House. It is expected to become law and will expand and extend the WOTC program’s military veteran categories. Congressman Schock’s address will be making the case for extending the rest of the WOTC program.

 

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Alert! Alert! WOTC on the Budget Chopping Block! Immediate Action Needed!

Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

Paul Suplizio, president of the WOTC Coalition warned coalition members this morning that the Department of Labor has recommended termination of the WOTC program as a contribution toward addressing the federal budget crisis.  Let me save time by quoting Mr. Suplizio directly:

“[President Obama] has been negotiating with congressional Republicans to identify spending cuts to reduce the deficit; those cuts would become part of a bi-partisan agreement to pass a bill to raise the debt ceiling.”

“We’ve now learned the Department of Labor has forwarded to OMB a recommendation to terminate the WOTC program, saving $700 million a year. The President asked each member of the cabinet to identify savings that could be made in their departments, and one of Labor’s answers was to terminate WOTC.”

“We’re not sure at this point whether this “saving” will make it into the final agreement with Republicans which, as everyone knows, is still being negotiated in daily meetings at the White House. There is much talk about agreement on $2 trillion in spending cuts, but as the President has said, ‘There’s no deal until there’s a deal.’”

What does this amount to? There is a POSSIBILITY that the future of the WOTC program will be eliminated by a federal budget compromise made within the next two weeks.

This issue requires your immediate action. If you’ve been following the news, you already know that the stated deadline for a compromise to raise the U.S. debt-ceiling is August 2nd.

In his evaluation this morning, Mr. Suplizio estimates only a 50 – 50 chance of WOTC’s survival if we do not act to preserve it. Quick action, however, considerably increases its chances.

The coalition is organizing grass root efforts in Washington DC at this time. Across the country, however, organizations with a stake in preserving the program should be contacting U.S. legislators from their state TODAY.

Here is a short but hot-list of specific U.S. legislators that should be contacted immediately. Again, this was provided by Paul Suplizio to the WOTC Coalition this morning.  Contact me and I can provide this list to you in a spreadsheet format that can be used for word-processor mail merge.

House Republicans

 John A. Boehner, Speaker of the House, Dayton, OH, fax 202-225-0704

Eric Cantor, Majority Leader, Culpeper, VA, fax 202-225-0011

Kevin McCarthy, Majority Whip, Bakersfield, CA fax 202-225-2908

Jeb Hensarling, Republican Conference Chair, Dallas, TX fax 202-226-4888

Tom Price, Republican Policy Committee Chair, Marietta, GA, fax 202-225-4656

Dave Camp, Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, Troy, MI, fax 202-225-9679

 

House Democrats

Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader, San Francisco, CA, fax 202-225-8259

Steny H. Hoyer, Minority Whip, Greenbelt, MD, fax 202-225-4300

James E. Clyburn, Assistant Democratic Leader, Columbia, SC, fax 202-225-2313

John B. Larson, Democratic Caucus Chair, Hartford, CT, fax 202-225-1031

Sander M. Levin, Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Ways and Means, Detroit, MI, fax 202-226-1033

 

Senate Republicans

 Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader, Louisville, KY, fax 202-224-2499

John Kyl, Minority Whip, Phoenix, AZ, fax 202-224-2207

Lamar Alexander, Republican Conference Chair, Nashville, TN, fax 202-228-3398

John Thune, Republican Policy Committee Chair, Rapid City, SD, fax 202-228-5429

Orrin G. Hatch, Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Finance, Salt Lake City, UT, fax 202-224-6331

 

Senate Democrats

 Harry Reid, Majority Leader, Las Vegas, NV, fax 202-224-7327

Richard J. Durbin, Majority Whip, Chicago, IL, 202-228-0400

Charles E. Schumer, Democratic Policy Committee Chair, New York, NY, fax 202-228-3027

Max Baucus, Chairman, Committee on Finance, Helena, MT, fax 202-224-9412

Posted in Federal Legislation | 7 Responses »
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HR 2082 – Bill to Extend and Refine the Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

I received an update from Paul Suplizio, President of the WOTC Coalition today. There is recent progress on the legislative front for an extension of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit.

The WOTC program is currently slated to expire on December 31, 2011. While that might at first seem alarming if your company has been relying on the program to offset hiring costs, its par for the WOTC game. Over the years, Congress has repeatedly allowed the program to expire or nearly expire before renewing it for another term.

Here’s a brief quote from Paul Suplizio’s update this morning.

“Congressmen Aaron Schock (R-IL) and Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) have introduced a bill, H.R. 2082, Work Opportunity Credit Improvements Act, calling for a three-year extension of WOTC till December 31, 2014. Congressman Schock and Congressman Rangel are Ways and Means Committee members and thus able to work for passage within the committee. “

 

“This is the bill WOTC supporters should rally around as Congress takes up tax legislation in the next two critical months. It’s important we get a maximum number of House members to co-sponsor H.R. 2082 before the measure is taken up in Ways and Means.”

The bill not only proposes to extend the WOTC for 3 years, it includes a number of very interesting refinements to the program and adds back the disconnected youth category.

If you have an interest in the WOTC program, you should definitely contact your member of Congress to recommend their sponsorship of this bill.  I plan to contact our legislators next week AND to send a correspondence to every member of the legislature about this issue.

Please feel welcome to contact me if I can help your efforts in any way.  I can offer you a mail-merge ready list of US Legislators that you could use in preparing your correspondence.

Posted in Federal Legislation, Work Opportunity Tax Credit | 3 Responses »
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Good News! WOTC Program Reauthorization Included in White House’s 2012 Budget

Monday, February 14th, 2011

A delegation from the WOTC Coalition visited the Whitehouse on Friday where they met with Special Assistant to the President Kareem A. Dale and Domestic Policy Council member Lauren Dunn. Their goal was to obtain White House support for reauthorization of the federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program. The mission was a clear success.

I received a correspondence today from Coalition President Paul Suplizio in which he described their meeting.

“We covered a great deal during the 45-minute meeting, and in many respects the White House staff was responsive to our appeal for a long-term authorization, funds to promote WOTC to more employers, restoration of disconnected youth and veterans target groups, and eligibility for disabled workers who are receiving Social Security Disability Income (SSDI).”

The group also presented a fact sheet titled, “How Can the Work Opportunity Tax Credit be Made More Effective?”

Today, in an email to Paul Suplizio, Mr. Dale confirmed that WOTC reauthorization has been included in President Obama’s 2012 budget proposal. Mr. Dale also said he looks forward to working with WOTC Coalition members on proposals to create more certainty.

The tax code as currently written requires frequent reauthorization of the WOTC program by Congress and the President. This has been a problem that introduces uncertainty and instability for employers attempting to use the programs.

The WOTC program was recently extended through December 31, 2011. Making the program permanent has been a long-term goal of program supporters.

Posted in Federal Legislation | 1 Response »
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Work Opportunity Tax Credit for Hurricane Katrina Employees

Saturday, September 25th, 2010

Recently, I’ve received inquiries about Congressional efforts to extend the expired Hurricane Katrina provision of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program.   Here’s the latest as I understand it.

The Hurricane Katrina WOTC provision has NOT yet been extended. But it is part of the currently idle Baucus Job Creation and Tax Cuts Act — also known as the Baucus Tax Extenders bill. 

The WOTC Coalition is at this very moment engaged in an effort to get this extenders bill attached to Congress’ Continuing Resolution to fund the government.  The Continuing Resolution will probably be the last critical bill passed by Congress before recessing for the elections.

According Paul Suplizio, President of the WOTC Coalition, Senate staff are currently saying that the Continuing Resolution bill will be “clean”  — meaning that non-appropriations measures like the Baucus bill will not be considered.  The Baucus Tax Extenders bill, however, does includes significant programs that both political parties are in favor of extending. 

The WOTC Coalition is urging Senator Baucus to introduce the text of his Tax Extenders bill as an amendment to the Continuing Resolution AND urging Senator Harry Reid to allow the amendment to be attached.  We’ll keep our fingers crossed.

Here’s a short list of some other programs of interest that would be extended by the Baucus Tax Extenders bill.  Please see the bill’s summary from the Senate Finance Committee’s legislation page.   There is a lot more to this bill that I am not mentioning here.

  • Research & Development Tax Credit
  • New Markets Tax Credit
  • Empowerment Zones
  • Renewal Communities
  • District of Columbia Enterprise Zone
  • Indian employment credit
  • Extension of the TANF program
  • Extension of tax incentives for the New York Liberty Zone
  • Extend Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) for Hurricane Katrina Employees

Please feel welcome to contact me with questions about the WOTC program or any of the other tax incentive programs mentioned.  If I don’t know the answer, I’ll do my best to find out. 

I am Vaughn Hromiko.  vah@WOTCPlanet.com  (800) 655-5281, ext 101.

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