Should changes be made to the Michigan Merit Curriculum?

Posted on April 1, 2013 by

ConfusedBackground: In 2006, high school graduation requirements in Michigan were changed in an effort to better prepare students for college and the workplace. The changes, referred to as “The Michigan Merit Curriculum” defines a common set of required credits for high school graduation. Some have suggested that this new set of requirements is more focused on college preparation at the expense of other career paths such as skilled trades. They would like to see the curriculum modified to recognize that not all high school graduates are destined for college.

Supporters of changing the current Michigan Merit Curriculum say that it was designed by members of the “education bureaucracy” who assume everyone should go to college regardless of desire or aptitude for other career paths. They claim some of the requirements, such as Algebra 2, are more about appearances and less about practical and useful life skills. Supporters of change contend that many good paying jobs in the skilled trades go wanting for qualified workers because of the lopsided emphasis on feeding the “education machine” of colleges and universities. They believe that students should be allowed to substitute vocational training and skilled trades courses for some of the unnecessary college preparatory requirements in the current curriculum.

Opponents of changing the current Michigan Merit Curriculum argue that it is a result of collaboration between the State Board of Education, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Legislature, and numerous education associations who worked together to better prepare students for greater success and to secure the economic future of our state. They say the current requirements tell college and university admissions officers and career and technical schools that the student is ready for the rigors of post-secondary education. Opponents of changing the requirements claim that the current curriculum tells the world that Michigan is committed to having the best-educated workforce and that watering it down by allowing alternative coursework sends the wrong message at a time when a quality education has never been more important.

Should changes be made to the Michigan Merit Curriculum?

76% Yes                     19% No                    5% Undecided

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NFIB Reacts to New Study Showing NY as “Least Free” State in America

Posted on March 28, 2013 by

Albany (March 28, 2013) A study by George Mason University ranking New York as the least free state in the country confirms what small business owners have known for a long time, said the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) today.

“This will surprise very few small business owners in New York and it’s another way of measuring the wide distance between what the politicians say and the policies they pursue,” said NFIB State Director Mike Durant.

The study, by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, calculates the ranking based on dozens of policies affecting taxes, regulations, tort liability, property rights and a host of personal choices involving alcohol, tobacco, gun rights, marriage rights, gambling and education.  After all the weighting and number-crunching, New York comes out dead last.

“The fact is that for all the sound-bites and ad-buys, New York continues to lag behind the rest of the nation.”

As a business group, NFIB confines its focus to the economic freedoms measured in the report to which the Mercatus Center applies a high value.  That’s a very important point, said Durant.

“The social issues are important and our members have their own personal views that we do not represent.  But the personal freedoms have plenty of other advocates in Albany.  It’s the economic freedoms that are under assault in New York.”

Durant said that every one of the thousands of policies smothering freedom in New York is promoted under the banner of fairness, or justice, or equity, or security, or investment.  And the consequence of all of those good intentions is a sclerotic economy and a shrinking population.

“Millions of individuals and businesses have abandoned New York over the past decade and according to the Census they’ve gone to states with lower taxes and fewer regulations.”

Durant said that small businesses can’t survive in a state in which government injects itself into every private commercial activity and transaction.

“The big corporations will make their accommodations and find a way to absorb or avoid the cost of government,” said Durant.  “Small businesses can’t survive in a place where the focus is to tax everything, regulate everything, ban everything and subsidize everything.”

Click this link to view the study by George Mason University:  http://freedominthe50states.org/how-its-calculated

For more information about NFIB, please visit www.nfib.com.

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Jobs: the cost of Obamacare’s Health Insurance Tax

Posted on March 26, 2013 by

JobsLike most politicians during these difficult economic times, President Obama is always all about creating jobs. Also, like most politicians in DC, his policies make it clear he has no idea where they really come from. The latest proof of this observation is the forthcoming Health Insurance Tax (HIT), another prize in the Cracker Jack box known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

The HIT is a tax on insurance companies, but specifically focused on the policies that are purchased by nearly all small businesses and self- employed individuals. The tax would raise a total of $87 billion in the first ten years and $208 billion in the following ten years. This is revenue that will be siphoned from local business owners. It will increase costs, discourage the creation of new jobs and create a crisis of confidence that leaves small business owners too uncertain about the future to grow.

The NFIB Research Foundation’s BSIM (Business Size Impact Module) predicts the rise in cost of employer-sponsored insurance stemming from the HIT will result in a reduction in private sector employment of 146,000 to 262,000 jobs by 2022, with 59 percent of the job losses coming from small businesses. This will amount to a reduction of U.S. real output (sales) by between $19 billion to $35 billion during the same time frame. A similar study released in 2011 predicted a loss of 125,000 to 249,000 jobs and $18 to $30 billion in sales by 2021.

The full report makes it clear that singling out small business for tax increases when unemployment is still a major problem is short-sighted and wrong for our nation’s economy. Bipartisan legislation to repeal the HIT was introduced last month in the House of Representatives by Reps. Charles Boustany (R-La.) and Jim Matheson (D-Utah). Let’s hope the DC crowd figures this out before more jobs go down the drain.

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Small Business Reacts to Final Budget Deal

Posted on March 25, 2013 by

After the announced agreement last week, negotiations on a variety of issues continued through the weekend.  Today, we issued the following statement on the final state budget deal.

ALBANY (March 25, 2013) – All of the following may be attributed to Mike Durant, State Director of NFIB in response to the announced agreement on the 2014-15 State Fiscal Plan

“As final negotiations on the state budget have officially concluded, it has become apparent that the momentum to revitalize the state’s economy has stalled.  Unfortunately calls by the small business community to reduce the stifling tax burden, to focus on eliminating assessments on energy use and to reject a devastating increase in labor costs have fallen on deaf ears.

“It is increasingly clear that an agenda which is eerily similar to our recent past is now the driving force in Albany and it will negate the incremental progress our State made in the past two years.  It comes at the expense of small business and the Upstate economy.  While this agreement includes tax breaks and credits for both employers and the middle class, Main-Street businesses and taxpayers deserve better.  The token relief does not offset the increased costs associated with the minimum wage increase or the extension of the 18-a energy assessment.

“We appreciate those lawmakers who have stood with small business during these discussions.  The agenda for the remaining months of this legislative session will be telling.  We hope the effort to improve the business climate in New York, which remains one of the worst in the country, resumes.  Anything less will be unacceptable.”

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Spring Our Youth Into the Entrepreneurial Spirit

Posted on March 21, 2013 by

yef-lemonade-day-pledge-nfibIt’s been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. For small-business owners, seeing the next generation pursue and fulfill the dream of owning and running a business, this sentiment is especially true. We want to be imitated—and we need to provide opportunities and assistance for young, aspiring business owners to watch our example and follow in our small business footsteps.

This Spring, we have two unique opportunities to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit and to support our youth in following their dreams. The first is Lemonade Day, a nationwide effort to educate youth in the basics of starting, owning and operating the quintessential American business—a lemonade stand. This year, NFIB has once again collaborated with National Lemonade Day to lend our support, and our example, to the young men and women who are eager to participate in this effort. Official Lemonade Day activities are occurring in states across the country, but we are encouraging NFIB members in all 50 states to support a budding business owner—a child, grandchild or neighborhood youth, in creating a plan, setting financial goals, employing a little elbow grease and putting the business skills they have learned into practice. And for those of us with schedules too packed to mentor, we can still offer encouragement to these young entrepreneurs by pledging to purchase a glass of lemonade on May 5, 2013. After all, few things are more refreshing than an ice-cold glass of lemonade on a warm spring day, and knowing that your support will energize the next generation of small-business owners.
The opportunities to inspire youth don’t stop at the end of the driveway—they continue all the way to our places of business with Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. This national effort is another way that we can demonstrate to our children the importance of entrepreneurism, by bringing our children to our workplaces—our offices, shops and restaurants. Here, we can expose youth to the challenges and rewards of the workplace environment and reinforce the importance of education, hard work and responsibility—foundational principles for those in the small-business community. NFIB’s Young Entrepreneur Foundation has developed a  FREE curriculum that parents and members can use as a guide to celebrating this day. Showing our children first-hand how entrepreneurism works will animate them with the desire to pursue their own endeavors in the business world.
Nothing renews our confidence in the American Dream like knowing that the spirit of entrepreneurship is alive and well in our children and grandchildren. But we have to do our part in supporting our children as they follow their dreams. We encourage you to do your part by participating in one or both of these wonderful opportunities to spread the entrepreneurial spirit and inspire the next generation of small-business owners.

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NFIB/NY Responds to Announced Budget Agreement

Posted on March 20, 2013 by

“The announced conceptual agreement on the State budget sends a difficult and regressive message to small business owners across New York. While the agreement allows for tax cuts for small business, it in no way offsets the mandated increase in labor cost with the minimum wage increase and extension of the 18-a energy assessment. Further, New York has long suffered from an anti-business, high taxed reputation. The extension of the high earner tax rate will only continue to leave New York behind the rest of the nation in economic competitiveness.

NFIB will analyze the final budget language as it becomes available and weigh in accordingly” - Mike Durant, State Director NFIB/NY

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Michigan cannot afford “city-states”

Posted on March 19, 2013 by

CityRegsThe “think globally – act locally” community organizing crowd is always looking for a group of gullible and malleable city or local officials to help them with their next social experiment.

Ironically, it is usually the city or county that can least afford the luxury of the experiment in question that bites. Take, for example, the issue of mandated local paid leave. Currently there are three cities in the United States with local ordinances mandating paid leave of private employers within their jurisdiction. San Francisco, for example, requires all employers regardless of size to offer up to 72 hours of paid leave to each of their employees, whether they are full-time or part-time.

Legislation currently being debated in the Michigan legislature would prohibit local governments from requiring businesses in their jurisdiction to provide paid leave to employees. The National Federation of Independent Business and the Michigan Restaurant Association view such legislation as a preemptive move to head off paid leave advocates at the pass before they can bring their show to local governments in Michigan.

The efforts of state lawmakers and the administration to transform our business climate into one that retains and attracts business, and the jobs they provide, is put into jeopardy when local governments create their own islands of regulation and micro management that tarnish the perception of Michigan as a development destination.

New investment entering the state can just avoid these activist local areas – much to the detriment of their citizens. Expanding businesses that are already established in areas where local governments seek to over-regulate will likely move out of that area when they grow out of their current facilities. Other businesses that cannot move because of a captive customer base will cut jobs, raise prices or reduce services to cope with the additional cost and hassle of poorly thought out local rules and regulations. When this happens the local citizens suffer the consequences and it becomes more likely that they too will consider moving out of the area, further diminishing the tax base of the local government and contributing to a vicious cycle of decline (Detroit is a relevant example).

Finally, with all of the hue and cry from local governments about revenue sharing cuts and budget shortfalls, perhaps they might better serve their residents by focusing on the basic services that their citizens want and deserve rather than expanding into policy areas that are more appropriately the venue of the state and federal government.

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NFIB/NY Member Talks Real Impact of Minimum Wage Hike

Posted on March 14, 2013 by

Below are excerpts from a letter that an NFIB/NY member sent describing both the personal and real impact of the proposed hike in the minimum wage.

In regards to the minimum wage hike, please take a moment to consider how deeply this will affect my business, my employees, and my life.

The following are very real examples of very real employees and their very real lives.

What am I supposed to tell Graham, a home-schooled high school student who comes in 2 or 3 days a week to clean the office and fold package boxes? “I hope you can find a part time job that will be able to work with you schedule year-round so that you can continue to save for college and your first car.”

What do I tell Jeff, who suffers from ADD but never misses a day? Jeff, who seems content doing what he’s doing, because much more work would be too stressful? Jeff, who is living on other people’s couches. “ Jeff, I wish you well. Why don’t you go check with Social Services to see what services they have to offer.”

There is an argument that raising the minimum wage takes some of the burden off the Food Stamp program. Maybe, but consider our employee, Katrina, who is in the middle of a foreclosure and a divorce. She was told to go get a job, which she did. She is doing everything she can to keep it together for her young children. She started at minimum wage, but we quickly raised her wage to $8.00 then $8.75. She lost her Food Stamps almost as soon as she started working, leaving her worse off than before she started working. Quite frankly, $9.00 per hour (which we are going to pay anyway) isn’t enough to make a difference. What we are trying to do for is give her a place where she can have some dignity, a place with hours flexible enough to accommodate sick children or school vacations and everything she is going through as she tries to get her life back together.

The realities are that small businesses in New York State are overtaxed, overworked, and face the constant threat of more burdensome regulations and paperwork and taxes.

The fact is that moving to a lower taxed location is becoming more and more appealing.

“I love New York,” but I’m feeling that New York may be a more welcoming place to vacation than to live and work and support a family.

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Small-Business Owners Do It, Why Can’t Washington?

Posted on March 14, 2013 by

Why can’t Washington balance the federal budget and reduce the $16 trillion public debt?

There is really no way to calculate all the different answers offered as excuses for this question. But when you sweep aside the political chatter designed to excite the press and scare the public, some other questions arise.

Does Washington really want to balance the federal budget and cut the debt?

Do politicians have more to gain by not balancing the budget?

It has been suggested that bringing federal spending in line with revenues would cause elected officials much greater pain than the current deficit mess. And actually balancing the budget would, of course, force them to make some very tough decisions.

Since the word “no” is rarely expressed during discussions of federal spending, perhaps the idea of government operating within its means—like small-business owners must–has become outdated idea in the nation’s capital. After all, when you’re spending money that isn’t coming out of your pocket, why worry about how much is going where?

Balancing the budget might also greatly reduce politicians’ opportunities for nationally televised press conferences and appearances on Sunday morning talk shows, not to mention limiting occasions to press the flesh with Hollywood stars, wealthy campaign contributors and special-interest advocates of no-limits spending.

Those who manufacture phony events, such as fiscal cliffs and pseudo-sequesters, should give serious thought to adopting a longer term view that extends past their terms of office. Simple mathematics dictates that no matter how many times the Can of Public Debt gets kicked down the road, sooner or later it’s going to kick back.

Ask any Main Street business owner about financial can-kicking. They’ll quickly tell you that such an unwise tactic is a sure way to wipe out the American Dream of owning and operating a small business. Plus, it causes unintended consequences such as killing jobs, endangering families and siphoning unexpected revenues out of the Treasury.

Small-business owners, unlike professional policymakers, understand simple math. They don’t spend their days talking to TV cameras or posturing for registered voters. They work hard, pay their bills and face customers who also know the importance of living within a budget.

That’s why successful small-business owners are determined to give customers quality, service and value. They understand the model: No customers, no money. No money, no small business.

Employees of small businesses also understand: No small businesses, no jobs.

The National Federation of Independent Business isn’t waiting for prime time. The nation’s largest small-business organization has launched a “Balance the Budget” petition drive in hopes of forcing Congress to adopt a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Only when Washington adopts the small-business operations model of fiscal responsibility will government spending reverse its destructive march towards bankruptcy. We just hope there’s still time to hit the brakes.

Posted in Politics, Small Business, Taxes | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

STATE NOW WANTS PRIVATE SECTOR RETIREMENT DOLLARS

Posted on March 14, 2013 by

In the 15 years I have been lobbying it always seems Illinois, California, Pennsylvania and New York are the “test cases” for liberal policy. The center left groups tend to use our states as incubators, trial balloons and the “let’s throw it against the wall and see if it sticks” mentality.

The latest is the idea to mandate business owners with more than 10 employees, who don’t already have a retirement plan for their workers, to enroll those employees in Individual Retirement Accounts. The state would set up an administrative fund to take in those retirement dollars, invest them (or hire someone to do it) and manage the program.

Yes, let’s give the state yet another chance to take money and make it magically disappear. Can you say “College Illinois” or how about “state employee pension disaster?” Why on earth would we want to subject private sector workers to this same mismanagement?

Evidently those who are worried that Americans aren’t saving enough for retirement believe government is, yet again, the answer.

SB 2400 (Sen. Daniel Biss) and HB 2461 (Rep. Deb Mell) both target the private sector and force them to not only set up IRAs but also automatically deduct at least 3% from their employees’ paychecks. An employee would have to actively pursue “opting out” if they did not want to participate. You see, small businesses already have a variety of private sector options they may choose to participate in for retirement purposes. If they choose not to participate that should be their prerogative – it is their business, their workplace. If an employee wants to set up a retirement account they too have access to many financial institutions who would be happy to sell them a product.

The proponents argue that by allowing businesses to pool together under a state-guided plan it will be less costly. That may be true, but isn’t it a bit unfair to ask all of those currently in the marketplace selling these products to now compete on an unfair playing field against the government?

Also, what happens when the worker’s investments go down, as the market tends to do now and then? Will the employer, who doesn’t want to offer the IRA in the first place, bear the brunt of their unhappiness causing added friction in the workplace? Will there be a state-run hotline for these angry investors to call? And if yes, will a real person actually answer the phone? Will anyone answer the phone?

The proponents also argue this is the least intrusive way to get these workers to start saving. That the employer simply must enroll the worker and start the payroll deduction and after that their obligations are fulfilled. The problem is that this isn’t the only mandate, additional paperwork or regulation that businesses have to comply with. This idea comes at a time when business owners are being deluged with complex paperwork with Obamacare and the SMART Act. Business owners are buried in state and federal paperwork, all of which come with fines and penalties if the employer makes a mistake.

So NFIB, along with many other business entities, will fight this mandate vigorously and send a message to the “government is the answer” crowd that this “test” fails miserably.

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