 Michigan
Developments
Eric Rule,
Director of Governmental Affairs
Committee hears
billboard-ban bills
Legislation that could hamstring businesses that advertise
on billboards has come before the Senate Transportation Committee. MRA
opposes these bills, viewing them as a first step toward an outright ban
on billboards.
Senate Bills 898–901 were first introduced in December
2003 by Sen. Tom George (R-Kalamazoo) and are being pushed by former Attorney
General Frank Kelley and former Lieutenant Governor Dick Posthumus. The
bills are summarized below:
• Senate Bill 898: Establishes a billboard
advisory council—a new state government body—to define a best
practice approach for the billboard industry;
• Senate Bill 899: Increases billboard permit
fees and establishes a Billboard Cleanup Fund to remove non-conforming
billboards;
• Senate Bill 900: Expands the logo-sign program
to include tourist destinations;
• Senate Bill 901: Places a cap on the number
of billboards in Michigan by preventing the issuance of new permits.
MRA members whose businesses advertise on billboards are
strongly urged to contact their state senators and ask them to oppose
the package of bills.
To find out how to contact your state senator, go to http://www.senate.michigan.gov/findyoursenator/.
Members who wish to get more involved can contact Eric Rule, MRA’s
director of governmental affairs, at 800.366.3699.
Group pushes for higher minimum wage
The Michigan League of Human Services is calling for an
increase in Michigan’s minimum wage, claiming the 1997 adjustment
of the state minimum wage to $5.15 is not sufficient to support a family.
Rather than specifying a specific wage rate, the League
recommends implementing living-wage ordinances and tax reforms to benefit
the poor. The League recommends a living wage similar to what has already
been proposed in the Michigan Legislature: $8 or $9 an hour if health
insurance is provided and $10 or $12 with no insurance.
To date, at least one bill attempting to increase the
minimum wage and index it to inflation has been introduced. Rep. Jack
Minore (D-Flint) introduced HB 4165 in February 2003, but the bill has
not come up for committee action.
With Republicans in control of the House and Senate, there’s
little chance these bills will see committee action anytime soon.
Identity theft bill addresses truncation
A bill package intended to prevent identity theft and
passed by the Senate last December has passed in the House and will go
to the governor for her signature. One of the bills, Senate Bill 220,
requires credit card machines to truncate all but the last four digits
of account numbers on credit card receipts and to leave off expiration
dates completely.
Printing truncated receipts is intended as a safeguard
to protect consumers from people who use the credit card information found
on discarded receipts for fraudulent purposes. Sometimes termed “identity
theft,” this practice is a basic form of credit card fraud.
MRA supported SB 220, sponsored by Sen. Valde Garcia (R-Howell),
after securing key amendments—an exemption for manual imprinters
and a phase-in period to mirror that of the recently passed Visa/MasterCard
rules.
Retailers will have 60 days to comply for equipment purchased
after the bill takes effect, and until July 1, 2006, for machines (except
for manual imprinters) that were placed in service on or before the bill
takes effect.
The bill also prohibits requiring a consumer to disclose
his or her Social Security number as a condition of sale, unless the transaction
involved an extension of credit or disclosure was required or authorized
by state or federal law.
Most retailers already comply with this bill as a requirement
of their agreements with Visa/MasterCard. The real test may be 20 months
away, when all existing machines will have to provide truncated receipts.
Be aware that with this new law in effect, failure to comply could result
in fines from the state as well as penalties from the card associations.
MRA members who use equipment that does not yet support
truncation are encouraged to contact their sales representative at 800.366.3699
for help with upgrading their equipment.
 Update
from Washington
James Goldberg,
MRA Washington Counsel
Battle over overtime
rules continues
Two Michigan Republican congressmen, Thaddeus McCotter
(R-Livonia) and Fred Upton (R-Kalamazoo), joined with 10 other GOP representatives
in voting to overturn the recently-issued rewrite of “white collar”
overtime regulations.
By a 223-193 vote, the House approved an amendment to
a Department of Labor appropriations bill denying funding to enforce the
new rules, except for the provision that increases the salary exemption
for overtime to $23,660. Under the new rules, employees making less than
that amount would have to be paid overtime regardless of their duties.
The new rules have been the source of controversy ever
since they were proposed more than 18 months ago. The proposed regulation—the
first revision of the overtime rules applicable to executive, professional
and administrative employees in more than 50 years—drew more than
100,000 comments, most of them union-generated and opposed to any changes.
The House-passed bill now heads for the Senate. President
Bush has said he will veto any bill containing language overturning the
new rules.
MRA’s Washington Office has been working with other
retailing and business representatives in an effort to keep the new rules,
which took effect August 23, in effect.
Changes to I-9
recordkeeping rules
For more than 10 years, all employers have been required
to have all newly hired workers complete a federal Form I-9, inspecting
documents like driver’s licenses and passports that prove the individual’s
identity and ability to work in the U.S.
Employers are also required to maintain the documents
in paper or microfiche form for at least three years after the employee
leaves the employer. As a result, employers have to store a lot of paper,
especially large companies with high worker turnover.
A coalition of business interests, including MRA’s
Washington Office, has been working to persuade Congress to pass legislation
(H.R. 4306) allowing Form I-9 to be completed and stored electronically.
A House judiciary subcommittee recently approved the legislation,
and the business coalition is working hard to get the bill through Congress
before the current session ends.
Check 'float' time
will disappear
The float time—the extra few days that it takes
for a check to clear—is about to disappear.
The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, which takes
effect October 28, will allow banks to clear checks electronically instead
of physically transporting them to the issuing bank. The new law means
that checks can be processed more quickly, within 24 hours instead of
three to five days.
The new law also allows banks to substitute paper checks
with digital copies. That means that many of the 36 percent of Americans
who still receive paper checks in their monthly statements may soon be
seeing a combination of original checks and digital substitutes.
The new system will also mean that check issuers will
have to be sure they have money in their account at the time they write
the check, rather than waiting a day or two to make a deposit to cover
the check.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
conducts sales tax survey
Some MRA members may soon receive a survey from Pricewater-houseCoopers
seeking information on the cost of collecting state sales taxes.
Undertaken with the support of MRA and other major retail
groups, the survey is designed to support arguments to include a sales-tax
collection allowance in any legislation requiring Internet and catalog
sellers to collect state and local sales taxes in the state to which the
shipment is being sent.
Some 6,000 retailers across the country selected at random
will receive the survey.
Correction
In a previous column, we stated that the House had passed a corporate
tax bill allowing retailers to write off store leasehold improvements
in 15 years instead of 39 years.
This shorter depreciation schedule applies only to permanently affixed
structural improvements, not to all new furniture and furnishings as we
previously supported.
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