|
Newsletter
Seminar Material
Biz:
China
Hong
Kong Hawaii
What people
said about us
China
Earthquake Relief
Tax &
Government
Hawaii Voter Registration
Biz-Video
Hawaii's
China Connection
CDP#1780962
Doing Business in
Hong Kong & China
| |
Hawaii Unemployment Insurance Tax 2010
Hong Kong.China.Hawaii Chamber of Commerce (HKCHcc) is working
collaboratively with the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii through the legislative
process to lessen the impact of the substantial increase of the unemployment
tax.
Unemployment Insurance
I have just got word that the hearing
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2010/hearingnotices/HEARING_LAB_01-26-10_.HTM
on UI bills is scheduled for this Tuesday, January 26 at 9:00 a.m. in room 309.
Please encourage your members to submit testimony prior to the hearing and
testify at the hearing. A huge turnout will set the tone and path of the UI
bill.
Also, they DO NOT plan to schedule our bill, HB 2201, so far (however, this may
change as they just got word of the bill so they may add it to the hearing
notice). Only HB 2169 (Karl Rhoads) and HB 2207 (Kyle Yamashita) are on the
notice so far.
Therefore, it will be imperative to state in the testimonies that you “support
the language of HB 2201.”
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2010/bills/HB2201_.pdf
Below is a header to get a head start in preparing your testimony. I will
sending you additional information once I get the hearing notice. Also, please
note that testimonies will only be accepted on the Capitol website or via fax.
E-mails will not be accepted.
DIRECTIONS ON SUBMITTING TESTIMONY
Testimony will NOT be accepted via e-mail. Members can submit testimony via:
1. On-line at http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/emailtestimony/
OR
2. Faxed to (808) 586-6331 or 1-800-535-3859 (neighbor islands)
Try to submit testimony 24 hours prior to the hearing. This allows the chair and
committee members enough time to thoroughly review the testimonies. HOWEVER, if
you are unable to submit testimony by this deadline, please proceed to submit.
It will still be considered.
DIRECTIONS ON ORAL TESTIMONY
The following provides some information for those attending the hearing:
* A two-minute oral testimony limit will probably take place.
* The UI bills are the first two on the agenda., so contingent on the number of
testifiers, the hearing should end by noon.
* You are not required to stay for the entire hearing and may leave after you
provide testimony. The order of testifiers is based on the order the committee
receives written testimonies.
* Metered parking is available at the Capitol. Discounted parking is available
at Alii Place on Alakea or at any downtown municipal parking lots.
* Tell your “story” however, please be courteous and professional.
If possible, please e-mail me a copy of your testimony and let me know if you
plan to attend the hearing. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to
contact me. Thank you for your time and support. Together we can make a
difference.
Header for Testimony
Testimony to the House Committee on Labor & Public Employment
Tuesday, January 26, 2010; 9:00 a.m.
Conference Room 309
RE: HOUSE BILL 2169 and 2207 RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT SECURITY
Chair Rhoads, Vice Chair Yamashita and Members of the Committee:
My name is [FULL NAME] and my company is [NAME AND DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY
INCLUDING # OF EMPLOYEES]. I appreciate the efforts made by the chair and the
committee in addressing the unemployment insurance tax increase. I support HB
2169 and 2207 with amendments.
[STATE HOW THE INCREASE WILL IMPACT YOUR BUSINESS INCLUDING POTENTIAL JOB
LOSSES, BENEFITS, AND OVERALL PERFORMANCE AS WELL AS COST PER EMPLOYEE, IF
POSSIBLE].
To help reduce the “tax shock” and safeguard the statewide unemployment rate,
please amend the bill by holding the tax rate schedule to D in 2010 and F in
2011, permanently set the taxable wage base at 90% and maintain the adequate
reserve multiplier at 1.0.
This will reduce the impact of the tax increase on the average and small
businesses. Extending the tax assistance beyond 2010 will save jobs, preserve
businesses and spur the economy by keeping more dollars flowing into the economy
through wages and purchases. This will help businesses plan expenses over a
longer period of time.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony. If you have any questions,
please contact me at [FULL CONTACT INFORMATION].
Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony.
Additional
information, please contact: Johnson Choi, President, Hong Kong.China.Hawaii
Chamber of Commerce at (415) 963-1541 or 691-6138 (San Francisco USA); (808)
524-5738 (Hawaii USA), (852) 8171-3118 (Hong Kong SAR); Fax (808) 524-8063 or by
email to
johnsonchoi@johnsonchoi.com
or
jwkc8168@yahoo.com
CHAMBER UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE JOB PRESERVATION BILL
Current State of Unemployment Insurance
An immediate ten-fold increase in the average unemployment tax could result in
the loss of 5,000 to 14,000 jobs in 2010, and many business closures. The “tax
shock” will hurt the overall economy and employment just as our economy is
beginning to recover. For example, the net effect of the unmoderated UI tax
increase alone on a business with 40 employees paying $40,000 in annual
compensation would be one job reduction.
Fact
The Unemployment Trust Fund must be replenished to adequate reserve levels
through increased tax paid by Hawaii private sector employers.
In 2007, Act 110 passed which was intended to provide unemployment insurance tax
relief for three years to employers. However, a trigger in the bill allowed the
relief to sunset if the UI fund fell below the adequate reserve level. The
world-wide recession and job loss in Hawaii have triggered the loss of the tax
relief after two years and the dramatic tax increase to replenish the UI Fund.
Reasons for Unemployment Insurance Tax Assistance Legislation
Not passing C3 will result in further job cuts, as the cost to every employer
for each employee is increased resulting in increased unemployment. This will
drive the unemployed to the UI fund, further driving it to insolvency.
• Moderating this increase over a few years will:
o help the economy recover faster and create jobs,
o help businesses plan expenses over a larger period of time,
o minimize the impact on jobs, wage or benefits reductions.
• Businesses will restore the Trust Fund to adequate reserve levels fairly
quickly once the economy and employment recover.
• Borrowing from the federal government in the short term is good for the
economy and employers will pay off any loans as the interest is accrued.
Evaluation of Alternatives
The Chamber’s Alternative (C3) can be broken down into three main components:
• Reduce the Tax Rate by holding the tax rate schedule to D (from F) in 2010 and
F (from H) in 2012 to reduce the impact of the tax increase on the average and
small businesses.
• Changing the tax rate schedule will reduce the immediate “tax shock” and will
safeguard the statewide unemployment rate.
• Borrowing (estimated at $4 million) to keep the UI Fund solvent keeps $289
million* in the state economy over 2010-2011 that would otherwise be unused and
accumulated in the Trust Fund instead of providing stimulus for the economy.
Reducing the tax rate will provide immediate relief to businesses, as the tax
will be reduced on the first dollar of wages paid in 2010.
• Set the Taxable Wage Base at 90% of the Average Annual Wage rather than 100%
to provide ongoing relief to those hardest hit by the recession. Also, reducing
the taxable wage base will reduce taxes over the year, but only when employees
exceed 90% of the average annual wage base (in 2010, $34,900).
• Maintain the Adequate Reserve Ratio at 1.0 as opposed to increasing it to 1.5
in 2011 so that the funds are circulated within the economy. 12 months of
benefits for the worst year in the past ten years is more than adequate reserves
according to most experts.
* The Chamber’s analysis is even more conservative than UHERO projections by
factoring in a 30% higher projected total unemployment rate due to rising taxes
or changes in average tax rate due to employer reserve reductions.
NEWS UPDATES
(from most recent to the latest news)
January 26 2010
First, much Mahalo to all of you for submitting testimony as well as for those
who testified at this morning’s hearing. More than 100 testimonies from
companies and organizations statewide were submitted. We truly appreciate the
time you and your members took to support the Chamber’s proposal.
Unfortunately, Chair Rhoads did not incorporate any of the language from HB 2201
(Chamber bill). The only amendments that he proposed, were:
· Lowering the reserve ratio multiplier from 1.5 to 1.25
· Require DLIR to do calculations every 6 months than a year so that payments
can be spread out instead of a once-a-year high payment
He moved HB 2169 out of committee and deferred HB 2207 (Yamashita’s). So, we
have one vehicle moving that will go to House Finance, Senate Labor and Senate
Ways and Means. It will be imperative that we continue to voice our concerns and
support the language of HB 2201. I will be sending you a strategic and
grassroots plan in the next few days.
Once again, thank you so much for your time and continued support.
Aloha, Sherry
Posted on: Tuesday, January 26, 2010
 Lingle plan halves
employers' tax hike By Greg Wiles Advertiser Staff
Writer
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100126/BUSINESS/1260313/-1/nletter03?source=nletter-
An onerous jump in unemployment taxes paid by Hawai'i employers would be reduced
under a legislative proposal put forth by Gov. Linda Lingle.
Lingle yesterday unveiled her plan to blunt the increase set to take effect this
year, with a series of temporary changes that would require the state to borrow
more money from the federal government but save businesses nearly a half a
billion dollars over a four-year period.
Lingle, along with Rep. Karl Rhoads, other legislators and the Hawaii Chamber of
Commerce, have come out with proposals to mitigate the increase, which is
mandated by law because of dwindling balances in the fund from which
unemployment taxes are paid.
Unless the law is amended, the average annual tax paid by employers in the fund
is scheduled to shoot up nearly twelve folds — from $90 annually to $1,070. For an
average employer with 10 workers, the bill would skyrocket from $900 annually to
$10,070.
Business groups, along with the Lingle administration and legislators, have
worried the increase would further damage the state's economy. They worry that
employers would be forced to let go workers to pay for the increase.
Yesterday Lingle proposed changes that would about halve the increase, with the
bill going to $600 this year, or roughly 60 percent of what's scheduled.
"Under our proposal, employers will pay only 60 percent of anticipated tax
hikes, saving businesses $497 million over the next four years," Lingle said in
her State of the State address yesterday.
"We believe strongly that anything beyond this 60 percent threshold will cause
large job losses."
The unemployment tax is set through a complex formula that includes the amount
of wages to be taxed, various tax rates that can be triggered depending on the
unemployment trust fund finances and benefit payment levels.
Under Lingle's proposal, there would be no cuts to the benefit levels. The plan
also envisions borrowing more money from the U.S. government than some other
proposals and features an increase to higher taxes during the middle part of the
decade.
A comparison of plans by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations
shows the average tax per employee would go to $600 this year, $690 next and
$880 in 2012.
Big increase later
In 2013 the average assessment would be $900 per employee, followed by a jump to
$1,310 in 2014.
Labor Department spokesman Ryan Markham said the proposal is structured so that
the big increases come in several years' time, when the economy will presumably
be better and employers can better afford the increase.
"It would help the economy the most," he said.
It also would come with a bigger borrowing bill than other proposals from Rhoads
or the Chamber of Commerce. Lingle's plan envisions the fund running deficits
and requiring federal borrowing for the next four years.
Rhoads, who heads the House Labor Committee, and the Chamber's proposals each
propose running deficits for two years. Rhoads yesterday said he had tried to
come up with the best bill possible in time to get it before his committee so
that a March deadline could be met for avoiding the big increase in unemployment
taxes.
He said he had worked with the Labor Department and others and gone through
eight revisions before having to conclude his work.
"There's so many ways to skin this cat that no matter which approach you take
there is some arbitrariness to it," Rhoads said. "At some point you have to draw
a line in the sand."
As proposed, Rhoads' bill relies on less borrowing, calls for the tax to rise to
an average of $630 this year, and $1,290 next. A hearing on his measure is
scheduled for this morning.
The Chamber proposal is similar to Rhoads' plan in that unemployment trust fund
deficits would occur this year and next. It calls for average assessments to
rise to $630 this year and $970 in 2011.
Rhoads said he would have hoped the Lingle administration would have come in
earlier with its proposal so that he could review it and get it up for hearing
earlier. The deficits projected in years three and four of Lingle's plan also
concern him.
Markham said the state's proposal will cost about $22 million in interest and
that Lingle is hoping Congress extends a moratorium on states having to pay
interest on the unemployment fund borrowing.
As it stands, however, the administration believes the proposal provides a good
tradeoff — $22 million in costs that will ultimately be paid by employers for
avoiding $497 million in unemployment taxes.
Reach Greg Wiles at
gwiles@honoluluadvertiser.com
 Pacific
Business News (Honolulu) Monday, January 25, 2010, 1:12pm HAST
http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2010/01/25/daily9.html?ed=2010-01-25&ana=e_du_pub
Lingle seeks 40% cut
in jobless tax rate
As anticipated, Gov. Linda Lingle on Monday proposed a big break in the
unemployment insurance tax paid by Hawaii businesses.
If approved by the Legislature, Lingle’s plan would allow employers to pay only
60 percent of the amount they were to pay in unemployment tax bills coming due
this year.
The governor said the plan would save businesses $497 million over the next four
years. It would mean the average business would pay unemployment insurance tax
of about $600 per year per employee, rather than the $1,000 that is required by
the existing law.
Businesses are now paying about $90 a year because of a temporary tax break that
started in 2008.
The Republican governor, who made her remarks during her final
state-of-the-state address at the Capitol, urged lawmakers to pass unemployment
legislation insurance before mid-March. That’s when the Hawaii Labor Department
must send out unemployment insurance bills to businesses across the state.
Also in her address, Lingle proposed an income tax credit that would grant
credits equal to wages withheld by employers for new, full-time permanent
position filled by a resident who is currently receiving unemployment benefits.
The program would cover a three-year period of 2010 through 2012, when Hawaii’s
economy is expected to gradually recover.
To continue to draw credits, businesses would need to remain operational for two
years after their final tax credits are received.
Hawaii’s unemployment rate rose from 3 percent in January 2008 to about 7
percent this year.
(Source & Credit: Chamber of
Commerce Hawaii)
|
