Hogan to Veto Paid Sick Leave Legislation

Governor Larry Hogan announced his intention to veto paid sick leave, or the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act. According to his remarks, he fully supports a paid sick leave measure, but not the one recently passed by the legislature. He reported his concerns about the effect on the small business community in Maryland and expressed his disappointment with the legislature’s failure to consider the paid sick leave legislation he introduced.

What happens next?

The Maryland General Assembly will likely override his veto at the next available opportunity. If there is a special session this summer, the veto may be overridden sometime in June, July or August and take effect January 1, 2018.

If General Assembly does not meet until the next session, a veto override will be one of the first items of business when the legislative session convenes beginning  January 10, 2018. The legislation will take effect once the veto is overridden.

Are there enough votes to override Governor Hogan’s veto?

Yes, the Maryland Healthy Working Families Act passed with veto-proof majorities in both chambers – but very narrowly in the Senate. Currently, the Democratic leadership has the votes to override and implement paid sick leave. However, we will be carefully monitoring potential membership changes and other policy developments over the interim that may affect a veto override vote.

Proposed Executive Action on Paid Sick Leave from Hogan Administration:

In response to his veto and to demonstrate his commitment to the issue, the Governor is also proposing three Executive actions regarding paid sick leave.

1. A study to develop new recommendations on best practices for paid sick leave.
2. An Executive Order granting paid sick leave to all state employees (both contract and non-contract), resulting in 8,000 more individuals receiving the benefit.
3. An order that all procurement officers give preference to all companies that offer paid sick leave.

OSHA Rescinds Controversial Recordkeeping Requirement

On December 19, 2016, OSHA issued a final rule titled, “Clarification of Employer’s Continuing Obligation to Make and Maintain an Accurate Record of Each Recordable Injury and Illness.” See 81 FR 91792. The final rule, which became effective on January 18, 2017, resulted in various amendments to OSHA’s recordkeeping regulations clarifying that the duty to make and maintain accurate records of work-related injuries and illnesses is an ongoing obligation. The key aspect of the rule would have extended the statute of limitations from six months to five years as to when the agency can issue a citation for failing to record an injury or illness.

OSHA had previously lost this battle in court when the Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2012 [AKM LLC d/b/a Volks Constructors v. Sec’y of Labor, 675 F.3d 752 (D.C. Cir. 2012)] denied their request to extend the statute of limitations. The court ruling negated the citation issued to a company for not keeping their records updated over a 5-year consecutive period. The OSHA statute states that OSHA cannot issue a citation beyond the 6-month statute of limitations as defined in the OSHAct, the legislation that created OSHA.

OSHA believed that it had the authority to extend the statute of limitations via rulemaking and issued its rule which became known as the “Volks” rule. The rule made recordkeeping requirements a continuing obligation and effectively gave OSHA the ability to issue citations to employers for failing to record work-related injuries and illnesses during the 5-year retention period, contrary to the 6-month limit.

On March 1, 2017 (Cong. Rec. pp. H1421–H1430), the House of Representatives passed a resolution of disapproval (H.J. Res. 83) of the rule under the Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.). The Senate then passed H.J. Res. 83 on March 22, 2017. President Trump signed the resolution into law as Public Law 115–21 on April 3, 2017. Accordingly, OSHA is hereby removing the affected amendments to the recordkeeping regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations.

The final rule becomes effective on May 3, 2017.

Analysis

This rulemaking is significant in that it defines OSHA’s authority as to when they can cite a company for not keeping their injury and illness records (i.e. Form 300) current Companies with 10 or more employees are still required to keep and maintain 5 years of injury and illness data. The impact of the legislation and rule recession does not change this requirement. What the legislation did was say that OSHA could not cite companies beyond the 6-month statute of limitation for not keeping the records current. OSHA was citing and fining companies for not keeping the records current over the 5 year retention period.

Therefore, OSHA can cite you for not having the records. They can’t cite you for not keeping them current, past the 6 month deadline. Since there is a 7 day window to record an injury, the period of time a company could be cited for not recording an injury or illness is 6 months and 7 days.

In addition, there are NO revisions in this notice to the following controversial rules:

• 1904.36 - Prohibition against discrimination (e.g. (post accident drug testing)
• 1904.39 - Reporting fatalities, hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye as a result of work-related incidents to OSHA
• 1904.41 - Electronic submission of injury and illness records to OSHA (due to start on July 1, 2017)

Financial Performance Assessment Webinar

Financial Performance Assessment Webinar

Watch it here.  Printing Industries of America’s Center for Print Economics and Management has developed a new way for printers to assess their strengths and weaknesses and to obtain an action plan to improve their bottom-line performance. The key features of the new Financial Performance Assessment include:

• A detailed comparison and analysis of the printer’s key performance metrics with profit-leading firms that are similar in size, business models, and printing processes.
• A comprehensive variance analysis examining the underlying reasons for performance issues.
• An action plan with recommendations for specific strategic management practices and operational improvements, such as lowering costs, saving resources, changing prices, and other actions to stop losses and increase sales and profits.
• The findings are presented to management in both a detailed report to management and a web-based presentation to the printer’s management team.
• On-going assistance and consultation as needed to help in the implementation of the action plan.
• The research and analysis are conducted by Dr. Ron Davis, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist with over 28 years’ experience in financial analysis in the printing industry, and Tai McNaughton,  Economist at PIA.

2016 Frederick D. Kagy Education Award of Excellence Recipient

Printing Industries of America is pleased to announce that the Printing Technologies program of the Center of Applied Technology North (CAT-North) in Severn, MD has been awarded the 2016 Frederick D. Kagy Education Award of Excellence. The program is honored for its innovative approach to preparing students for entry-level positions in the printing industry. CAT-North is a public career and technology school in Maryland’s Anne Arundel County school system.

Accepting the award on behalf of CAT-North is Michael Born, who instructs the Printing Technologies program at CAT-North. Under his guidance, the program produces students with marketable skills in traditional offset printing as well as digital print technology. The hands-on approach of the program ensures that students are familiar with all operations of a printing company from file creation to job planning/estimating through final production and finishing. During Mr. Born’s tenure, enrollment in the Printing Technologies program has increased by 70%.

Mr. Born also employs inventive teaching practices such as the “Human Printing Press.” Students learn the features and functions of the components of a printing press and act out the printing process in order to envision the system as a whole. Another example includes having students interact with equipment and machinery on their first day of class. This allows students to have a powerful sensory introduction to the printing environment consisting of sound, motion, touch, and smell. The program taps heavily into industry support through its active advisory board.

“Mr. Born has turned the CAT-North program into one to be emulated,” said Gary Habicht, President of Printing Specialist Corporation. “The kids involved are enthusiastic and thoroughly engaged in what they are doing. You can feel the level of excitement in the classroom, as compared to a few years ago, when it seemed to be just another class.”

Mr. Born will accept the 2016 Frederick D. Kagy Education Award on behalf of CAT-North at the TAGA 2017 Annual Technical Conference on March 21, 2017 in Houston, TX. For information about the Frederick D. Kagy Education Award of Excellence, visit www.printing.org/printingindustryawards.

Air Quality Inspections Continue in Maryland

The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) continues to conduct air quality compliance inspections in our area. Typically, MDE contacts the company by phone notifying them of the agencies intent to conduct an air quality inspection. Then, an email or fax is sent a few days before the visit that includes a checklist and a reminder of the inspection. The actual inspections have been short according to members that have been inspected. Once the inspection is finished, the inspector provides feedback and makes suggestions based on their findings. We are not aware of any citations that have been issued because of the inspections.

Primarily the inspections are intended to bring Permit to Construct records up-to-date. MDE requires that companies that have non-heatset sheetfed offset lithographic printing presses with rollers that are 18” or greater have an air quality permit. Most printing companies can apply for a simplified General Permit to construct if the following criteria are met:

• Facility has only non-heatset sheetfed offset lithographic printing presses;
• Facility uses 1,000 gallons or less of fountain solution concentrate per year;
• Facility does not use any clean-up solvent or fountain solution concentrate containing the following chemicals:*

CAS # Common Names

75-09-2 Methylene chloride or Dichloromethane

64741-41-9 Heavy aliphatic petroleum distillate

29911-28-2 Dipropylene glycol butyl ether

*Refer to updated SDS sheets for all cleaning solvents and fountain solutions to determine whether these chemicals are present

In addition, the inspectors do look at some related items including:

• the use of alcohol in fountain solution,
• the storage of VOC waste materials in closed containers,
• whether lids of VOC containing materials are maintained when the materials are not in use,
• whether facilities have in writing good operating practices to minimize use of VOC containing materials for persons cleaning printing equipment,

For the first time, emissions from digital presses are included on the inspection checklist. Also requested are plant-wide emissions for the past 2 years. PGAMA has a template for VOC handling procedures and a spreadsheet for calculating plant-wide emissions.

If you receive a notice of inspection, contact Paul Foster at PGAMA for material explaining what to expect and how to prepare. 

2017 USPS Promotions

The 2017 Mailing Promotions continue to build on the engagement strategies of past Promotions. To demonstrate that direct mail continues to be a relevant part of the marketing mix and has the potential to offer greater value, the Postal Service is encouraging customers to adopt and invest in technologies that enhance how consumers interact and engage with mail. This improves the long-term value of the product, providing substantial benefits in future years.  Check them out here.

Powerful Capital Investment Incentives

Pro-growth capital investment is a top government affairs priority of both NPES and Printing Industries of America, and both Associations have urged Congress to enact tax policies that reflect the economic power of rapid capital cost recovery. In response, Congress has enacted legislation making Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 179 Expensing permanent, and extending IRC Section 168(k) Bonus Depreciation for five years, retroactive to January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2019. Attached is a summary of these new tax laws and their very significant benefits to printers and their suppliers.

PGAMA welcomes Philip Gray as Virginia Director of Membership

 Phil brings his 30 years of experience as a Commercial Printing Company owner (Progressive Printing), 9 years as a Secondary High School Vocational Printing Instructor and 10 years as a Board member to the former PIVA to assist PGAMA in maintaining Virginia members and creating new membership opportunities in Virginia for Printers and Suppliers. PGAMA is anxious to bring programs, benefits and events to Virginia to grow the association in the Mid-Atlantic area.  Please welcome Phil to the PGAMA family.  If you have referrals, please contact him at 703-850-8865 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Changes to Fair Labor Standards Act

CHANGES TO THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT ANNOUNCED

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) announced today major alterations to the overtime exemption classifications under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These changes have dramatic ramifications for all employers and it is strongly advised that you familiarize yourself with them as they may affect your budgeting for 2017.

Beginning December 1, 2016, the salary threshold for overtime exempt employees will increase from $23,660 to $913 per week or $47,476 annually for a full-year worker. This means that any employee whose salary is less than $47,476 will be eligible for overtime pay beyond their normal 40 hours per week schedule. Updates to the salary threshold levels will occur automatically every three years (with at least 150 days notice and effective January 1, 2020). 

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Immediate Action Required! New SEC Rule

The SEC has proposed a regulation that could substantially impact the financial printing business. There is strong and growing opposition to this rule and we are getting great support from legislators, led by Representatives Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) who have offered a provision to counter this rule. Time is short and every comment counts.

PLEASE SEE THE DETAIL BELOW TO LEARN HOW YOU CAN SHARE YOUR OPPOSITION TO THIS RULE. THE DEADLINE TO COMMENT IS THE END OF DAY, WEDS JUNE 8th.  

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed a new “Investment Company Reporting Modernization Rule” (Rule 30e-3), which would allow mutual funds to discontinue the mailing of shareholder reports and other important investment information to investors. Instead, shareholder reports would be posted on a fund’s website. If allowed to proceed, Rule 30e-3 will potentially harm millions of investors – the majority of whom have already expressed a preference for paper-based investment materials.

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