Hot Air!

Legislative Alert: Democrats Release Health Care Reform Bill For House Vote

Charlie.mccrudden@acca.org (Charlie McCrudden) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

The Democratic leadership of the House released the health care reform bill they plan to take to the House floor in the next few days. HR 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, is more than 2,000 pages and merges three different bills passed by House committees in July.

Speaker Pelosi promised to post the bills online and delay debate for at least 72 hours before a vote.

The House Rules Committee, which will set the rules for debate on the bill, is expected to allow only limited amendments by Republicans and a single procedural motion to kill the bill. Republicans released their option, which may be made in order as a substitute bill.

Not much has changed since the debate this summer in the House and neither has ACCA's opposition to this massive overhaul of our health care system.

To see a summary of the bill and to send a message in opposition to your Reprentative in Congress, ACCA members can use the Grassroots Action Center.

Passage of this bill is not certain. Congrees needs hear from you today. The message is clear -- scrap this bill and start over.

Negotiations on amendments are ongoing but Speaker Pelosi wants to begin debate on the bill by the end of the week. Capitol Hill staff have been put on notice that work may continue through the weekend.

There’s no word on any deal in the Senate or when a Senate version may be released. But rumors are that the Senate will not bring a bill to the floor until at least December.

Copper Prices Are Up And So Is Copper Theft

Charlie.mccrudden@acca.org (Charlie McCrudden) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

In June 2008, the price of copper hit $4 a pound, fueling a nationwide rash of copper theft. Thieves targeted anything with copper --utility lines, pipes, fittings, and condensing units.

As the economy waned and the construction market flagged, the price of copper came down and the crime wave subsided. In January, the price of copper had dropped to a little more than $1 a pound.

That may have been the bottom of the trough. Copper is now selling for $3 a pound and thieves are taking notice. A new wave of copper theft has police departments and utilities scrambling to catch up.

ACCA is an active member of a coalition of trade associations and retailers pushing to enact tougher laws to put an end to copper theft. Legislation introduced in the House and Senate would set minimum requirements for scrap dealers and metal recyclers to collect identification information from those who bring metal to a scrap yard. The bills would not overturn the laws already on the books in several states.

The bills would require the scrap dealer or metal recycler to record the date of the transaction, the weight, amount paid, and the condition of the metal, and the name, driver's license or other number, and license plate number of the person who brings the copper to the scrap dealer. Frequent scrap metal recyclers would be able to use a streamlined process to avoid delays. Transactions that exceed $75 must be paid for by check only, payable to the name and address of the person who is recycling the precious metal.

The bills do not make receiving stolen copper a criminal penalty; however, civil penalties for violations include fines for recyclers of up to $10,000.

Have you been the victim or copper theft lately or witnessed the results? When we asked this question two years ago we received dozens of stories from contractors who found condensing units broken apart for the copper inside.

Senate Majority Leader Preps Health Care Reform Bill For Senate Floor Debate

Charlie.mccrudden@acca.org (Charlie McCrudden) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

Can a health care reform bill with a “public option” garner enough support to get 60 votes to overcome a Republican filibuster and open debate on the Senate floor?

As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid knows, probably not.

But what if the bill includes a feature that allows state legislatures to vote to opt out of the public option plan?

Again, it appears the answer may be no.

Reid is doing everything he can to move the health care bill forward. In order for him to open debate on Senate floor, he must find 60 votes to invoke “cloture”, a procedural motion to nullify any potential filibuster.

The public option is a government run program that would provide low cost health care coverage to individuals and families. The public option plan would compete directly with private insurance plans in a newly created marketplace called the National Exchange. Many lawmakers are concerned that a public option will not only be another government money loser, but it could also cause the private insurance market to dry up.

Reid needs to bring something to the floor and his current task is to combine bills that tackle the health care reform issue in very different ways. Two Senate committees with jurisdiction over health care passed reform bills this year. One of those bills, approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, includes mandates for individuals to obtain qualified health care coverage, a requirement that employers contribute at least 60% toward their employees’ health care coverage premiums, and a public option to cover the uninsured. The HELP bill is very similar to three bills that passed in the House. The other Senate bill, approved by the Senate Finance Committee last month, does not include a public option or an employer mandate, and proposes to tax high cost, or “Cadillac” private health plans.

Within Reid’s own party there is a lot of disagreement on the public option, despite the fact that recent polls show support for a public option is rising. Moderate Democratic Senators are cautious about supporting a bill with the public option for fear of costs and deficit spending. Liberal Democratic Senators will only support a bill that includes a robust public option.

So two days ago Reid floated a trial balloon that proposed to include the public option in the bill he brings to the floor, but it would include a clause to allow states to opt out of the public plan.

If states elected to opt out, they would also not be able to participate in any cooperative insurance plans the bill would allow. State coop plans would be owned and managed by subscribers, much like electrical cooperatives or credit union. They are viewed as lower cost solution to a federal plan.

The opt out proposal has not been scored by the Congressional Budget Office and it has already cost Reid his lone Republican supporter in Olympia Snowe of Maine. Snowe supported a “trigger” proposal that would set up public options only in states where private insurance is not affordable.

It remains to be seen whether the opt out plan will have the support Reid needs to get to 60. Without Snowe, he needs every one of the 60 Democrats to vote AYE on cloture. Already Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut has said he would not support the bill if it included a public option, even with the opt out plan.

If he can’t get the support for the bill on its merits, Reid may try an old Washington ploy by telling his colleagues “let’s just get the bill to the floor and let the votes fall where they may”. This is a basic stalling tactic that gives him more time to button hole his way to something that can pass into law.

White House Announces Recommendations To Encourage Home Energy Efficiency Improvements

Charlie.mccrudden@acca.org (Charlie McCrudden) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

Last week the White House released a report recommending several changes to federal policy to expand and improve the home energy efficiency and retrofit market.

Drafted and developed by the Council on Environmental Quality’s Middle Class Task Force, Recovery Through Retrofit identifies three critical action areas where the federal government can help remove barriers that prevent homeowners from making energy efficient retrofits. Nineteen federal agencies and departments were involved in drafting the report and developing the recommendations.

The first recommendation would help homeowners and consumers gain access to reliable information to make informed decisions about home energy retrofits. More than just helping them understand what federal, state and local financial incentives are available, the report directs the federal government to develop an energy performance label for existing homes and a standardized home energy performance measure.

A home energy performance label endorsed by the federal government will result in an easily recognizable benchmark that auditors, retrofit contractors, lenders, realtors, and homeowners can use to compare home energy performance and identify the most efficient homes. At the same time, a uniform and nationally-recognized home energy performance measure will remove the confusion that currently exists in the marketplace.

Next, the report recommends new and innovative financing programs that have proven successful in reducing energy use and encouraging residential retrofits in several states. One of the recommendations is to create Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing that would allow the homeowner to pay for the retrofits on their property tax bill as part of a municipal property tax assessment. This would tie the investment in new equipment to the home, not the homeowner. It would also lower the interest rate and set better financing terms for the improvement.

Another recommendation would enable homeowners and home buyers to refinance their properties to add energy efficiency upgrades and pay for them on the underlying mortgages. Last, the federal government would create revolving loan funds to help pay for the initial investment costs of a new energy efficient retrofit. Revolving Loan Funds offer low costs loans on favorable terms to homeowners. Loan payments go back into the “pot” to be loaned out again and again.

Finally, the report recommends that the federal government develop a consistent workforce certification and training standard for retrofit contractors, as well as provide business development skills for new and existing operations. A standardized national recognized set of training programs and certifications will lower start up costs and other barriers to entry for retrofit contractors. It will also assure homeowners and consumers that they are getting value from properly trained and certified contractors.

The next step is for the Council on Environmental Quality will convene an interagency Energy Retrofit Working Group chaired by the Department of Energy, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, and the Environmental Protection Agency, to implement the recommendations and proposed actions of the report effort and track its progress. The Working Group will operate as the single point of contact for the successful implementation of this effort.

Within thirty days, the Working Group will submit an implementation plan to the Vice President. In addition, the Working Group will report to the Vice President regularly on the progress towards implementing each of the recommendations identified in this Report. Additional strategies will also be developed to expand the retrofit market to rental housing. Further, Federal Agencies will collaborate with local communities to test business models and develop best practices for encouraging energy efficiency programs that address the three key market failures identified in this Report.

An Update on the Energy Star Appliance Rebate Program

Charlie.mccrudden@acca.org (Charlie McCrudden) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

Over the summer, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced a new opportunity for homeowners looking for financial incentives to ease the costs of new, higher efficiency ENERGY STAR appliances, including HVAC equipment. Each state would take a share of $300 million approved in the stimulus bill. States would be given a broad authority to set the rebate amounts, what types of equipment would qualify, and how the purchaser would claim the rebate.

The states had until October 15, 2009, to submit their rebate plans to the DOE. It appears that most states have elected to participate in the rebate program.

DOE recently posted an update on its website to say that the appliance rebates will be available in late 2009 and early 2010.

Each state and territory will choose dollar amounts for the ENERGY STAR products selected. Amounts commonly offered will range from $50 to $250, depending upon the product being purchased, purchase price, and other market factors. Federal tax credits and other financial incentives may be claimed for the same products, as long as they qualify under the rules of the programs and are not specifically excluded.

Many ACCA chapters sent letters to their state energy offices in September urging them to participate in the rebate plan. The letters also recommended that the rebate programs prioritize HVAC equipment over other types of appliances due to the greatest potential gain in energy efficiency.

When more information is released, we will pass it along.

What Happens When the Consumer Price Index Falls

Charlie.mccrudden@acca.org (Charlie McCrudden) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

The down economy sent the consumer price index into negative territory for the first time since 1955. As a result, this past week the Social Security Administration announced that social security benefits for next year will not see a cost of living increase.

So this means the maximum taxable earnings base for the social security portion of employment taxes will remain at $106,800. The employer and employee each pay 6.2 percent on earnings up to this amount. The employer and employee pay another 1.45 percent on earnings with no cap. And, of course, the self-employed pay both shares.

The state of the economy will have an impact on a variety of other programs that are tied to a cost of living inflation index. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that the various pension and retirement plan dollar amounts will not change. For example, the limitation for defined contribution plan contributions will remain unchanged for 2010 at $49,000. Effective January 1, 2010, the limitation on the annual benefit under a defined benefit plan remains unchanged at $195,000. The limitation regarding SIMPLE retirement account contributions remains unchanged at $11,500.

According to the IRS, more than three dozen other tax benefits are subject to inflation adjustments each year, but because recent inflation factors have been minimal, many of these benefits will remain unchanged or change only slightly for 2010. Some provisions affecting 2010 returns, filed by most taxpayers in early 2011, include the following:

The value of each personal and dependency exemption available to most taxpayers is $3,650, unchanged from 2009.

The new standard deduction for heads of household is $8,400, up from $8,350 in 2009. For other taxpayers, the standard deduction remains unchanged at $11,400 for married couples filing a joint return and $5,700 for singles and married individuals filing separately. Nearly two out of three taxpayers take the standard deduction rather than itemizing deductions, such as mortgage interest, charitable contributions, and state and local taxes.

Various tax bracket thresholds will see minor adjustments. For example, for a married couple filing a joint return the taxable income threshold separating the 15 percent bracket from the 25 percent bracket is $68,000, up from $67,900 in 2009.

The annual gift tax exclusion remains unchanged at $13,000.

It's likely that the consumer price index will return to positive numbers when it's time to calculate the cost of living inflation index for 2011. Prices appear to have bottomed out in January and have been rising slowly ever since.

Where are the new HCFC Rules?

Charlie.mccrudden@acca.org (Charlie McCrudden) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

As most of our industry knows, January 1, 2010, is an important milestone for HCFC refrigerants. Under the Clean Air Act and the Montreal Protocol, that’s the day when contractors can no longer install equipment pre-charged with HCFC refrigerants as a new installation. (You will be able to use stockpiled replacement parts after Jan. 1, 2010.) It’s also the day when a step down in the production of HCFCs occurs, meaning there will be less virgin R-22 created for servicing existing equipment.

For several years now, EPA has been working on a rule that would spell out the details of the equipment ban and phaseout. Usually, a rule like this would be released a year before its effective date.

In December 2008, after much delay, EPA released the proposed rule and held a hearing in January 2009. ACCA participated at that hearing and followed up with submitted comments on the proposed rules in February and March. The proposed rules that were released in December caused enough confusion that the EPA released a clarification document following the hearings. Since then, the industry has been playing the waiting game.

With the magic date less than three months away, the delay is causing concern to contractors and distributors with R-22 equipment. For more information, click here and read the documents in the "What’s New" box.

As soon as EPA releases the rule (which could be any day now), ACCA will report it to its members.

ACCA Chapters Promote State Residential HVAC Rebate Programs

Charlie.mccrudden@acca.org (Charlie McCrudden) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

As part of the stimulus bill that passed in February, Congress appropriated $300 million for state-run Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Programs. Each state, through its energy office, would get a share of the money and set up a rebate program for consumer appliances. The state energy offices would have broad authority to choose eligible appliances, rebate amounts, and the claim processes. The states have until October 15, 2009 to officially indicate to the US Department of Energy that they plan to participate in the program.

ACCA is concerned that the rebate program will heavily favor the purchase and installation of “white goods” that can be purchased at retail stores, such as refrigerators, dish washers, and clothes washers and dryers. While replacing these appliances with higher efficiency models can show some energy savings, they fall short when compared to the energy savings found from replacing HVAC equipment.

Some states have indicated that they may not participate in the program. So last month ACCA provided our chapters with customizable template letters addressed to the state energy offices, urging officials to participate in the appliance rebate program as well as recommending that they promote HVAC equipment replacements.

When you consider the energy use in the average home, prioritizing heating, cooling, and hot water appliances installed by a professional contractor is the surest way to improve efficiency and lower energy costs. According to ENERGY STAR, the typical single family home has an annual energy bill of at least $2,200, with the cost of heating and cooling making up the largest portion – more than 46 percent. The cost of water heating adds another 14 percent. Compare those figures with the energy use of appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers, which make up only 13 percent combined.

The heating and cooling appliances found in America’s homes are in desperate need of replacement. The 2005 Residential Energy Consumption Survey found that 39 percent of the nation’s residential cooling systems and 60 percent of nation’s residential heating equipment are more than 10 years old. The good news is that in the last fifteen years, the performance and energy efficiencies for central air conditioners, heat pumps, and furnaces have increased tremendously through industry research and development. In some cases, homeowners replacing old, inefficient equipment can expect to double or even triple their efficiency ratings.

ACCA also recommended that the states structure the rebate claim process so that homeowners who select appliances installed by professional service contractors are not unfairly penalized by the time lag for proper installation. The concern is that appliances purchased and “installed” by the homeowners, such as refrigerators and dishwashers, will quickly consume the limited funds available, simply because those rebate claims could be substantiated with a printed receipt. This potential problem is avoided by setting aside money for claims made by appliances not purchased at a retail store.

Finally, ACCA recommends that all heating and cooling replacements include ENERGY STAR’s Quality Installation in order to qualify for rebates. Replacing old heating and cooling equipment fails to improve performance if the new equipment is not properly installed. In fact, improper installation can reduce system efficiency by up to 30 percent — costing the homeowner more on utility bills and possibly shortening the equipment's life.

It is expected that the DOE will announce the details of the rebate program later this month.

Senate Finance Committee To Vote Soon on Health Care Reform Bill

Charlie.mccrudden@acca.org (Charlie McCrudden) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

The Senate Finance Committee has completed its debate on its version of health care reform legislation. All that remains is for the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to “score” the bill before the committee members vote on sending it to the full Senate. CBO expects it will take several days to figure out the costs in lost revenue from new and expanded programs and gains in revenues in new fees, taxes, and program cuts.

Passage of the bill out of committee is not certain. A few Democrats are not happy that this version of the health care reform does not include a robust public option. It will no doubt be close when the committee votes, most likely next week.

If the bill is approved by the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate Democratic Leadership will merge the bill with the one approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) Committee in July. The two bills are very different and it will take a lot of heavy lifting to piece them together into one bill that will go before the full Senate for debate, amendment, and final passage. Two huge issues to resolve are the lack of a public option and the employer mandate that all employers provide their employees with qualified health care coverage in the Finance Committee bill.

This same process is already occurring in the House. In late July, three committees approved three bills that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team have been cobbling together into a single bill that can be voted on by the whole House. The biggest difference between the House bills is the exemptions for small businesses for the employer mandates. And the support for the House bills has dropped off since the August recess. The rules for House debate limit the number of amendments that can be offered so the Republican minority won’t have many options to strike out provisions they oppose.

House leaders say they are close to bringing a bill to the floor for debate and a vote. Senate leaders are less certain, hoping to bring something before the end of the year. But before anyone gets ahead of themselves, the Senate Finance Committee needs to vote next week.

Step By Step, Congress Continues to Push Health Care Reform Closer to a Vote

Charlie.mccrudden@acca.org (Charlie McCrudden) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

With all the media attention on the Senate Finance Committee working on health care reform, almost no one noticed an unusual procedure used to keep health care reform moving in the House.

Yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a special session to consider several amendments to HR 3200, even though the Committee already approved and reported that bill in July.

Back then, before the town hall meetings of August, there was significant debate in committee over the role of the public option and the small business exemptions from the employer mandate provision. Blue Dog Democrats, the conservative coalition in the House, negotiated a compromise with House Speaker Pelosi and Committee Chairman Henry Waxman that pared back the public option and cut the overall cost of the bill.

The special session yesterday was mostly procedural and was necessary to take care of pending amendments that were never voted on before the committee approved the bill and went home for the August recess.

The next step for the health care reform bills in the House is for the Rules Committee to piece together a single bill from three different versions approved by three different House committees. The resulting bill will then have to be “scored” by the Congressional Budget Office to see what it will cost the federal government in lost revenues. It will be brought to the floor of the House, debated with limited opportunities for amendments, and finally voted up or down.

The House Rules Committee has already started the challenging working on creating a bill that will appease the liberals and conservatives in the Democratic Caucus. If they drop the Blue Dog provisions, they will lose a significant bloc of votes.

A bill is not expected on the House floor for at least two weeks. Until then, House leaders will be closely watching the Senate to see what they approve.