Pennsylvania and Delaware Cleaners Association

Maintenance Seminar

Presses, Pads, Productivity and Profit
Money Saving Tips That Prevent Downtime

Do-It-Yourself Press and Boiler Maintenance
Techniques and procedures to keep your equipment running and prevent breakdowns
Al Mills, J Equipment

Judging Your Press Pads
Practical tips and examples to help you maintain quality and peak production
Paul Hoy, Covers Etc.

Better Profits and Management in the Finishing Department
How to achieve quality and production standards, including development of pieces
Jane Zellers, JCZ Training and Consulting

Followed by a Wine and Cheese Networking Reception
Sponsored by FM Supply
March 14
1:00 p.m.
Hilton Hotel
Harrisburg

More information and a reservation form can be found HERE!

Legislative Watch

Pennsylvania has a new governor and a not-so-new legislature. Our legislative watchdog, Bob Stewart, is in touch almost daily with the PDCA office and with our vice president for government relations, Dale Kaplan. He has kept us informed about last year’s many versions of proposed changes to the sales tax regulations, as well as other rules that can affect your businesses. These will surely continue. In addition, we do not know what Governor Wolf will propose, and what tax changes he may propose. PDCA has joined a coalition of many business organizations, including many large ones. Together, we will stand up for you. Look for regular updates coming your way to keep you informed.

Legislative Outlook

The Washington-based law firm of Squire Patton Boggs has published their analysis of areas of potential compromise in the new Congress. DLI included it in a recent Hot Press email. One segment was on tax reform. Portions of their analysis are below.

COMPREHENSIVE TAX REFORM

Fundamental tax reform has been on the agenda for years, but the effort to enact a comprehensive bill has not gained meaningful traction beyond proposals put forward by leading Members of Congress and the Administration. In the last Congress, the chairs of both the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee tabled a series of options and proposals, particularly in the business tax area. In 2012, the Obama Administration expressed support, in principle, for moving forward with business tax reform. In the end, however, the necessary bipartisan support for a package proved lacking.

With Republicans now in control of the Senate as well as the House, what are the prospects for action on comprehensive legislation? Senate Majority Leader McConnell recently noted that “[d]ivided government is the perfect time to do tax reform.” The new chairmen of both congressional tax writing committees appear committed to the tax reform effort. Indeed, there has been increasing discussion in many quarters that fundamental tax reform could emerge as another viable opportunity for bipartisan cooperation—perhaps even the enactment of final legislation—in 2015 and 2016. Moreover, the appointment of cross-party tax reform working groups within the Senate Finance Committee suggests that Republicans recognize the need to achieve a bipartisan consensus for tax reform to move forward, particularly in the Senate. …

A major threshold issue is whether to limit the tax reform effort to “corporate” tax reform. Given that the U.S. corporate tax rate is among the highest in the world, there appears to be an emerging consensus that a reform package should broaden the corporate tax base and use the resulting revenue savings to reduce the corporate tax rate. While the Administration generally has supported a corporation-only approach, (in the State of the Union) the President emphasized proposed changes to the individual side of the ledger, with explicit calls to use the code to make it more progressive, in part as a means to provide greater relief to the middle class.

A piecemeal approach to tax reform is appealing to many given the absence of a comparable consensus on how the individual income tax system should be reformed, but such an approach is complicated by the fact that, with the rise of new forms of business organizations, such as limited liability companies, and other factors, an increasing portion of business income is reported on individual rather than corporation income tax returns. Given the emerging consensus that the U.S. corporate tax rate, which is among the highest in the world, should be reduced, a reform package that addresses only corporations could well result in different tax burdens being imposed on substantially the same types of economic activity.

For this and other reasons, and in contrast to the apparent position of the President, Finance Committee Chairman Hatch appears inclined… to addressing both business and individual tax reform issues at the same time. It remains to be seen, however, whether … the President will have placed individual tax reform more squarely on the tax reform agenda. If that proves to be the case, the absence of a consensus on a path to individual tax reform could slow the tax reform process.

Welcome New Members
Antionette Rollins • Zoom Dry Cleaning, Coraopolis, PA.
Stephen Schin • Central Cleaners, Exton, PA
Associate Member • Moore Services, Solon, OH 800/941-6673

Like Us on FaceBook

PDCA is now on FaceBook. Be sure to look for our page, Pennsylvania and Delaware Cleaners Association. Check the Likeicon and get the latest updates delivered to you by FaceBook.

DLI Update

Some people are confused about the revised DLI membership categories. They don’t know why the change happened, or how to respond to it.

DLI CEO Mary Scalco opened the Expo seminars and explained the reasoning behind it. First, the DLI board felt it was fairer to base membership on the amount and type of services a company uses, not on their size. Secondly, they felt that the world has changed, and paying bills on line, in monthly increments, is a common and often preferred way of doing business. The third consideration was that, over many years, the number of dues categories, on a national scale, had expanded, with different rates for different areas, so that accounting had become a confusing nightmare.

The new system is simple, with basic standards. A cleaner chooses the category that contains the services he wants, then decides if he wants to pay monthly, quarterly, semiannually or annually. Because the system is automated, after a member signs up, he no longer gets those annoying invoices months before payments are due.

If you have any questions about the program, you can call PDCA at 800/822-7352 or DLI at 800/638-2627.

Free Preparedness and Prevention Contingency Plan

Regulations state that all cleaners who use perc must have a Preparedness and Contingency Plan, for use in case of a spill or accident with the solvent. These plans, when written by a consultant or an attorney, can cost anywhere from $250 to $500. PDCA contracted to have a plan drawn up. It is available to members at no cost. To comply with the regulation, all you need to do is fill in your company information, following the instruction sheet that is included. Keep the form on file and be sure that your key employees read it and know where it is. Remember that missing paperwork is often cited in violation reports by inspectors. Members received the plan previously. But if you don’t know where yours is, or would like to have a new copy, contact the office and we will send one out to you.