No images? Click here Welcome back to this week's edition of the Washington Weekly newsletter - bringing you the latest and greatest policy updates from Washington, D.C.GCCA Participates in Department of Labor Stakeholder Meeting on Overtime Regulations On March 22, 2022, GCCA and coalition partners participated in a listening session held by the Department of Labor (DOL) regarding an upcoming proposal to modify overtime regulations. GCCA and other industry representatives expressed that due to economic difficulties from COVID-19, workforce shortages, and supply chain disruptions, it would not be the appropriate time to cause another disruption in the labor market with an overtime regulation change. DOL’s Wage and Hour Division previously announced that it is reviewing the regulations that implement the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime exemptions for bona fide executive, administrative, and professional employees. The FLSA guarantees a minimum wage and overtime pay of time and a half for work over 40 hours a week. While these protections extend to most workers, the FLSA provides exemptions. The “white collar” exemption is for executive, administrative, professional, outside sales, and computer employees. To be considered exempt, employees must meet tests related to their primary job duties, be paid on a salary basis, and be paid not less than the minimum salary threshold. In May 2016, DOL finalized a rule that changed the minimum salary threshold for the “white collar” exemption under the FLSA from $23,660 to $47,476. The minimum salary threshold for this exemption had last been changed in 2004. Due to litigation challenges, the 2016 final rule was never effective. In 2019, DOL rescinded the 2016 final rule and proposed and finalized another rule adopting a minimum salary threshold of $35,308 per year. U.S. Treasury Extends Arrival Deadline for Russian Seafood On Thursday, March 24, 2022, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) announced that it is now giving the importers of Russian seafood until 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time, June 23, 2022, for their products to arrive at U.S. ports, nearly three additional months. Contracts still must have been signed before March 11, 2022 the date that US president Joe Biden announced in executive order 14068, banning the import of Russian seafood, alcoholic beverages and non-industrial diamonds, and setting the wheels in motion for the removal of Russia's most favored nation status in the US, other Group of Seven countries and the European Union. Read the Department of Treasury’s alert HERE. Ocean Shipping Reforms Move Ahead, Backers Optimistic of Passage A bill aimed at relieving port bottlenecks and reining in shipping rates advanced through committee Tuesday, March 22, 2022, but the measure still faces significant legislative hurdles. The Senate Commerce Committee approved the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, co-sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sen. John Thune, R- S.D., on a voice vote. The House passed a version of the bill with more teeth as a stand-alone measure in December and then again last month as part of the America COMPETES Act, a sprawling measure to address U.S. industrial competitiveness. It's not clear yet whether the Senate will take the measure up as is or whether it will be part of the coming negotiations with the House over the competitiveness bill. The Senate last week took steps to set up a conference committee that would negotiate a final version of that legislation. The Senate intends to replace the House-passed COMPETES Act with the Senate’s U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, setting up a vote to send the bill back to the House. This maneuver will trigger a conference committee. However, although the Ocean Shipping Reform Act is included in the House-passed COMPETES Act, that legislation also contains harmful provisions such as Card Check and mandatory arbitration of collective bargaining agreements. If you have not done so already, GCCA encourages members to contact their Senators and let them know you oppose the card check and mandatory arbitration of collective bargaining agreements provisions in the COMPETES Act! Take action and contact your Senators HERE. GCCA Celebrates Modern Agriculture on the National Mall, Sponsors Feeding the Economy Report On Tuesday, March 22, 2022, the nation celebrated National Ag Day, which is a time for us to thank farmers and ranchers and forest landowners for feeding, sheltering, and powering our nation. Over three dozen agriculture organizations hosted the inaugural Celebration of Modern Agriculture on the National Mall outside the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) headquarters last week, highlighting America’s equipment manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, and agriculture innovators on the forefront of science and technology. More than 16,000 visitors attended the two-day festival and engaged with hands-on educational displays about modern agriculture. This year’s theme, Innovation Enables Sustainability, highlighted the latest technology in American agriculture and how it enables equipment manufacturers, as well as America’s farmers, ranchers, and growers, to sustainably provide for a growing world. Policymakers, industry stakeholders, and visitors enjoyed a half-mile hands-on display of modern equipment and technology as well as a first-hand view of how the latest equipment, crop inputs, data, and technology are working together to drive agriculture’s tradition of producing more with less. Sprayers, harvesters, balers, tractors, and other agriculture equipment were onsite for a one-of-a-kind festival just minutes from the White House and the U.S. Capitol. In coordination with National Ag Day, GCCA along with 29 other food and agriculture groups released the sixth annual Feeding the Economy report, a historic farm-to-fork economic analysis revealing how these sectors influence the local and broader United States economies. Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s study highlights how the industries remained resilient to provide Americans with jobs, economic opportunity and safe food. The report’s findings show that 7% of the nation’s economy and 29% of American jobs are linked to the food and agriculture sectors, either directly or indirectly. Amidst the global supply chain and inflation crises, these sectors also exported $182.91 billion worth of goods, helping the U.S. maintain its position as a leading player in global agriculture. Read the full Feeding the Economy Report HERE. GCCA member Eskimo Cold Storage Speaks at Farmers for Free Trade Virtual Town Hall on Trade’s Importance to Rural Jobs On Wednesday, March 23, 2022, Farmers for Free Trade hosted a virtual town hall media event on the importance of ag trade to rural jobs and economic growth. The event featured Representative Dusty Johnson (R-SD ), a prominent member of the House Agriculture Committee as well as leading ag commodity groups, economic experts, and GCCA member Eskimo Cold Storage! Karen Reece, Vice-President of Eskimo Cold Storage was able to share the cold chain’s perspective on the importance of trade and shed some much-deserved light on the industry as a whole! Watch the Town Hall HERE. SEC Unveils Landmark Climate Disclosure Rule Companies will need to reveal detailed information about their greenhouse gas pollution under a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plan, portending a major shift in how corporations must show they are dealing with climate change. For the first time ever, the agency plans to require businesses to outline the risks a warming planet poses to their operations when they file registration statements, annual reports, or other documents. Some large companies will have to provide information on emissions they don’t make themselves but come from other firms in their supply chain. The proposal released on Monday, March 21, 2022, sets up a major clash with industry lobbyists and Republican politicians who argue the regulations are outside the SEC’s jurisdiction. Liberal lawmakers, environmental advocates, and the SEC, however, say mom-and-pop investors need the information to make informed decisions. The draft rules, which the commission voted 3-1 to put out for public comment, would require the largest U.S.-listed companies to report direct and certain indirect carbon emissions and to obtain assurance, a third-party review of those metrics, beginning with fiscal year 2024—one year after the rules’ proposed effective date. Biden Sees Risk of Cyberattack on Critical Infrastructure President Joe Biden warned on Monday, March 21, 2022, about new indications of possible Russian cyberattacks, pumping up the volume on weeks of growing concern about a possible Kremlin-ordered response to crushing sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. Biden reiterated those warnings, prompted by what he called “evolving intelligence that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks.” Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, said in a briefing that “there is no certainty” of an attack on the U.S. but that Biden’s statement was a “call to action,” adding that Biden’s warning was intended to focus attention on “critical infrastructure.” She declined to specify which industries might be threatened. Biden, in his statement, said “Critical infrastructure owners and operators must accelerate efforts to lock their digital doors.” GCCA encourages members to review the Shields Up information below and remain vigilant with their cyber security. Learn more here: CISA Shields Up If you have not yet participated in our grassroots campaigns, but would like to take action to oppose the PRO Act or oppose the harmful tax hikes in the American Job’s Plan, click the Take Action tab above now.
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