July 7, 2004
Federal Communications Commission fax regulations . . .
Below is information from the Florida Association of Chamber Professionals, which has been closely following the FCC “do not fax” ruling set to take effect this January. Michelle Orlando, FACP President, can be reached at (407) 677-8480 with questions.
Since last summer, the association/chamber community has been working to secure a legislative solution to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) onerous fax regulations, which were drafted last summer and are set to go into effect on January 1, 2005. It is NOW time to take action to make sure that these regulations do not become law.
H.R. 4600 will restore the "established business relationship" (EBR) provision governing facsimile communications, which was repealed by the FCC in its recent rulemaking. The EBR exception allowed fax communications among parties in which a previous business relationship existed. As part of the FCC's rewrite of its regulations to implement the "do-not-call" rules, the FCC determined that this exception for faxes had no basis in law, despite the existence of these regulations for almost a decade. Should these new regulations ultimately go into effect on January 1, these changes will create a significant economic and administrative burden for the association community.
In addition to reestablishing the EBR, H.R. 4600 requires an opt-out mechanism so that recipients have the appropriate tools available to them to no longer receive unwanted faxes.
We are asking every one of you to contact your Representative, asking them to co-sponsor H.R. 4600 and support and pass this bill. [Representatives Eliot Engel (NY-17), Gregory Meeks (NY-6), and Edolphus Towns (NY-10) are already co-sponsors of this bill.]
In an effort to assist you with this process, you can visit ASAE's web site at http://capwiz.com/asae/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=5643181, to contact your Member of Congress, find out who are the original 24 co-sponsors of the bill, and provide you with language for your letter that you may also personalize. Please also take the opportunity provided in the link to thank Congressmen Engel, Meeks and Towns for co-sponsoring the legislation. The association/chamber community needs your support to help assure the passage of H.R. 4600.
Comments solicited on Renewable Portfolio Standard . . .
There is still time to submit comments to the Public Service Commission on the proposed Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). The plan would mandate that 25 percent of the electricity bought by New York State consumers and businesses come from renewable sources—power that is generally more costly than electricity generated by conventional energy sources.
If your chamber has not already testified or submitted comments on this issue, The Business Council encourages you to do so. To use the e-advocacy system to generate faxes to the Public Service Commission, click here: http://www.lobbynet.com/supporter/supporter1a.asp?issueId=648&mode=PopUp
Get out the Vote 2004 . . .
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is inviting its member chambers to partner with it and help dramatically increase participation among pro-business voters in November 2004.
The hundreds of thousands of voters employed by your members are looking for guidance and leadership when it comes to voting. They are specifically seeking out exactly the type of information the U.S. Chamber’s comprehensive web site, Vote for Business.com, provides.
In a nutshell, the U.S. Chamber will provide you with access to a user-friendly,
information-full voter education web site. The Chamber can also work with
your member companies to build company-specific web sites. An e-mail or
memo will direct employees to the web site. From there, they can register
to vote, apply for absentee ballots, learn about the issues, and study
the candidates running in their state or Congressional district. The ultimate
goal is to educate employees about the candidates best suited to represent
the business community.
Partnering with chambers across the country in 2002, Vote For Business.com
registered thousands of new voters, helped employees obtain the information
they needed to vote via absentee ballot, and provided critical information
about pro-business candidates. In 2004, the U.S. Chamber will again engage
in the political scene in places where it can make a real difference by
educating, energizing, and turning out the business vote. Your chamber
can help!
Contact the U.S. Chamber today at 202-463-5604 or vote@uschamber.com to sign up or learn more.
Tell us about it . . .
Rob Robinson at The Otsego County Chamber
needs your help: Do you have any draft RFPs for farming out all or part
of your Health Insurance program that you are willing to share? Over the
next three months, The Otsego County Chamber will be looking at options
concerning the
future of our insurance offerings. Should we stay as is? Should we bring
in an agent of record? Or should we farm it out to an agency? Any drafts
of RFPs used by other Chambers would be very helpful as we launch this
review and search. Contact Rob at rob@otsegocountychamber.com
or 1-877-5-OTSEGO.
Got a question you’d like to ask other CANYS members? Job opening in your chamber? Great idea you’d like to share? Send it to maggie.moree@bcnys.org.
