October 13, 2004
Update on FCC faxing rules . . .
The Federal Communications Commission has issued an order that pushes back the implementation date of its new fax rule to June 30, 2005. The rule will require commercial faxers to get written permission from each fax recipient.
Businesses currently need only an existing business relationship with a customer or consumer to send a fax. The new FCC rule—which was issued along with other changes to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act on July 3, 2003—repeals the existing business relationship clause. The new rule would require businesses and nonprofits to obtain written consent from their customers and members before sending faxes advertising goods, services, and memberships.
This is the second time the FCC has rescheduled the rule’s implementation. In August of last year, it delayed implementation to January 1, 2005, in response to concerns raised by businesses, industry groups and chambers of commerce.
In July of 2004, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4600, the Junk Fax Prevention Act, which would overturn the written-permission rule. The Senate version, S. 2603, is out of committee but has not received a vote by the full Senate.
The existing business relationship standard will remain in place until the issue is resolved or the June 30, 2005, deadline is reached, the FCC said.
As we monitor the developments with the new rules, you may want to begin preparing to obtain signed, written consent from each of your members. Planning for the rule change now will allow you to have a smooth transition in January of 2005, should the rule stand. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has some materials that may assist you, including a draft model consent form. These items can be found at www.uschamber.com/government/issues/technology/fcc_fax.
TEA-21 transportation funding extended . . .
Congress has approved a sixth extension of TEA-21 programs (H.R. 5183) until May 31, 2005. The most recent extension expired on September 30 and the passage of the sixth extension ensures a continuation of federal surface transportation programs (TEA-21) until May 31, 2005. The extension will provide funding at slightly increased levels over the previous fiscal year for highway, public transportation and motor safety programs.
The House-Senate conference committee on the six-year reauthorization measure has been unable to work out differences on the federal highway and public transportation reauthorization. House and Senate transportation leaders expressed their intent to continue work on a six-year bill, but with Congress having left on October 8 to campaign before the elections, and a short lame duck session tentatively slated for the week of November 15, chances are slim that final action on a six-year bill will occur this year. Congress will again begin the effort to enact a six-year TEA-21 measure in the new 109th Congress in January.
The chart below compares the six-year TEA-21 reauthorization funding
proposals now on the table.
Legislative Proposals . . . . . . . . . Guaranteed Funds . . . Total Authorizations
House-passed Bill (H.R. 3550) . . . $279.4 billion . . . . . . $284 billion
Senate-passed Bill (S. 1072) . . . . $301 billion . . . . . . . $318 billion
House-proposed compromise . . . . $284 billion . . . . . . . $299 billion
Inhofe-proposed compromise . . . . $289 billion . . . . . . . $301 billion
Information for this story provided by the U.S. Chamber's Americans for Transportation Mobility coalition.
Innovations on the way . . .
In the September/October 2004 edition of ACCE’s magazine, Chamber Executive, Linda Hillman of the Rensselaer County Regional Chamber and Jean McPheeters of the Tompkins County Chamber shared some advice under the topic, “What new technology or innovation do you expect to have the biggest impact upon your community in the next few years?” Their replies are reprinted here with ACCE’s permission:
“It is becoming apparent that Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) could be a significant part of the future in our business community. Many of our members are looking at the Wi-Fi option as a way to attract additional traffic to their place of business. Traditional office space as we know it could change dramatically as people will be able to conduct business from wherever they can receive an Internet signal.” -- Linda Hillman
“Biotechnology and nanotechnology hold great promise for job creation
and technological advances that will benefit society locally and globally.
Cornell University is a world leader in both fields and companies are
locating in Tompkins County to be near Cornell’s research facilities.
The Tompkins County Chamber is working to ensure that technology is available
in the county’s rural areas where it’s difficult to use cell
phones or emergency communication systems. We’re also striving to
maintain air service as a fundamental transportation link.” -- Jean
McPheeters
Tell us about it . . .
Debbie Auspelmyer of the Montgomery County Chamber recently asked if other chambers have examples of emergency plans and staff performance review forms she could use in formulating such documents for her chamber. Here are some examples we’ve received:
From Chuck Steiner, Schenectady County Chamber: HERE is the Employee Evaluation tool that we have developed. We do review the document each year and make necessary changes to better conform to the Chamber Strategic Plan and Annual Business Plan. No formal emergency plan and would be interested in seeing one (Best Practice) and/or key items to be included in a plan.
From Todd Shimkus, Adirondack Regional Chambers: HERE is the employee performance review form we used successfully over the last 18 months here at the ARCC. We don’t have an emergency plan either.
Editor’s note: ACCE lists an extremely thorough chamber emergency operation plan in its section on sample documents. From ACCE’s homepage (www.acce.org), click on “resource library/samples” under the blue “Information” bar on the left-hand side of the page. You will be prompted to log in. Once at the resource library search page, type “emergency plan” – including the quotation marks – and two results will pop up. The first is a 53-page document from the Green Bay Area Chamber which lists explicit details on emergency management, a response guide based on type of emergency, a section addressing what to do after the immediate danger has passed, internal and external emergency preparations, a media and key service providers contact list, and supplemental materials. The second document is a one-page article with a “top ten” planning guide and additional web resources.
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.
