“The First 100 Days” NPES-Idealliance 2017 Legislative Conference brought a timely and unified message to Capitol Hill on March 22-23, when nearly 50 printing, imaging and mailing industry executives met with 46 congressional offices, urging support for postal reform legislation, immediate 100% expensing of capital investment, and other top government affairs priorities of high importance to the $1.4 trillion industry that employs 7.5 million workers.

The conference was co-hosted by NPES and Idealliance, and supported by presidential sponsor Canon, and executive sponsors NAPIM – the National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers, and TLMI – the Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute.

“Bringing printers, mailers and their suppliers together in face-to-face meetings with members of Congress and their staffs, only a week after the approval of bipartisan consensus postal reform legislation, H.R. 756, The Postal Reform Act of 2017, by the House Oversight and Government Reform (OGR) Committee, was a well-timed grassroots advocacy effort designed to advance postal reform legislation in the House as a whole, as well as the Senate,” says Idealliance executive vice president Ken Garner. “Postal reform is clearly on a fast track, and our objective is to enact it this year.”

The urgent need for the legislation is heightened even further due to the impending review of United States Postal Service (USPS) postage rates by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), as required by the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. Provisions in H.R.756 that would provide greater financial stability and sustainability to the Postal Service, such as more fully integrating postal retirees into the Medicare system, would help mitigate against large and debilitating rate increases that could result from the PRC review.

In addition to congressional office meetings, the agenda for “The First 100 Days” Legislative Conference included a welcome luncheon, issue briefings by D.C.-based policy experts, and an address by Deputy Postmaster General Ronald A. Stroman. Attendees also heard from H.R. 756 co-sponsors Congressmen Elijah Cummings (D-7-MD) Ranking Member of the OGR Committee, and Stephen Lynch (D-8-MA), as well as from their OGR colleague Carolyn Maloney (D-12-NY).

In addition to postal reform, industry executives advocated for:

Comprehensive tax reform, including:
Immediate 100% expensing of capital investment;
Lower tax rate for all businesses, regardless of how they are organized;
Elimination of the federal estate tax, with retention of the stepped-up basis for inherited assets; and,
Retention of the full and immediate deductibility of advertising as an ordinary and necessary business expense.

International trade agreements that foster US manufacturers’ ability to successfully compete in the global marketplace, including:
International trade agreements that effectively open global markets to US exporters, facilitating free, fair, and reciprocal trade; and,
A fully staffed Export-Import (EXIM) Bank that helps level the export financing playing field for US manufacturers.

Health care reform that supports the employer-based health insurance system;
Regulatory reform that fosters fair regulatory process and review; and,
Government deference to the use of paper-based options for communications and/or compliance when needed by citizens.

“With crucial issues like these, it’s imperative for our industry to weigh in with the information legislators need to make informed decisions,” states NPES chairman Mal Baboyian, executive VP, LFS/PPS, Canon Solutions America. “In fact, NPES believes this program to be so important that our Board, again this year, met in conjunction with the conference.”

Baboyian’s sentiments were echoed by fellow NPES Board member Mark Kannenberg, president, RBP Chemical Technology, who says, “the conference exceeded my expectations in all regards.”

First-time attendee Don Schroeder, Fujifilm North America Corporation, and Kurt Ruppel, IWCO Direct, both noted key “takeaways” from the event were a better understanding of the issues facing the industry, and the political context and process in which they are being addressed. NPES president Thayer Long added that the conference provided the opportunity to “network across printing, imaging and mailing industry associations.”

“The conference was both an opportunity and a responsibility to reach out to our congressional representatives on issues of concern to the printing, imaging and mailing industry,” says NPES government affairs chairman Greg Salzman, president, Aleyant. And Idealliance chairman Tim Johnson, CEO, Impact Proven Solutions, concurred, stating, “face-to-face discussions with lawmakers are the most effective way of getting the message across to them, and an opportunity not to be missed considering that congressmen and congresswomen each represent over 750,000 people and US senators millions. This type of grassroots advocacy is something that every association member should consider attending.”