| What are WVTA's issues? |
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Trucking Industry Issues Primary Safety Belt Law. WVTA supports adoption of a primary safety belt law to increase belt use, reduce fatalities and save money. APUs from Excise Tax. Among many other things, H.R. 1424, the federal bail-out bill passed early this month by Congress on its second try, and signed by President Bush, includes in Section 206 of its Division B an exemption from the 12% federal excise tax on trucks and trailers with idling-reduction devices commonly known in the industry as auxiliary power units. Several states have passed similar legislation. WVTA should introduce it in WV. Highway Funding. While it is critical to appropriately fund our highway system, WVTA believes we need to analyze where the dollars are going and determine how they can be spent more efficiently. Governmental/Regulatory Cooperation. WVTA members provide both employment and valuable services to West Virginia. WVTA members interact with numerous governmental and regulatory agencies on a daily basis. We desire fair and consistent treatment and an environment that is business friendly. Civil Justice and Tort Reform Issues Civil Justice Reform. West Virginia’s business community should continue to seek passage of additional civil justice reforms including: deliberate intent, joint and several liability, collateral source, limiting punitive and non-economic damages, and the establishment of a comprehensive bid process for attorneys who represent the state. Transparency for Asbestos/Silica Claims. Mass litigation involving asbestos claims has had a significant impact on our courts, employees and businesses. WV needs to establish standards and criteria for an individual who wants to file a claim related to an injury or impairment from asbestos or silica exposure. Standards and criteria to combat fraudulent claims need to be established. There is a need for transparency full disclosure by claimants in order to avoid fraudulent “double-dipping.” Non-Parisian Judicial Elections or Merit Selection. WVTA should strongly support needed reforms that will move West Virginia’s judiciary system into the mainstream on the 21st century. Partisan elections for what is supposed to be an independent judiciary stand as ugly reminders of the “politics of the past” and our collective inability to join the mainstream of America in judicial reform. WV is one of only seven states still electing all of its justices and judges in partisan elections. Absolute Right of Appeal. WV is one of only three states that does not provide an absolute right to appeal a final judgment from a lower court. The WV Legislature should enact a right of appeal from all final judgments in the Circuit Courts. Appellate review is an essential component to a fair and balanced judicial system. Personnel Issues Employee Free Choice Act. One of organized labor’s top legislative priorities for the new Congress appears to be the deceptively-named Employee Choice Act (EFCA – H. R. 8000, S. 1041), better known as the Card Check Bill. Business organizations strongly oppose this legislation, which could upend decades of settled labor law in order to give organized labor an unfair advantage in union organizing, at the expense of both employees and employers. The measure also would end the tradition of allowing workers to use secret ballots when voting whether or not to unionize. WVTA should oppose this legislation because the measure’s card check process would expose employees to abuse, threats, and intimidation all in the name of the union accumulating the required number of signatures. The bill also would elevate this inferior card check process to the principle method of recognizing a union, thereby eliminating the employee’s longstanding right to secret ballot elections. Mandated Sick Leave. Labor groups are pushing to make West Virginia one of the first states in the nation to require all employers of 15 or more employees to provide seven days of paid sick leave or a pro-rata amount for part-time employees. Under the proposed bill, no doctor’s certification is required until after the third day, creating rules different than many collective bargaining agreements, employer policies and the Federal Medical Leave Act. Because of its additional costs, both administrative and payroll, to small employers, and many differences from the federal FMLA, this bill is both costly to employers and does not improve West Virginia’s ability to attract retail employers. WVMTA should oppose a broad and sweeping mandatory paid sick leave law. Captive Audience Legislation. During the 2008 legislative session, the WV House of Delegates passed HB 4132, which would have restricted an employer’s right to hold mandatory employee meetings and to express views on certain business matters, including union issues. WVtA opposed this legislation because it would have interfered with free speech rights of employers, set West Virginia’s business climate apart from any other state and was preempted by federal legislation. Miscellaneous Issues Healthcare. Affordable healthcare continues to be a major issue for WVTA members. The adequate funding of government healthcare programs, the reduction and control of health care costs, and the availability of affordable health insurance for West Virginia employers and employees are fundamental components of a strategy that will help reduce the cost-shift and the rise in private health insurance premiums experienced by the business community. |