The Conservative Cafe is right on Main Street in downtown Crown Point just about four blocks north of the "square" on the North East corner of Main and North. 201 N Main to be precise. The owners have been hosting Tea Party Patriot meetings once per month, led by Mark Leyva, and hosting a variety of Republican candidates for State and National office.
Speaking of Brian, he has a lot to say about the delaying of the "tax increase" voted on in the Statehouse, that being HB1379 pertaining to unemployment taxes on Indiana businesses. To quote Bosma per his website:
"Throughout the short session, House Republicans have called for a one-year delay of the unemployment insurance tax increase on employers, the biggest tax increase on employers in state history. On Thursday, House Republicans offered a alternate plan to Senate Bill 23 that dealt solely with the delay of the tax. Conversely, the House Democrat plan added several other provisions to Senate Bill 23 including language that would chip away at property tax protection.
Unfortunately, the proposal was defeated along a party line vote. The Democrat proposal then passed on a party line vote. Senate Bill 23 is eligible for second reading amendments on Monday.
"This is the single most important jobs initiative available this session," said Republican Leader Brian C. Bosma. "The best way to protect and retain jobs for Hoosiers is by delaying the unemployment insurance tax increase for one year. Employers are still recovering from the national recession and delaying this tax increase is key to helping them keep their employees on the payroll."
Last session, the Indiana General Assembly passed House Bill 1379 which increased unemployment insurance tax premiums on employers. No House Republican supported the measure.
Some key facts about why the unemployment insurance tax delay is needed:
- Over 2 million Hoosier works are employed by a business that will be subjected to one of the largest tax increases on Hoosier employers in history.
- Nearly $300 million in new taxes will be placed on about 80,000 Hoosier businesses ranging anywhere from $9 to $748 per employee.
- Over 72,000 of those employers are small businesses (1-49 employees)."
Word from State Senator Marlin Stutzman's camp is that about a dozen years ago, the Unemployment Insurance Fund in Indiana was sitting on multiple millions of dollars which were not being used, and it was continuing to collect fees in order to comply with Federal Mandates. The decision was made before 2000 to cut the fees/premiums being collected from Indiana businesses, due to the extra money in the fund. When the federal government mandates unemployment insurance to the states without funding, it forces state legislators to figure out a way to comply.
The situation that businesses were in for the past decade in Indiana was that all businesses were paying the same fees for this mandated program, but some businesses never used the funds, while others were using it constantly. With the cut in fees from before 2001, the fund was soon in danger of collapse, due to the tough economic times over the past few years, and due to the fact that some businesses were dipping into it much more than what they had paid into it. To make things fair, last session, legislators decided to adjust this Federally mandated system, and instead of hoping for a government bail-out of the fund or of our struggling businesses, Republican legislartors chose to use a system similar to the pay-go principle - businesses that use it more, pay more, and businesses that use the funds less, pay less.
It was an increase in fees for businesses that dip into it seasonally or more regularly, BUT it was a HUGE cut in fees to the majority of small businesses in Indiana. Now, this year, in order to help all businesses, they are even delaying the increase in fees across the state in an effort to help businesses get back on their feet after some hard economic hits over the past couple of years. Again, this is an unfunded mandate from the Federal Government that Indiana had to do something about. It is a mandate from the federal government that law makers here in Indiana decided to take on at the state level, and do the right thing by making the fees fair and equitable across the board.
Marlin Stutzman's official page has a complete list of his postions on key issues in the race. Those interested in the Senate Race on the Republican side have some interesting decisions to make since there is more than one very qualified candidate for the job.
Nevertheless, the Statehouse has delayed implementation for one more year (they are trying, at least) to give larger businesses a chance to make contingency plans for the change. That is the word from Indianapolis. If you come on Tuesday you can ask Representative Bosma what he thinks of the situtation specifically.
The bottom line? This legislation is supposed to REWARD companies who keep their workers rather than forcing them to help bail out the bigger corporations that do layoffs and firings as part of their business plan.
Come out to the Cafe on Tuesday and get the answers to this and other questions directly from the House Republican Leader, Brian Bosma! This is a good chance to interact with a very prominent member of the House and also for District 19 voters to meet and greet Dan Klein.
Also do not miss the Lake County Right To Life Jericho March beginning at 10 AM Saturday Morning the 20th of March!
THE LAKE COUNTY RIGHT TO LIFE
IS
HOSTING
A JERICHO MARCH
SATURDAY MARCH 20th
AT PLANNED (UN)PARENTHOOD
8645 CONNECTICUT STREET
IN MERRILLVILLE 10AM
ALL PRO-LIFE FAITHS
ARE ENCOURAGED
TO PARTICIPATE
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
CONTACT KAREN AT
219-838-1138
Thanks for stopping into Northwest Indiana Politics recently. We are enjoying reading your posts ... keeps us in the loop together in this battle.
ReplyDeleteYou blog all over the place, thanks for noticing my little corner here.
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