EITC News Conference Highlights

Emanuel, IRS Commissioner, Northwestern President, Business Leaders Outline Plan to Put More Money in the Pockets of Working Families

Here are some highlights from this morning’s news conference in Chicago that spotlighted efforts to inform low-wage employees about the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman, Northwestern University President Henry S. Bienen and CVS Corporation’s Steve Wing today outlined their efforts to ensure working families receive tax breaks through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). In Congress, Emanuel has introduced bipartisan legislation that would help expand the use of the Earned Income Tax Credit. At the press conference, President Bienen and Steve Wing announced Northwestern and CVS’s support for Emanuel’s legislation and discussed their plans to voluntarily alert their employees about the EITC.

Steve Wing, director of workplace initiatives, CVS, congratulated Representative Emanuel for his leadership on the important issue of educating employees about the Earned Income Tax Credit. Wing said that CVS and many other employers have for years successfully helped employees take advantage of the EITC benefits they have earned. Wing said that many companies are using an EITC tool kit developed every year by Corporate Voices for Working Families, a national business membership organization located in Washington, D.C., that represents the private sector on public policy issues involving working families.

283,000 Chicagoans took advantage of the EITC in 2007 and received an average benefit of $2,240. Unfortunately, every year, nearly 95,000 working Chicagoans fail to claim $211 million in tax benefits they are entitled to under the EITC.

“Too many families in Chicago and across America are struggling to get by. The cost of gas, food, education, and health care are skyrocketing. Yet millions of Americans aren’t claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit and are losing out on potentially thousands of dollars that could help them make ends meet,” said Emanuel. “We can’t sit by and let hard-working Chicago families leave $211 million on the table. I’ve introduced a common sense plan that will help the American people get the tax benefits they deserve.”

“The IRS is committed to continuing our outreach efforts with employers, community groups and others to raise awareness about the EITC program. This is one of the government’s largest and most successful programs to help hard-working families, but millions of Americans overlook it. We encourage businesses, both small and large, to help us make their employees aware of the benefits of EITC,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman.

Over the last 30 years, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has grown into the largest Federal anti-poverty program in the United States. In 2006, 22.4 million tax filers received $43.4 billion in tax credits through the program, with the average recipient receiving more than $1,900. At $4 per gallon, an average EITC check can pay for approximately 32 tanks of gas. However, 7.5 million families eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit failed to take advantage of the program, costing themselves a total of $14.5 billion in tax benefits.

Emanuel’s bipartisan legislation, entitled the Earned Income Credit Information Act of 2008 (H.R. 6371), requires that employers notify workers that they may be eligible for the EITC. Employers would be required to provide this notice at the same time the employer provides the W-2 form to the employee. The legislation exempts small businesses that have 25 or fewer employees from the requirement to provide their employees with a notice. Emanuel’s legislation is modeled on a bill signed into law by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger that requires California employers notify employees of their potential eligibility for the EITC. Emanuel’s legislation was introduced on June 25, 2008 and now has twenty House co-sponsors. Senator Schumer (D-NY) introduced the Senate companion bill.

Photo: Steve Wing told reporters and others attending the news conference that his company and others have been using successfully the EITC Took Kit prepared and distributed by Corporate Voices for Working Families.

EITC news conference this morning

Corporate Voices for Working Families Board member Steve Wing is going to join Representative Rahm Emanuel and others at a news conference in Chicago this morning designed to call attention to efforts to expand education to low-wage employees about the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Corporate Voices for Working Families strongly supports this initiative and for the past five years has produced and shared with hundreds of organizations an EITC tool kit that helps inform low-wage employees about a host of federal benefits available to them.

Wing is director of workforce initiatives with CVS Caremark.

We’ll provide more specific details about the news conference later this morning.

by Rob Jewell

A vision of schools as community centers

Randi Weingarten, new president of the American Federation of Teachers, has optimistic plans for the success of public schools. Weingarten’s vision is to create a comprehensive design that would integrate education into a center that serves the community- a place where underprivileged students are offered more than just classroom learning time. Sam Dillon wrote about her plans in an interesting New York Times article, “New Vision for Schools Proposes Broad Role.”

“Imagine schools that are open all day and offer after-school and evening recreational activities and homework assistance,” Weingarten said. “Suppose the schools included childcare and dental, medical and counseling clinics.”

Weingarten hopes to blend government funded programs and education under one school-roof. For Weingarten, government-supported programs such as child care and dental care combined with classroom education will create a public school utopia.

“Imagine if schools had the education resources we have long advocated…so no child feels anonymous,” she said.

In a recent speech in Chicago, Weingarten criticized the No Child Left Behind Law as “too badly broken to be fixed,” according to the New York Times article. She claims No Child Left Behind is doing a “huge disservice to America.”

Instead of changing the No Child Left Behind law, which she believes is too big of a mess to work with, Weingarten outlined a plan that takes a huge leap from the current education laws.

“Can you imagine a federal law that promoted community schools — schools that serve the neediest children by bringing together under one roof all the services and activities they and their families need?” Ms. Weingarten asked in the speech.

In the upcoming presidential election, education needs to be a priority and whoever the next president may be, he needs to believe in the youth of America, said Weingarten.

Corporate Voices for Working Families has conducted considerable research looking at the problems facing young people in school and as they prepare to enter the workforce. Copies of our research studies and position papers are available on our website.

by Amy Simon

Corporate Voices supports EITC legislation

Corporate Voices for Working Families attended a press conference on Capitol Hill yesterday June 25, which announced the introduction of the Earned Income Credit Information Act of 2008. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) spoke at the Press Conference, as did Wal-Mart and SEIU.

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is the largest Federal effort to relieve poverty in the United States, yet countless Americans are not aware of their eligibility to benefit from this program. This piece of legislation will require that employees be notified about their eligibility for the EITC. Employers will be required to notify their employees who meet the earning eligibility, either by supplying the Internal Revenues Service Notice 797 or a different written document explaining the bill. This information must be provided at the same time that the W-2 form is provided. Small businesses with less than 25 employees will not be required to notify their employees. Just as there is a penalty for not providing the W- 2 forms, there will is also be a fine for not providing proper notice of the EITC.

Along with our partners TJX and Marriott, Corporate Voices for Working Families supports this piece of proposed legislation and has released the following statement,

“Corporate Voices for Working Families has launched an aggressive campaign to assist companies in educating working families about Earned Income Tax Credits and we welcome this legislation as an important step in increasing awareness about EITC,” –Donna Klein, President and CEO

Over the past five years, Corporate Voices for Working Families has worked to help educate employers about their employees’ benefits. By printing and distributing the Employer Guide: Educate Your Employees About the Benefits They’ve Earned, Corporate Voices has made it a priority to ensure that employers have the necessary information about the EITC, Child Tax Credit, SCHIP and other forms of support.

Corporate Voices for Working Families is happy to support this piece of proposed legislation and will work to make this a bipartisan effort.

By Allison Keyser

Father’s Day and workplace flexibility

As we celebrate Father’s Day, it’s important to consider a story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer earlier this week: “Working Dad: Hit-or-miss times for striking a balance.” And Ellen Galinsky, a Corporate Voices board member and president of Families and Work Institute makes a key point in the article about how organizations are beginning to view workplace flexibility as not a women-only issue.

Here’s the first few paragraphs from the article:

By PAUL NYHAN
P-I REPORTER

THE MEDIA ARE filled with stories of moms struggling to balance work and family.

What about dad?

In this era of increased co-parenting, dads are more consumed by the search for an ever-elusive balance of work and family. Yet, as Father’s Day approaches and dads look around their offices, factories and stores, they may not find too much help.

There are changes. Work-life benefits are popping up at some local offices: a kid room, a handbook on building flexible work weeks, even a toy-train table.

“We realize it’s really important to being competitive. More than that we want to have people not feel like work is a sterile environment completely separate from the rest of their lives,” said Richard Law, chief executive of Kirkland-based Allyis, which offers paid paternity leave and other family-friendly benefits.

In developing family-friendly benefits and policies, Allyis doesn’t distinguish between men and women. Why? Partly it’s good business.

The benefits represent as much a business decision as a lifestyle, company CEO Richard Law says, because the perks reduce stress on his staff, limit turnover and help attract top talent.

“We don’t really look at it as fathers separate from mothers,” Law said.

Which gets us to Ellen’s point:

“I think that the real change is among employers who used to think of flexibility for women only. That is just not true any more,” said Ellen Galinsky, president of the institute. “There is a real understanding that fathers want to be more involved.”

There are broader dad-centric changes. Over the past decade, men reported getting more time off to spend with their new children, and Galinsky says younger dads are more aggressively pushing for personal time. But, too often dads and moms don’t use those benefits, and there is still a long way to go, Galinsky suggests. In the future, she sees a greater reliance on telecommuting and flex time that works for both employee and employer.

And while the trends are positive, more still needs to be done. As the subhead to the article says: “Despite being more involved with raising kids, dads have a tough time finding family-friendly workplaces.”

by Rob Jewell

Corporate Voices/CSS forum

Donna Klein was among the speakers at the “Working For Change” public policy forum Friday, May 16, at the U.S. Capitol. Joining Donna were Corporate Voices board members Steve Wing, Director, Government Programs, CVS and David Paulsen, U.S. Human Resources Director, Accenture. Andy Chaves, Director for Workforce, Effectiveness and Diversity at Marriott International, a Corporate Voices corporate partner, also participated.

“Working for Change” is a monthly policy briefing to develop a consensus economic mobility agenda for low-wage workers. The series is sponsored by the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), one of the nation’s oldest not-for-profit organizations examining issues of poverty, and coordinated by CSS Senior Policy Fellow, Dr. William Spriggs, chairman of the Department of Economics at Howard University.

The May 16 forum marked the first anniversary of this series and focused on moving disconnected youth into the workforce

For more information about upcoming forums contact CSS Vice President for Government Relations, Walter Fields, at wfields@cssny.org.

by Rob Jewell

Upcoming presentation: “Working for Change” public policy forum

Donna Klein will be among the speakers at the “Working For Change” public policy forum this Friday, May 16, at noon in Room H-137 in the U.S. Capitol.

“Working for Change” is a monthly policy briefing to develop a consensus economic mobility agenda for low-wage workers. The series is sponsored by the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), one of the nation’s oldest not-for-profit organizations examining issues of poverty, and coordinated by CSS Senior Policy Fellow, Dr. William Spriggs, chairman of the Department of Economics at Howard University.

The May 16 forum marks the first anniversary of this series and will focus on moving disconnected youth into the workforce.

Joining Donna at the forum will be Corporate Voices board members Steve Wing, Director, Government Programs, CVS and David Paulsen, U.S. Human Resources Director, Accenture.  Andy Chaves, Director for Workforce, Effectiveness and Diversity at Marriott International, a Corporate Voices corporate partner, will also participate.

For more information about the forum contact CSS Vice President for Government Relations, Walter Fields, at wfields@cssny.org.

by Rob Jewell

Did you know? Shocking facts about children and the federal budget

Today, Donna Klein our President and CEO had a meeting with America’s Promise where she learned some shocking facts about how children are treated in the federal budget.

Here are some facts from the First Focus report Children’s Budget 2008:

• For the past five years, only one penny of every new, real non-defense dollar spent by federal government has gone to children and children’s programs.
• Children’s spending makes up only ten percent of the entire non-defense budget.
• The overall share of federal, non-defense spending going to children’s programs has dropped by 10 percent over the past five years.
• Real discretionary spending on children has declined by more than six percent since 2004, while at the same time all other non-defense discretionary spending has increased by more than 8 percent.

By Susan Holbrook

FMLA 15 years old

Today I attended the “15th Anniversary of Family Medical Leave Act: Achievements and Next Steps” hearing on Capitol Hill. The House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held the hearing.

The subcommittee is chaired by Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA-06) and ranking member Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC-02). Other members in attendance were:

1. Donald Payne (D-NJ-10)
2. Timothy Bishop (D-NY-01)
3. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH-01)
4. Phil Hare (D-IL-17)
5. John Kline (R-MN-02)
6. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA-25)

A distinguished panel of experts testified on the history, implementation and future of FMLA. The first person to testify was the Department of Labor’s Assistant Secretary for Employment Standards Victoria Lipnic. Victoria’s testimony focused on the DOL’s experience at administering FMLA and the recently published Notice of Proposed Rule Making on FMLA. Victoria said:

Fifteen years ago, Congress recognized that maintaining a careful balance between the legitimate rights of employees and employers in the workplace was the key to making the FMLA a success. Today, after 15 years of experience in administering and enforcing the FMLA, the Department is pleased to report that the FMLA is generally working well in the majority of cases and has succeeded in allowing working men and women to better balance family needs and work responsibilities

Next to testify was the Honorable Pat Schroeder (the “Mother of FMLA”), former Congresswoman from Colorado. Pat’s testimony focused on the history of the passage of FMLA. One interesting quote from Pat was:

It took nine months to deliver each of my children and nine years to deliver FMLA!”

Next up to the plate was new mother Chante Lasco. Chante testified about her experiences being a County Prosecutor and having to take FMLA for the birth of her new child Cooper (who was there to see his mom testify and very adorable). Chante had to use a combinations of paid and unpaid time off for her maternity leave.

Next witness was Jennifer Hunt a flight attendant representing the Association of Flight Attendants. Jennifer testified about how FMLA was supposed to apply to flight attendants, but in practice it does not apply. Jennifer told the subcommittee:

I and thousands of other full time, working flight attendants in this country have unfortunately been unable to take full advantage of this benefit. This problem arises out of the fact that our pay hours are calculated in a very unique way for airline flight crews – flight attendants and pilots – than are those in other industries. Our unique situation demonstrates that one size does not fit all.

Next up was Brenda Cossette who testified on behalf of the Society for Human Resource Management. Brenda has over 25 years experience as an HR manager and is currently undergoing treatments for breast cancer. She testified about her own experiences using and administrating FMLA. Overall, she believed that FMLA has been an overwhelmingly positive program, but did believe there were a few problems in the administration of FMLA. She said:

HR professionals have two primary concerns with the Act’s regulations: the definitions of “serious health condition” and “intermittent leave.” For example, with regard to the definition of serious health condition, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a statement in April 1995 advising that conditions such as the common cold, the flu, and non-migraine headaches are not serious health conditions. The following year, however, the DOL issued a statement saying that each of these conditions could be considered a “serious health condition.” Practically any ailment lasting three calendar days and including a doctor’s visit, now qualifies as a serious medical condition (due to DOL regulations and opinion letters).

Last, to testify was Debra Ness the President of the National Partnership for Women. Debra testified about how she believes FMLA is working well, but should be expanded to include paid leave. Debra said:

I am especially pleased to be here today because this year marks the 15th anniversary of the FMLA. Its passage was a watershed moment for government support of working families in the United States. The law guarantees eligible workers up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave each year to care for immediate family members or to address serious personal health concerns. By making job-protected leave available to all eligible workers, and requiring that health insurance continue through the leave, the law has enabled both women and men to meet their responsibilities for their families without sacrificing their jobs and long-term economic stability.

By Susan Holbrook

Deloitte ethics and workplace survey

Deloitte, one of our partner companies, has released its 2008 Ethics & Workplace survey. And one key finding: transparency and openness by leadership lead to a more productive and engaging workplace.

Here’s part of the announcement about the survey results:

Transparency in the workplace, as described by an open and honest communication channel between employees and leadership regarding work-life issues, has a significant positive impact on workplace culture overall.

While continuing to make the transition to Corporate Voices, one of the courses I teach at Kent State University is Ethics and Issues in Mass Communication. We talk a lot about transparency and about communicating openly and honestly. That applies to the news media. It also applies to organizations. It’s interesting to me to see that Deloitte is looking at these issues from the standpoint of management — and how to create and maintain a work environment that meets the needs of both employees and the organization.

Here’s another part of the announcement:

“Today’s workforce demands a more ‘customized’ career path and a tremendous amount of flexibility,” said Sharon L. Allen, Chairman of the Board, Deloitte LLP. “One size fits all no longer attracts or retains the best talent. By promoting open and honest communications across organizations and setting the tone at the top, our survey tells us that the workforce of today can be motivated in different ways. This is increasingly critical to retaining talent and preserving the health of today’s organization.”

Honest and open communications. Those really are keys to engaging employees — and to the success of an organization.

by Rob Jewell