More than 60 A.R.A. Legislative Caucus delegates, A.R.A. staffers, A.R.A. General Counsel William T. Stephens and members of the Stephens Law Firm met in Washington, D.C., April 27-30 to pursue action on the 1997 A.R.A. legislative agenda. The association is focusing particular attention on three of the nine agenda items: product liability, estate tax - the so-called "death tax" - and capital gains tax reform.
For each of these three primary agenda items, special "issue teams" appointed by A.R.A. President Pam McKenney are concentrating attention on key members of Congress in order to present the A.R.A. position more forcefully than in the past.
This month Rental Management presents the A.R.A. agenda and position statements. Additional caucus coverage and an update on the agenda will be in the August issue, which is published in July.

The A.R.A. Legislative Agenda

Product liability reform: A.R.A. supports a uniform product liability law that clearly defines the responsibilities of manufacturers, sellers and users of products for product-related injuries. Uniformity will reduce legal and insurance costs, lower product prices and make U.S. products more competitive internationally.
Excessive damage awards have driven the cost of liability insurance to unreasonable levels, inflated prices, discouraged innovation and damaged U.S. competitiveness.
State liability standards vary so much that a claimant could win a product liability suit in one state but lose an identical suit in another. Uniformity would help stabilize the insurance market by helping manufacturers assess their risks more effectively.
Legal costs and increased insurance premiums that result from unjustified lawsuits are also at issue; these problems cost the rental industry millions every year.
Reform legislation favored by A.R.A. would create a uniform product liability law, make sellers liable only for harm caused by their own negligence, treat product rentors like retailers, abolish joint and several liability, provide defenses against alteration or misuse of products, cap punitive damages and eliminate unjustified lawsuits.

Death taxes: A.R.A. supports the repeal of federal estate and gift taxes, or "death taxes." These are actually taxes on entrepreneurship and discourage capital formation, which is the key to economic growth and job creation. If these taxes cannot be repealed, then A.R.A. supports reducing them by raising the unified estate and gift tax exemption to $1 million and allowing families to exclude the first $1 million of family-owned business assets from estates and taxing the next $2.5 million at half the current rate. These measures will make it easier for small business owners to keep their businesses in the family.

Capital gains: A.R.A. supports reducing the capital gains tax rates for individuals and corporations by 50 percent for each tax bracket and indexing the value of capital assets to account for inflation. This would encourage capital formation and create employment opportunity, as well as expanding production of goods and services, spurring innovation and improving U.S. competitiveness internationally.
A.R.A. contends that the current tax system punishes entrepreneurship, savings and investment and puts U.S. citizens at a disadvantage against industrialized competitors abroad.

Income tax reform: A.R.A. supports total replacement of the present income tax system with a tax system that is based on revenue collection, equality, simplicity, administrative efficiency and nonpartisanship. The A.R.A. contends that the present tax code is a garbled hodgepodge of complex and discriminatory rules patched together by social engineers over some 80 years for the purpose of redistribution of income and savings from those who produce them to those who don't.

Balanced budget: A.R.A. supports a constitutional amendment that would impose fiscal discipline on Congress' freedom to tax and spend, and discourage Congress from balancing the budget with higher levels of taxation. In fact, since 1969, government spending has grown faster than federal revenues. A.R.A. contends that these deficits have been financing failed policies that sap private investment, increase family taxes and give little in return.

OSHA reform: A.R.A. supports a major overhaul of OSHA, contending that OSHA regulations should be subjected to risk assessment and a cost/benefit analysis on an industry-specific basis; performance-based exemptions from routine inspections and cooperative enforcement procedures should be adopted; financial penalties for first-time, minor offenses and specified paperwork violations should be abolished and a grace period should be allowed for correction of certain hazards. A.R.A. opposes added regulatory and record-keeping burdens, worker participation in enforcement decisions, higher fines and criminal penalties and the reporting of unrelated observations to other agencies.
Funding for the agency should be focused on safety awareness, counseling and technical assistance for employers, the A.R.A. says.

Campaign financing: A.R.A. supports elimination of mandatory contributions from an organization's members and significantly limiting funds raised for political party-building rather than for particular candidates.
Social Security: A.R.A. supports immediate and long-term modification of the Social Security system, to place it on a sound actuarial basis so the United States will be able to keep its contractual obligations to American workers. A.R.A. opposes a solution that relies heavily upon increasing withholding taxes. A.R.A. contends that workers should have the choice of establishing private accounts and contributing to them instead of being forced into the government's Social Security system. The government should be allowed to invest in the equities markets in order to grow trust fund holdings. Without reform, the current situation will continue to get more critical, and in 2030, two active workers will be supporting each retiree.

Citizen protection from federal regulatory abuse: A.R.A. supports requiring federal agencies to make a cost/benefit analysis, perform risk assessments and conduct an analysis of the impact of taking private property before issuing regulations.
The A.R.A. further supports federal compensation to citizens for reduction of the fair market value of their private property, should it be taken or its use restricted, and supports the right of property owners to arbitrate valuation, as well as to recover attorneys' fees.

Citizens' Bill of Rights: A.R.A. supports this proposal to protect those who are being inspected or investigated by a federal agency.