Central Iowa Chapter of the APA Board Members 2011-2012
Central Iowa Chapter APA
Meeting Minutes
February 7, 2012 5:30pm
The regular monthly meeting of the Central Iowa Chapter of the American Payroll Association was held at Smokey D’s on Tuesday evening February 7, 2012. A barbeque dinner was served buffet style for our meal.
While members were finishing their meal, our speaker for the evening, Mike Wilkinson, was introduced and gave a presentation on the topic regarding changes in unemployment insurance tax.
Debby Hauk, President, called the business meeting to order at 6:30 pm. She had all officers present stand up and introduce themselves, state the position they hold for the chapter, and the name of the company where they work.
Dan Schropp, CPP, Vice President, stated that the Payroll Source books should arrive in mid April.
Susan Fergesen, FPC, Treasurer, announced the balance in the checking account at $9,885.08.
Debby Haning, CPP, Government Liaison, mentioned that there is information about a new Iowa House File 628 Bill relating to garnishments on our website. A copy was handed out to members for their review.
Debby Hauk announced that our next meeting will be on March 20th.
Jan Carpenter, CPP, Education, announced that the speaker for March will be talking about the high cost of unemployment.
Quandy Mathews, Membership, announced the number of current members at 134.
It was announced that Deanne O’Hollearn, CPP, NPW/Community Development, had a baby girl on January 29th.
Ann Jensen, CPP, Newsletter Communications, announced the deadline to have information to her for the February newsletter is Thursday, 2/16/2012.
The minutes for the previous meeting were approved with no objections or changes.
The study group for members wanting to take the CPP or FPC exams is being held on Thursday evenings.
Meeting was adjourned around 6:35 pm.
Note: Thank you to Kelli Belden, CPP, for taking notes at the meeting as I was unable to attend due to a prior commitment.
Respectfully submitted by
Susan Nielsen, CPP,
Secretary
Passing On The Knowledge - A New CIAPA Program
We have a member, Susan Nielsen, CPP, who has a 2011 American Payroll Association Basic Guide to Payroll that she’d like to share with another member now that she has received the 2012 copy. Although there have been changes, much of the information would still be revenant. If you are interested, please contact her by March 15 at secretary@centraliowaapa.org. (This resource will require a binder.)
If you are updating your payroll library and would like to “recycle” your previous years’ resource books with a member instead of a recycling bin, please have us announce the availability through the newsletter. Thank you Susan, for sharing your resources.
Share your Expertise in the Chapter Newsletter
Share your ideas, experiences and knowledge with chapter members thru the newsletter. Your knowledge is valuable - please email your articles to Ann Jensen, CPP, Newsletter Chair at newsletter@centraliowaapa.org anytime you learn something that would benefit your peers in payroll.
A big thank you to those of you who shared with us this month!
The deadline for the March newsletter will be Thursday, March 15.
Thank you,
Ann Jensen, Newsletter Chair
Michigan Unemployment Update
On 11/28/2011, the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs issued $3.323 billion in revenue bonds and retired their $3.2 billion loan from the Federal Unemployment Account.
Because the loan was repaid by the end of 2011, Michigan will have full FUTA credit in 2012.
Iowa Garnishment Update
A new Iowa House Bill that was brought to a subcommittee on Jan 11. The bill is attached, but basically it is removing the annual limits on amounts we can withhold for each creditor garnishment. Now this is good news, but we had hoped for several other items to be amended with this, such as:
1) to allow an administrative processing fee of $2 per pay period. (Currently it's a one-time $5 fee.)
2) to remove the non-consumer table for the employee's benefit
3) to eliminate the expiration date (which is currently 13 weeks from issue date)
4) to eliminate the requirement of the employer providing the employee with a copy of the garnishment
However, on top of that, APA presented a proposal on uniform garnishment laws which suggests 11 elements that would ease the compliance burden on employers and make the entire process more efficient for employers, employees, and creditors.
The proposal was presented to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Law and was ACCEPTED to create a federal standard for processing garnishments! The proposal has not been referred to a research committee that will do additional research on best practices and then draft language to be considered for a federal law. We’ll keep you updated on the progress as we learn more from the committee. If a uniform law is created, APA’s Garnishment subcommittee of the Government Affairs Task Force will work to encourage states to adopt it and to educate the law/legal representatives about the new law.
The proposal included:
1) Uniform definition of disposable income
2) Consistent withholding calculations
3) Uniform effective duration
4) Allow employer 30 days to respond to initial notice
5) Withheld funds to be remitted each payday
6) Obligation to notify debtor to be responsibility of creditor, not employer
7) Uniform answer to creditor or courts to only be once
8) Notice to employer should be sent only to the party designated to receive legal documents for employer
9) Consistent rules for handling multiple orders
10)Administrative fees of $10 per payment to be allowed for employers to charge
11)Penalties should be limited to the amount not withheld and remitted according to the order
Federal Forum On Payroll Issues
APA is collecting questions to be asked of federal officials in our Forum on Federal Payroll Issues, and we would very much appreciate – and need – your input. Please share with us any questions you would like to see answered by this panel. Please also consider interesting questions for which you have already obtained answers that others might benefit from hearing.
The speakers for the panel will be from the following agencies:
· Citizenship & immigration Services
· Department of Labor, Wage & Hour Division
· Immigration & Customs Enforcement
· Internal Revenue Service, Employment Tax Division
· Office of Child Support Enforcement
· Social Security Administration
Because the speakers are all from federal agencies, questions pertaining to state law are unlikely to be answered. We need all questions by March 18, but the sooner we receive them the better. Submit questions to Bill Dunn at bdunn@americanpayroll.org
Georgia passes Garnishment Reform Bill
A garnishment reform bill, Georgia H.B. 683, was signed into law by Gov Nathan Deal on February 7, 2012. The law IMMEDIATELY removes the requirement for an attorney to sign the garnishments. Previously, all garnishment responses had to be filed by lawyers who were licensed to practice law in the State of Georgia.
Many thanks to the APA and their Garnishment Committee for working to have this requirement repealed.
http://gov.georgia.gov/00/press/detail/0,2668,165937316_165937374_181264016,00.html.
National APA Appointments
Jodi Parsons, CPP, has been reappointed to the APA Education Grant Committee. This committee reviews applications for and selects the recipients of the APA Education Grant Awards.
Sally Thomson, CPP, has been appointed to the CPP Certification Board. This committee is responsible for the review, edit and development of questions for each payroll Exam. They are responsible for the format, design and security issues regarding the exam.
Congratulations to these two chapter members!
Compliance Update from APA - Congress Passes Full Year Extension of 2% Payroll Tax Cut
On February 17, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed H.R. 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Tax Relief Act of 2012). The bill now goes to President Obama for his signature, and he has indicated he is in favor of the legislation.
The Tax Relief Act of 2012 extends until the end of 2012 the reduction in the social security tax rate paid by employees from 6.2% to 4.2% that was first implemented for 2011 by the Tax Relief Act of 2010 (Pub. L. No. 111-312). With the reduction set to expire December 31, 2011, and the employee social security tax rate scheduled to reset to 6.2%, Congress passed the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 (Pub. L. No. 112-78), which extended the reduction through the end of February 2012.
The Tax Relief Act of 2012 also repeals the 2% "recapture tax" that would have required individuals who are paid more than $18,350 in January and February 2012 to pay an extra 2% tax so they would not gain more of a benefit from the temporary payroll tax cut than employees who were not paid more than that amount during those two months.
Emergency Unemployment Benefits Continued and Modified
The Tax Relief Act of 2012 extends and revises unemployment benefits under the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program, which had been set to expire February 29. EUC benefits are payable in four tiers, as under current law, but the payment thresholds are tightened for June through August, and again for September through December. The EUC program will not provide benefits after December 31, 2012, and there will be no phase-out of EUC benefits beyond that date. Other changes allow states greater flexibility in administering their unemployment insurance programs and implementing overpayment recovery measures.
Looking for a job or Employee?
The Classifieds page on our website lists open positions in the central Iowa area. To post your position on the website, please click on ‘post an ad’. There is no charge for members to advertise open positions on our website.
Do You Have A Favorite Place To Meet?
Have you attended a dinner meeting somewhere you you especially liked or is there a restaurant that you've wanted to try or a friend has told you about? I need your suggestions!
The meeting place:
Must be able to seat 60
Must have audio/visual (screen or wall, hook up for computer/projector)
Meal cost $15.00
Please e-mail me through our website with your suggestions.
Thank you.
Barbara Craig, Hospitality Chairperson
Mark Your Calendar....
Iowa Statewide Payroll Conference
Thursday August 2, 2012
More Details to Come!
Daylight Savings Time Reminder!
Remember, daylight saving time will begin on Sunday, March 10 at 2 am, when clocks were set ahead one hour. As you prepare your payroll for the pay period including this date, remember that shift workers on duty at that time will work one hour less than usual.
If the employee is paid for the full shift, the employer need not count the extra paid hour as an hour worked for overtime purposes under the fair labor standard act and not include the extra pay when determining the employee’s regular rate of pay for the workweek. The extra pay also cannot be credited against any overtime pay due the employee.
