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TOBACCO BILL MAY BE ON HOUSE FLOOR THIS WEEK
As reported in last week’s Weekly Report, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed H.R. 1108, the Family Smoking Prevention and Control Act by a vote of 38-12. The bill would grant the Food and Drug Administration with regulatory authority over the manufacture and retailing of tobacco. It is possible that the bill will now head to the House floor for consideration the week of April 14th.
Many of the concerns that SIGMA had with the original bill were addressed by a number of provisions, including:
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Creating a level playing field by applying the bill's provisions to all tobacco retailers
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Granting procedural safeguards to ensure a fair regulatory process
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Providing incentives for retailers to adopt good compliance and training practices
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Protecting against the imposition of double fines for the same conduct
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Setting fair boundaries for retailer liability
Any developments will be reported as news becomes available.
GUIDANCE ON STIMULUS BONUS DEPRECIATION PROVISION
Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Karen Gilbreath Sowell April 4 said the Treasury Department soon plans to issue guidance on the one-year bonus depreciation provision enacted by Congress as part of the economic stimulus package. Sowell said the government will issue a notice that will formalize existing 2005 guidance on bonus depreciation as being relevant to the 2008 stimulus provision. Some taxpayers have concerns that the one-year window does not allow enough time to take full advantage of the provision. Signed into law by President Bush Feb. 13, the stimulus package allows businesses to immediately deduct up to 50 percent of the value of new equipment purchased after Dec. 31, 2007, and placed in service during 2008. It also increases the limit for expensing under Section 179 of the tax code from $128,000 to $250,000 for 2008.
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OZONE “EARLY” ATTAINMENT AREAS
The Environmental Protection Agency is designating 13 areas participating in early action compacts as being in attainment of the eight-hour ozone standard. The communities being given the designation are Washington County/Hagerstown in Maryland; Fayetteville, the Greensboro area, and the Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir area in North Carolina; Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson in South Carolina; the Chattanooga area, the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol area, and the Nashville area in Tennessee; the San Antonio area in Texas; Frederick County/Winchester and Roanoke in Virginia; and Berkeley and Jefferson Counties in West Virginia. In exchange for early compliance, EPA gives early action compact participants greater flexibility to choose locally tailored emissions-control measures, as opposed to more conventional measures required of most nonattainment areas. EPA also will revoke the one-hour standard for each of the 13 early compact areas one year after final attainment designations take effect April 15.
EIA SUMMER FUELS OUTLOOK
Summer gasoline prices could hit $4 per gallon in some parts of the country, despite the effect of high retail prices and a slowing economy in dampening consumer demand, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicted April 8. EIA, releasing its 2008 summer fuels outlook, said retail prices for regular gasoline will average $3.54 per gallon for the upcoming driving season, compared with $2.93 per gallon a year ago. The monthly average gasoline price is expected to peak at just over $3.60 per gallon in June, and the peak for diesel fuel is expected to be just over $3.90 per gallon, the government's energy forecasters said. The summer driving season is defined by the agency as April 1 through Sept. 30. The Energy Information Administration 2008 summer fuels outlook is available at :http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/steo/pub/contents.html
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SENATE TO TAKE UP CAP-AND-TRADE BILL ON JUNE 2nd
The Senate will take up a cap-and-trade bill (S. 2191) -- legislation that would mandate U.S. reductions in greenhouse gas emissions -- on June 2. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) plans to seek support from 60 senators needed to end the threat of a filibuster and begin floor debate. The bill's original sponsors are Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I/D-CT) and John Warner (R-VA). Boxer said any changes to the legislation would be gathered into a "manager's amendment package" she would offer on the floor reflecting negotiations over the last several months and in the four weeks before the June 2 floor vote. Additionally, the bill's key supporters pledged to amend the legislation before it reaches the floor to ensure that it imposes no additional costs--and generates even a small surplus--to the federal budget. Lieberman-Warner bill cleared the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in December. The bill's short-range targets call for a 15 percent reduction in U.S. emissions by 2020. The long term targets in the bill--which call for cutting nearly 70 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2050—will be debated as either too stringent and costly to the economy or too weak to contribute significantly to global efforts to combat global warming.
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SPOUSE ATTENDING THE SPRING CONVENTION?
If so, we’ve planned lots of exciting events for them! Here is a schedule at a glance that you should share with your spouse!
Sunday, May 18
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Supplier Welcoming Reception
9:30 pm – 11:00 pm
Informal Gathering
Sponsored by ADD Systems
Monday, May 19
7:45 am – 9:00 am
Swing Time with the Golf Pro for Spouses & Guests
8:45 am – 12:00 pm
Ladies Only 9-Hole Golf Outing
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Spouse Luncheon – Hilton Head Scoop
12:15 pm – 5:30 pm
SIGMA Golf Outing
1:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Spouse Tour – Honey Horn Plantation
1:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Pool-side Bar: Sponsored by Alon USA
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Tennis Tournament
6:30 pm – 10:30 pm
SIGMA Theme Dinner
Upgrades for Bars and Entertainment sponsored by Colonial Oil Industries, Ortec Professionals in Planning and Quantum Services
10:00 pm – 12:00 am
After Dinner Informal Gathering
Sponsored by American Express
Tuesday, May 20
9:00 am – 11:30 am
Spouse Breakfast & Program: Hilton Head Crafters & Their Wares
12:15 pm – 5:00 pm
SIGMA Open Scramble Golf Tournament
Golf Prize Purse sponsored by FCStone, LLC
12:30 pm – 5:00 pm Tour
Marine Corps Base at Parris Island
1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Pool-side Bar: Sponsored by SemFuel, L.P.
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
All Industry Reception
9:00 pm – 11:30 pm
Informal Gathering
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MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!
Don’t forget to register for this year’s SIGMA Summer Legislative Meeting to be held at the Park Hyatt Washington Hotel in Washington, D.C. on July 15-16, 2008. Join your fellow marketers and make your voice heard! SIGMA members will focus on a variety of pressing legislative issues that are pertinent to marketers’ businesses. Some key issues that will be discussed: (1) Temperature Correction at Retail; (2) FDA Regulation of Tobacco; (3) Credit Card Interchange Fees. Our goal is to make 250 Hill visits. Please make sure help meet that goal. For more information and to register, please visit www.sigma.org.
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WESTIN HOTEL RESERVATIONS
If you are planning to attend the SIGMA Spring Convention, please make sure to make your hotel reservations as soon as possible. The hotel will sell out. You can make your reservation by downloading the hotel form and faxing it to the Westin. SIGMA’s Spring Convention will be held May 18 – 20, 2008, at the Westin Hilton Head Island Resort and Spa in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
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CREDIT CARD OFFSET IN FARM BILL
House conferees on the farm bill (H.R. 2419) kicked off the first conference meeting by sending Senate negotiators a proposal spending only $5.5 billion over the budget baseline, fully offset by stricter rules for reporting of credit card transactions. The offset would require information reporting by banks and other institutions on reimbursements to merchants that accept electronic forms of payment, such as credit and debit cards. According to Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner, the administration would not support using the credit card offset in the farm bill. The plan was included in the president's fiscal year 2009 budget proposal, but Conner said that the money it creates should not be earmarked for farm bill spending.
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SPRING MASTERS PROGRAM
SIGMA is teaming up with FCStone to present "Effective Hedging Strategies." Happening just prior to SIGMA's Spring Convention, this 2-day program will be held May 17-18 at the Westin Resort Hilton Head in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. This course is designed to provide attendees with practical knowledge of all of the steps necessary to implement a successful hedging and risk management program. Attendees will learn how to manage price risk on pipeline barrels, protect retail margins, explore ways to buy and sell physical forward contacts, discover customizable business strategies, in-depth options coverage, and plan for future capital needs of hedging.
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SIGMA Weekly Report April 14, 2008 © Copyright SIGMA, 2008
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