After the Election: What Does It Mean To Our Industry? Karen Wanamaker, V.P. Industry & Government Affairs National Wooden Pallet and Container Association

Voters Said “Play it Again”  Congress is now less popular than: o Root canals o NFL replacement referees o Head lice o Colonoscopies o Traffic jams o Cockroaches o Used-car salesmen o Brussels sprouts  90 percent of House Members (85% in 2010)  91 percent of Senators – (84% in 2010)  Voters hate Congress but like their own Representatives

Regulatory Costs  $518 billion in new costs  87-million man hours for regulatory paperwork  $236.7 billion for new rules initiated in 2012

Health and Human Services (HHS) & Internal Revenue Service IRS Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act  Employer mandate – “large businesses” must offer affordable insurance and meets minimum value to full- time employees and dependents or pay penalties o $2,000 non-offering penalties (30 “free” full-time employees) o $3,000 unaffordability/minimum value penalty  Essential Health Benefits (EHB)  Prohibits new group health plans establishing eligibility rules in favor of higher wage employees

Opting Out of Exchange Alabama Alaska Arizona Georgia Kansas Louisiana Maine Missouri Nebraska New Hampshire North Dakota Oklahoma South Carolina South Dakota Texas Wisconsin Wyoming

2013 Taxes  Increased Medicare Surtax (0.9%), New Investment Tax (3.8%)  $2,500 Cap on Flexible Savings Account Contributions  Increase threshold for medical expense deductibility  Taxes on medical devices  Last year for tax credit

2014 Taxes  Auto-enrollment (>200 employees) – delayed  Antidiscrimination requirements – delayed  Employer mandate penalties  Individual mandate tax  Annual Small Business Health Insurance Tax (HIT) - $400-$500 annual premium increase  Temporary Reinsurance Fee - $60-$84 three-year premium increase

What Happened to Affordable?  In California, 20 percent for small businesses and individuals without employer-sponsored insurance.  Florida and Ohio also 20 percent.

Are You a Large Employer?  Full Time: PPACA anyone employed an average of 30 hours per week or more.  Seasonal Workers: 50 full-time employees for 120 days or more during the year.  Part-Time Employees: Part-time employees’ hours will be converted into FTEs for the purpose of determining whether the employer is a large employer and subject to the employer mandate. o Formula: Add up all of the hours worked by employees who are not full-time employees and divide by 120. o Example: if 6 employees each work 5 hours per week, they will count as if the firm has one additional full-time employee, calculated monthly (6 employees x 5 hours per week each = 30 hours per week x 4 weeks = 120 hours/120 = 1).

ObamaCare Seminar at ALC NWPCA Annual Leadership Conference February 16-19, 2013 Loews Portofino Bay Hotel

Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)  USDA APHIS  American Lumber Standards Committee (ALSC)  Inspection Services  ALSC Board (Appointed by Labor Department)  Congress

Occupational Safety and Health Administration  Two national emphasis programs o Combustible dust o Amputations  Ergonomics  Fire  Noise  Safety Program Update

Food and Drug Administration  Food Modernization Act o Equipment – sanitized o Pallets – packaging or packing material  Wooden bins could be used if they are adequately clean and sanitary for their intended use. Cleanable or designed for single use Unlikely to support growth or transfer of bacteria If you reuse food-packing material, you must take measures to ensure that food-contact surfaces are clean such as by cleaning and sanitizing or using a clean liner.  Pharmaceutical Best Handling Practices o Heat-treated wood o Household clean o 19% moisture content

Environmental Protection Agency  Reusable Transport Packaging o SMM Web Academy - Greener Packaging – Integrating Reusable Transport Packaging into Your Supply Chain o “Forward-thinking companies today are reaping the financial and operational benefits of replacing limited- life transport packaging materials—such as wood pallets and cardboard boxes—with durable, reusable alternatives.”  Gasses Produced by Painted Pellets

Federal Trade Commission What is a Recycler?  Environmental Benefit Claims  Third-party Certification  Degradable  Free of Claims  Recyclable  Recycled Content  Renewable materials

$16,438,765,400,  Breaching the Debt Limit  Suspending the sales of state and local government treasury bonds;  Borrowing from federal employee pension funds;  Postponing the purchase and sale of foreign currencies.