2017Issue6_Alabama_v9.indd

INSIDE THE BELTWAY

s u c c e s s e s a n d o p p o r t u n i t i e s

JENNIFER HATCHER SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS FOOD MARKETING INSTITUTE

• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced last year that private employers with 100 or more employees would be required to report summary pay data starting March 2018, designed to improve investigations of possible pay discrimination. Specifically, employers would be required to submit pay data by race, ethnicity and gender on the EEO-1 that they’re already required to submit. On August 30, 2017, Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs suspended the new EEO-1 report. • FMI and GMA launched from its Trading Partner Alliance a voluntary date labeling initiative to bring consistency to the marketplace after more than a year of discussions; drawing praise from several members of Congress, including the Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. • National Council on Weights and Measures Conference rejects tare on receipts proposal. If passed, this item would have required front-end equipment to print the tare on the register receipt for each item weighed on the front-end scale at the point of sale. We hope you agree there is a lot to be proud of this year and a great opportunity for a few more victories in the final weeks of 2017.

Steve jobs once said, "If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time."

Financial Services.Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) decided not to include the repeal language in his legislation. • FDA extended compliance for an updated Nutrition Facts Panel to 2020 to align with other changes .• Border Adjustment Tax (BAT), which would have imposed a 20 percent tax on all imported items from being included in the tax reform framework, was defeated. • FMI and other industry groups filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York attempting to prevent the City of New York from prematurely enforcing the FDA’s menu labeling rule prior to the May 2018 federal compliance date. A settlement was reached that both protects the industry from fines prior to the federal compliance date and also serves as a strong deterrent for other states and localities from prematurely enforcing the federal rule. • Department of Labor issued a proposed rulemaking to rescind the persuader rule, which would have broadened reporting requirements and made it difficult for attorneys to maintain confidentiality when discussing labor matters.

With three-quarters of 2017 in the books, this is a time of reflection for many businesses and for us at the Food Marketing Institute (FMI). It gives us a chance to analyze our successes and look at opportunities for even more victories. With all the talk of Congress not being able to get anything done legislatively, we have a number of successes to be proud of so far this year – a testament to laying the groundwork and continuing down a path in spite of whether you believe at the moment that you will succeed. Many of these victories took a lot of work but would not have been considered possible just a year ago. Here’s what we accomplished: • A one-year delay on the menu labeling rule with FDA reopening it for comments and Department of Labor’s Overtime Rule with a $47,476 salary threshold requirement is invalid and would not go into effect as had been announced. • FMI and other interested parties, worked to protect and preserve the debit card reforms placed in protection of debit reforms. House promising new guidance this year. • In August, a court ruling that the

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