BRAD D. STEELE
VP of Gov’t Relations & General Counsel
National Club Association
1201 15th Street NW, Suite 450
Washington, DC 20005
202.822.9822
steele@nationalclub.org
www.nationalclub.org
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• Our Mission:
“To defend, protect and advance the interests and well-being of private social and recreational clubs”
• NCA makes sure the private club industry’s voice is heard
– On Capitol Hill,
– In the agencies,
– In the statehouses, and
– In the courthouses
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• The Election Results
• Congressional Action
• Regulatory Action
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• Balance of power (with 9 too close to call):
– 239 Republicans - 187 Democrats
– 4 out of the 9 leaning Republican
• Third largest gain for the opposition party in nearly 90 years:
– 77 Ds in 1922; Warren Harding
– 72 Rs in 1938; Franklin Roosevelt
– 63 Rs in 2010; Barack Obama
• Second smallest loss by any party in the history of the House:
– 2 in 1806 and 1988; 3 in 1790, 1838 and 2010
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• Democratic losses:
– Rep. John Spratt (S.C.) – a 14 term Member and
Chairman of the Budget Committee
– Rep. James Oberstar (Minn.) – an 18 term
Member and Chairman of the Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee
– Rep. Ike Skelton (Mo.) – a 17 term Member and
Chairman of the Armed Services Committee
– Rep. Paul Kanjorski (Pa.) a 13 term Member who lost to Lou Barletta – the Mayor of Hazleton
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• Republican losses:
– Rep. Joseph Cao (La.) – a 1 term Member from a
New Orleans majority minority district once held by convicted felon William Jefferson
– Rep. Charles Djou (Hawaii) – a < 1 term Member who won a Special Election this year in a heavily
Democratic district (Pres.
’ adopted home district)
– Open Delaware set – the incumbent Republican ran for Senate
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• Broad-based victory for Republicans
– 5 seats in N.Y. (had only 2) and both seats in N.H.
(had neither)
– 5 seats in Pa. and Ohio, 3 in Ill., and 2 in Mich.
and Wis.
– 3 seats in Va. and Tenn., and 2 in Ala.
– 2 seats in Ariz., Colo., Wash., and they took the
N.D. and S.D. at-large seats
– Their victories in all but N.Y. gave them control or kept them in control of those House delegations
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• Balance of power:
– 51 Democrats and 2 Independents
– 47 Republicans
• The 6 Republican gains were from across the country:
– Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, North
Dakota and Wisconsin
• Major change in the Senate
– 16 new Senators out of 37 races
– 1/3 of the Democratic seats up this cycle lost
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• Democratic losses:
– Sen. Russ Feingold (Wis.) – a 3 term Senator from a very blue state (Rs swept state)
– Sen. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) – a 2 term Senator from the South
– Open Illinois seat – the President’s old seat
– Open Pennsylvania seat – the incumbent
Democrat lost in the primary
– Open Indiana and North Dakota seats – the incumbent Democrats retired
• Republican losses:
– 0
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• Gubernatorial races
– Balance of power: 31 Rs - 18 Ds and I Indep.
– Republicans won 12 out of 19 seats held by
Democrats
– They held on to 13 out of 18 seats
• State Legislative races
– Republicans won a net gain of 500 more seats
– They have more seats now than in any time since
1928
– They will control both legislative chambers in 26 states
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• In the House:
– There will be more pro-business initiatives and
Committees will work favorably with business
– There will be less government spending and less pressure to tax high wage earners
• In the Senate:
– The loss of 6 seats, including the Pres.’ seat, should make everyone think twice about expanding government
– But, reaching 60 votes will be hard
• A new attitude in Congress – 1 st time in 4 yrs.
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• On 12/31/10, the Bush tax cuts expire
– The top 2 marginal income tax rates will increase from 33% to 36% and from 35% to 39.6%
• Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) filed an amendment to prohibit this and it was defeated 42-58
• 31 House Dems want permanent extension for all
• 5 Senate Dems want permanent extension for all
– The capital gains & dividends tax rate will increase from 15% to 20%
• $500K/yr. will pay $11K + in new taxes
• With 20 such families at your club, you could lose more than $200,000/yr.
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• The late Sen. Kennedy (D-Mass.) introduced it in the Senate with 40 co-sponsors
• House version has 228 co-sponsors
• The “Card Check” bill strips the secret ballot election from workers deciding to join a union
– If a majority sign a card, then your club is union
• If the initial CBA isn’t signed within 120 days, a federal arbitrator imposes a 2 yr. contract
– No employee vote and no changes to reflect the needs of the club
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• The bill makes it more difficult for the club to talk with employees about risks of union representation
– Adds fines of up to $20,000 for new “unfair labor practices”
• The bill cannot pass the Senate
• The “Quickie Election” compromise
– Union calls for election after quietly campaigning
– Election held within 5-10 days from call
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• NLRB is a 5 person quasi-judicial body that governs relations between unions and employers (1/20/09 - 3 vacancies)
• Pres. nominated the Associate Gen. Counsel to both the SEIU & AFL-CIO
– Very controversial nominee with bipartisan opposition in Senate
– First nominee to come straight from the union world
• Nomination failed to get the 60 votes needed to proceed to the Senate floor for a final vote
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• Pres. appointed him and another labor attorney through recess appointments
• Card Check could be imposed through rulemaking and decisions from the NLRB
– National Mediation Board (RRs and airlines) rule
• A majority of those voting can approve a union
• S.Ct. has said that it must be a majority of those entitled to vote
• Senate Resolution of Disapproval was voted down
– NLRB issued a RFI regarding “e-voting”
• Laptop coercion
– Huge backlog of cases to pick from
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• The HIRE Act signed into law on 3/18/10
– Hire a “qualified employee” and if he stays the rest of the year, you do not have to pay the employer portion of his Social Security tax
– If he stays 52 weeks, $1,000 income tax credit
– “Qualified employee”
• Hired between 2/3/10-1/1/11
• Has not worked more than 40 hours in the last 60 days
• Isn’t hired to replace another employee unless that employee left voluntarily or for cause – including downsizing
• Isn’t related to the employer
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• With climate control legislation stalled, the
Pres. has gone the regulatory route
• EPA has started regulatory moves to reduce carbon dioxide emissions
– Designated CO2 a “danger to the health and welfare of the public”
• Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced a
Joint Resolution of Disapproval
– 40 co-sponsors including Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-
La.) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.)
– It was voted down 47-53
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• DOL issued new rules to determine the prevailing wage for H-2B workers
– The four-tiered system under the BLS is gone
– Effective early 2011, the prevailing wage will be the highest of:
• CBA wage;
• Davis-Bacon Act or Service Contract Act wage for the job type in that locale;
• The mean wage rate established under BLS for the job type in that locale; or
• The higher of the federal, state or local minimum wage
• DOL estimates a $4.38/hour increase for H-
2B workers
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• DHS is now targeting employers rather than the illegal aliens and No-Match letters are red flags
– E-Verify is a way to protect your club
• Though there have been no rules issued by
SSA or DHS, clubs should:
– Notify your employee and assist him as he resolves the issue with SSA
– Document what you do and what he does
– Don’t fire him unless he has shown he’s not doing what a reasonable person would do
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