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Newletters From October, 2005
US CHAMBER ADVOCATES TAX REFORM TO HELP SMALL BUSINESSES
Originally Posted: October 30, 2005 4:28 AM
Last Updated: October 30, 2005 4:28 AM
Thala T. Rolnick, CPA Senior Tax Manager at Price Kong & Company testified before the House Small Business Committee on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. NEEDA Executive Director Kenton Pattie serves on a committee of the Chamber.
Among her suggestions:
A repeal of the individual and corporate Alternative Minimum Tax, which unfairly penalizes businesses that invest heavily in plant, machinery, equipment and other assets;
A permanent reduction in marginal tax rates, which will have a positive effect on the ability of many entrepreneurs to buy more capital and expand.
Full story: click on the headline above.
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$55.6 MILLION IN FEDERAL FIRE GRANTS
Originally Posted: October 28, 2005 6:06 AM
Last Updated: October 28, 2005 6:06 AM
The Federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFGP) awarded 540 grants to fire departments for a total of $55,698,805 to help local fire departments and emergency medical services programs to purchase or receive training, first responder health and safety programs, equipment and response vehicles.
The Program is administered by the Departments Office for State and Local Government Coordination & Preparedness (SLGCP) in cooperation with the United States Fire Administration.
SLGCP is the federal agency responsible for the preparedness of the United States for acts of terrorism, including coordinating preparedness efforts at the federal level, and working with all state, local, tribal, parish, and private sector emergency response providers on all matters pertaining to combating terrorism, including training, exercises and equipment support.
For the full story, click on the headline above. For more info on the Fire Act grant program, use the "Search" function in the upper right of your NEEDA Newsletter screen.
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BEING APPRECIATED AND LISTENED TO CAN BE POTENT MOTIVATORS FOR DEALER EMPLOYEES
Originally Posted: October 13, 2005 11:31 AM
Last Updated: October 13, 2005 11:31 AM
Employee recognition programs by dealers dont have to involve giving your top performers a BMW or sending them on a weekend trip to Cancun. In fact, theres a lot of evidence that purely monetary reward programs by dealers can breed a host of unintended consequences, including resentment, excessive competitiveness and an actual reduction in morale.
The need for a dealer's employee recognition is clear. As the economy begins to improve, employees that have been biding their time will now actively seek new opportunities. And these are not just a handful of malcontents; they could be a majority of your staff!
According to a recent article in Workforce Management magazine, 55 percent of employees polled in the fourth quarter of 2003 by the Gallup Organization described themselves as not engaged in their work, meaning they did the minimal amount of work necessary to keep their jobs. Another 17 percent were actively disengaged, meaning they were unhappy and letting everyone know it. These are team members who need to be reengaged in their work or encouraged to look elsewhere. And we all know its more cost effective to retain employees than to find and train new ones.
Everyone wants more money. But more money is not always the best motivator, and it may not be the missing element that prevents a team member from working harder, or smarter, for the good of the business. Being engaged, appreciated and listened to can be much more potent motivators for dealer employees.
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SAFE EMERGENCY VEHICLE OPERATION IS GOAL OF WEB-BASED PROGRAM FOR US FIRE ADMINISTRATION AND NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL
Originally Posted: October 11, 2005 6:29 PM
Last Updated: October 11, 2005 6:29 PM
The United States Fire Administration (USFA) and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) report that the Emergency Vehicle Safe Operations for Volunteer and Small Combination Emergency Service Organizations is now available on-line.
This web-based educational program includes an emergency vehicle safety best practices self-assessment, standard operating guideline examples, and behavioral motivation techniques to enhance emergency vehicle safety.
For the complete info and how to get more information about these guidelines, click on the title above to this NEEDA NEWSLETTER item. For more information about the US Fire Administration use the "Search" function in the upper right of your NEEDA screen.
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SEVERAL FEDERAL PROGRAMS HELP LOCAL FIRST RESPONDERS: MAY COMBINE FORCES WITH SECTION 1122 PROCUREMENT SYSTEM
Originally Posted: October 7, 2005 11:14 AM
Last Updated: October 7, 2005 11:14 AM
By Kenton Pattie
Executive Director, National Emergency Equipment Dealers Association (NEEDA)
ORLANDO, FL. Here are some of the programs written to help first responders, as discussed at the Annual Law Enforcement Support Association Conference attended mostly by state and local government officials who channel or receive US assistance.
Section 1122. Requirement to establish procedures for state and local governments to buy law enforcement equiment suitabel for counter-drug activities through the Department of Defense. Sec. 381 (Public Law 103-160).
The Secretary of Defense shall establish procedures. . . under which States and units of local government may purchase law enforcement equipment suitable for counter-drug activities through the Department of Defense.
The Governor of a State may establish such procedures as the Governor considers appropriate for administering and coordinating requests . . . The Secretary of
Defense shall coordinate with the General Services Administration and other Federal agencies . . .The Administrator of General Services . . . shall produce . . . a catalog of law enforcement equijment suitable for counter-drug activities . . .
The term "law enforcement equipment suitable for counter-drug activities" has the meaning given such term in regulations perscribed by the Secretary of Defense.
Under this program, which the US Army has conveyed to GSA, local governments can buy from GSA Multiple Award suppliers almost anything local governments want in the law enforcement area. In most cases, the order is placed with the manufacturer (the GSA Schedule Contractor) and shipped from the manufacturer directly to the local government. Payment is made by the State Point of Contact who charges the local government for the product they bought. The GSA Schedule Contractor then rebates to GSA a fee of 3/4 of 1% which GSA uses to pay staff and agency overhead. Most states, but not all, participate in the 1122 program.
So, 1122 is not a grant program but a pay-for-procurement program which is administered at the state level. Most procurement is made directly through manufacturers rather than dealers. However, some state points of contact say they have obtained some of the equipment they buy through dealers. Many GSA schedule contracts do not include dealers in the sale and distribution of equipment, so while a manufacturer may sell through dealers that manufacturer may have pledged in the GSA Multiple Award Schedule Contract to sell direct to GSA and 1122 customers rather than sell through dealers.
I asked for annual 1122 reports, which are probably required by the Federal Results Act. But, apparently there are none; I was told to contact the various State Points of Contact for state by state annual summaries if there are any.
Section 803. Federal Support for Enhancement of State and Local Anti-Terrorism Response Capabilities. The Administrator for Federal procurement Policy shall establish a program under which states and units of local government may procure through contracts entered into by the Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security anti-terrorism technologies or anti-terrorism servides for the purpose of preventing, detecting, identifying, deterring, or recovering from acts of terrorism. (b) Authorities.
Under the program, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security may, but shall not be required to, award contracts using the procedures established by the Administrationr of General Servides for the multiple awards schedule program of the US General Services Administration (GSA). (c) Definition. In this section, the term 'state or local government' has the meaning provided in section 502(c)(3) of title 40, United States Code.
They said the program could turn out to be the same as the 1122 program which offers anti-drug equipment to state and local governments. But whereas the 1122 program has some limits, there would be none in Section 803. Speakers at the conference suggested that 803 could use the same Federal and state officials who currently run the 1122 program. They concede that the launching of the program has taken two years but that new leadership indicates that the program will soon get off the ground.
Section 1401. Transfer of Technology Items and Equipment in Support of Homeland Security. This is from the Defense Authorization act of FY 03 (Public Law 107-314). It tells the Secretary of Defense to "designate a senior official of the Department of Defense to coordinate all Department of Defense efforts to identify, evaluate, deploy and transfer to Federal, State and local first responders technology items and equipment in support of homeland security." . . . the word "transfer" means to make available for purchase from the Defense and Army contracts at the price Defense Logistics Agency and the Army pay. Therefore, 1401 is similar to 803 and thus similar to the 1122 program. Consequently, the 1401 working group has discussed a concept that would meld 1401, 803 and 1122 by using the State Points of Contact already established under 1122.
Conference speakers said the origin of this program is language that Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) initiated. Federal staffers went to Congress to get the "true intent" of this language and were told:
1. Enhance capabilitties of first responders.
2. Improve compatibility between Federal, state and local first resonders.
3. Have a process for transferring equipment to first resonders.
Congressional staff told Federal officials to transfer anything that DOD has and get it to first responders, open up contracts so local governments can buy the equipment. First responders should be able to buy off the same schedule as used by the Department of Defense.
Further, DOD labs are to develop products to meet the needs of first responders.
Speakers said that because of the impracticality of having local governments come to DOD independently, 1122 is the logical avenue for this program.
At the DOD end of this matter, Defense officials worry that local governments might draw down needed supplies. DOD worries that vendors have limited supplies and that DOD should get priority over local governments for the available supplies. Therefore, DOD likes the idea that all orders would go through Defense Centers where the availability of products for defense purposes can be monitored.
Section 80. Passed in 04, this program allows first responders to obtain information technology directly from Federal GSA Multiple Awards Schedule contractors. This program has grown to $17.8 billion to Federal customers alone, and is expected to grow similarly for state and local customers at a 15% annual growth rate. 25% of all Federal IT products and services are bought through the Multiple Awards Schedule program; thus 75% of Federal purchases are obtained on the open market with agencies managing their own procurement rather than working through GSA.
They are considering a list of 700 items for transfer.
CEDAP. The following was never mentioned at the conference, but NEEDA NEWSLETTER ran a story about this program and I am including it here as it is yet another Federal program to help first responders. Again, this is another program in which there would not be dealer participating.
The Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance Program of the US Office of Domestic Preparedness gives $2 million in free product to first responders at the local government level. Included for example, would be night vision kits, cameras and information technology software.
Local governments select from a catalogue. The program also offers training to first responders on how to use the products.
CEDAP staffers say they are looking for new products to insert in their website and catalogue. They maintain the Responder Knowledge Base which includes the InterAgency Boards Standardized Equipment List and the Authorized Equipment List. There is a section on the site showing which grants are available and manufacturers contact information. Instead of requiring a password to enter, the site asks for each user to register.
Products currently wanted by CEDAP:
Class 3 protective gearmask, suit, gloves, boots and filters
Serach cameras
Thermal imagers
Listening devices
Victim extrication devices
Portable detection equipment
Portable tactical interoperability communications products
Cell phones
GSA is supposed to publish a catalogue for state and local governments, one speaker said, but so far he said the GSA has not pubished the catalogue. "It might not be needed," he conceeded.
Veterans Administration. One speaker said GSA has designated VA to manage medical products (Schedule 65). He agreed that other agencies see getting the "rebate" from manufacturers as an incentive to offer programs to state and local governments.
Defense Logistics Agency. DLA also offers equipment to state and local governments. This program was not discussed at the conference as it does not go through State Points of Contact but through a short list of designated vendors who convey products directly. In most cases, local dealers are not involved in the DLA prorgram but instead the sale and distribution is done only by the DLA designated regional vendors.
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$14.5 MILLION IN FIRE ACT GRANTS TO FIRE DEPARTMENTS
Originally Posted: October 7, 2005 9:06 AM
Last Updated: October 7, 2005 9:06 AM
The eighth round of the Fiscal Year 05 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFGP) awarded 145 grants to fire departments, the eighth in a series that is making 5,500 awards totalling $600 million in assistance to fire departments.
Matt A. Mayer, Acting Executive Director of the Office for State and Local Government Coordination & Preparedness (SLGCP) at Home Land Security Department said $14.47 million will to help local fire departments and emergency medical services programs to purchase or receive training, first responder health and safety programs, equipment and response vehicles.
For the website containing a list of grant recipients and for more information about this Federal program, click on the headline of this NEEDA NEWSLETTER report. Also for more information about Federal grants to fire departments and EMS units, click on the "Search" function in the upper right corner of your NEEDA NEWSLETTER screen.
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ORLANDO CONFERENCE FEATURES PROPONENTS OF GSA'S 1122 PROGRAM FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Originally Posted: October 4, 2005 7:29 PM
Last Updated: October 4, 2005 7:29 PM
By Kenton Pattie
Executive Director
National Emergency Equipment Dealers Association (NEEDA)
Orlando FL. The Annual National Law Enforcement Support Association Conference here in Orland FL began with a one day meeting of the State Points of Contact who are responsible for managing the Section 1122 program under which the US General Services Administration (GSA) enables state and local governments to buy from companies which have GSA contracts.
Most but not all states participate in the 1122 program. Under the program local law enforcement agencies place requests through a State Point of Contact, known as a SPOC,
who orders equipment and bills the local government.
No bid requests or bid openings are involved because the whole system is handled without publicity. Proponents of 1122 feel that GSA has already obtained price competition among the GSA contractors and that GSA offers the lowest price possible.
Some SPOCs told me at this conference that they feel GSA usually gets a low or lowest price, but sometimes the state or local government gets a lower price. But as one speaker said, 1122 is all about saving money. GSA is usually lower, cant say always lower. But it is a tool to use; it can be a bargaining tool.
For a full NEEDA report on the Conference, click on the headline for this story.
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$44.3 MILLION IN GRANTS TO FIRE DEPARTMENTS
Originally Posted: October 1, 2005 7:15 PM
Last Updated: October 1, 2005 7:15 PM
The sixth round of the Fiscal Year 05 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFGP) awarded 487 grants to fire departments providing $44,259,512 for purchasing or receiving training, first responder health and safety programs, equipment and response vehicles.
The Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program is administered by the Department's Office for State and Local Government Coordination & Preparedness (SLGCP) in cooperation with the United States Fire Administration.
SLGCP is the principal federal agency responsible for the preparedness of the United States for acts of terrorism, including coordinating preparedness efforts at the federal level, and working with all state, local, tribal, parish, and private sector emergency response providers on all matters pertaining to combating terrorism, including training, exercises and equipment support. To support this mission, SLGCP administers programs that provide support to the US emergency preparedness and response community.
For more information click on the title of this NEEDA NEWSLETTER story and use the Search function in the upper right of your NEEDA NEWSLETTER screen.
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LOCAL GOVERNMENTS GET FREE SECURITY EQUIPMENT FROM FEDERAL COMMERCIAL EQUIPMENT DIRECT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
Originally Posted: October 1, 2005 7:06 PM
Last Updated: October 1, 2005 7:06 PM
The Commercial Equipment Direct Assistance Program of the US Office of Domestic Preparedness gives $2 million in free product to first responders at the local government level. Included for example, would be night vision kits, cameras and information technology software.
Local governments select from a catalogue. The program also offers training to first responders on how to use the products.
CEDAP staffers say they are looking for new products to insert in their website and catalogue. They maintain the Responder Knowledge Base which includes the InterAgency Boards Standardized Equipment List and the Authorized Equipment List. There is a section on the site showing which grants are available and manufacturers contact information. Instead of requiring a password to enter, the site asks for each user to register.
Products currently wanted by CEDAP:
Class 3 protective gearmask, suit, gloves, boots and filters
Serach cameras
Thermal imagers
Listening devices
Victim extrication devices
Portable detection equipment
Portable tactical interoperability communications products
Cell phones
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US FIRE ADMINISTRATION: 117 FIREFIGHTER DEATHS IN 2004, 22 RESPONDING TO OR RETURNING FROM FIRE/RESCUE INCIDENT
Originally Posted: October 1, 2005 6:43 PM
Last Updated: October 1, 2005 6:43 PM
Firefighter Fatalities in the United States in 2004: 117 firefighter deaths in United States in 2004. Firefighters that died on-duty in 2004 represent forty-one (41) states. Pennsylvania suffered the largest number of deaths with 18 firefighter fatalities. In 2004, 36 career firefighters and 81 volunteer firefighters lost their lives serving their communities.
The second leading type of duty was responding and returning from an incident scene with 22 deaths. Over half of these deaths were in vehicle crashes.
For the full story, click on the headline of this NEEDA NEWSLETTER summary.
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BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFERS CONGRESS NEW BILL TO GIVE STATUTORY POWER TO THE EXPANSION OF FEDERAL PRISON INDUSTRIES: TARGET MARKETS ARE STATE GOVERNMENTS, PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS, FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS, NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, AND FOR-PROFIT COMPANIES
Originally Posted: October 1, 2005 11:46 AM
Last Updated: October 1, 2005 11:46 AM
The Bush Administration has asked Congress to approve a bill, drafted by the Administration, which authorizes the Federal Prison Industries to sell products and services to Federal government agencies, state governments (or any unit of school district thereof), foreign governments, 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) non-profit organizations, or private, for-profit companies."
This is a stunning reversal by the Administration which in 2002 resisted similar proposed legislation.
Federal Prison Industries is a division of the US Department of Justice; FPI operates as a billion dollar government business under the name of UNICOR. Sales by UNICOR are not subject to Federal, state or local taxes, nor is the prison workforce paid according to Minimum Wage Laws thus giving prison-made goods a competitive advantage in the marketplace over tax paying companies.
Earlier during the Bush Administration, the Department of Justice had submitted in May 2002 another FPI expansion proposal, the Federal Inmate Workforce Development Act of 2002, whose central objective was obtaining authorization to sell products and services in the commercial market.
But thanks to Angela Styles, then President Bushs Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, and Phil Perry, then Office of Management and Budget (OMB) General Counsel, with the active assistance of the Department of Labor, the then Assistant Secretary of Labor for Policy and Andrew Siff, then Counselor to Secretary Chao, that 2002 expansion proposal was never cleared for transmission to the Congress. Now that many of those key figures of the Bush Administration have left, FPIs Executive Branch lobbying has succeeded in reversing the Administrations 2002 position.
Already, some state prison industries have entered the business of repairing and refurbishing fire trucks. In the past prisons have even made body armor for the US government.
For the full story, click on the headline of this NEEDA News report. For more background on how prison industries are increasingly competing with the private sector, use the "Search" function in the upper right of your NEEDA Newsletter screen.
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