ASTA Focuses on Five Key Issues for Annual Legislative Day
by Anna Gleksman /March 14 and 15 will be ASTA’s Legislative Day on Capitol Hill, and the association and its travel agency members already are prepared with five agenda items to discuss.
Issues having to deal with restrictions on independent contractors are a large part of ASTA’s priority list, as 65% of travel agencies have at least one IC. Some things to be discussed include the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) recent guidance related to the classification of independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The DOL also is proposing to increase the salary cap under which employees are entitled to overtime pay, from $23,660 to $50,440 per year—a huge issue in the travel industry, where so many travel professionals fall in that range. DOL is set to make a final ruling on the issue in mid- to late 2016.
The continuing issue of Cuba still being under severe restrictions, even with the release of the embargo, is another key priority as interest in traveling to the island nation soars. “As a travel organization we find that offensive,” senior vice president of government and industry affairs Eben Peck told TMR.
The fourth item on the agenda is the rising car-rental taxes being levied on out-of-state travelers by local politicians. ASTA has a high amount of leverage in this debate, Peck said, since travel-agency sales account for 31% of the $24.5 billion annual total of the U.S. car-rental industry. The bipartisan End Discriminatory State Taxes on Automobile Renters Act (EDSTAR), introduced in April by Congressman Sam Graves (R-MO 6), would address this issue by prohibiting state and local governments from imposing new taxes on car rentals—a “grandfather” clause that will leave the 118 existing car rental taxes untouched.
The final item on the ASTA list is the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-95), which expires on March 31. The bill, which comes up for a vote every three to five years, deals with airport fees, aviation issues, and the collection of ticket taxes. The reauthorization process could cause debates on critical air-travel distribution issues that will impact the travel-agency industry.
ASTA’s Legislative Day will take place Monday and Tuesday, March 14 and, March 15. Leading up to the meetings on Capitol Hill, ASTA will have webinars and training sessions to prep those planning to attend.
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