Legislative History and Archives
SMALL-BUSINESS AND TAX ISSUES
2013 – CA worked to build support for H.R. 2995, the Unnecessary Cap Act of 2013, to repeal the cap on deductibles for businesses that purchase insurance in small group markets.
2012 – CA worked as part of a coalition to extend the 2010 Estate Tax Compromise.
2012 – CA supported a permanent extension of lower tax rates on capital gains and dividends.
2011 – CA helped achieve a 2% reduction in the employee’s share of the 6.2% Social Security tax for tax year 2011.
2010 – CA worked with the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition to increase the exemption level and reduce the rate of the estate tax in order to lessen the burden of the estate tax on family businesses and farms.
2010 – CA pushed to include the provision in the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 that would allow the self-employed to deduct the cost of health insurance for themselves and their family members in calculating their self-employment tax.
2007 – CA presented at the IRS small-business roundtable in Washington, D.C., talking about the importance of tax policy for small businesses.
2003 – CA achieved its tax reform goal of increasing Section 179 expensing to $100,000.
STATE HEALTH HIGH-RISK POOLS
2013 – CA successfully fought for additional measures to protect the sickest most vulnerable Americans during the transition to the new exchanges created under the ACA, including an extension of the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) program.
2012 – CA testified at a briefing before House and Senate offices on the importance of continuing state-based high-risk risk pools as the Affordable Care Act is implemented to stabilize the individual and small group markets while providing coverage specifically designed to care for some of our nation’s sickest and most vulnerable individuals.
2011 – CA presented to HHS and key House and Senate committee members the findings of a nationwide survey CA conducted to ascertain why those eligible for new Pre-existing Conditions Insurance Plans were not enrolling in the programs, and actions that should be implemented to modify the existing high-risk pools.
2010 – CA President Wayne Nelson served on a panel along with the Director of Insurance Programs for the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the Department of Health and Human Services, briefing House and Senate staff members on the importance of both existing and newly established high risk pools for individuals who are otherwise unable to obtain health insurance because of pre-existing conditions.
2009 – CA was a key member of a coalition that succeeded in including language to increase the funding of state high risk pools in legislation considered by Congress.
2007 – CA helped get legislation passed in North Carolina authorizing a high-risk pool to help address the problems of the medically uninsurable population in that state.
2005 – CA led the effort that got partial federal funding for high-risk pools signed into law.
HEALTH CARE ISSUES
2013 – CA was a leading voice in allowing Americans whose health insurance policies were cancelled to purchase catastrophic health insurance plans or claim a hardship exemption and avoid the ACA’s insurance mandate entirely.
2013 – CA initiated a state-specific pilot project through MNSure in an effort to create a national model for providing self-employed and small businesses access to the information they need to make informed health insurance decisions for themselves and their families, as CA helps consumers navigate insurance marketplaces in state exchanges throughout the United States.
2012 – CA testified at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Task Force Meeting on the importance of language that recognizes the role associations play in representing the interests of members across a variety of professions.
2011 – CA participated in a national symposium sponsored by the Coalition for Affordable Health Coverage and the US Chamber of Commerce to address unsustainable cost increases in the American health system.
2010 – CA worked with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and Health and Human Services Office of Rural Health Policy to ensure that the implementation of the new health care reform legislation includes association group insurance that benefits rural and self-employed Americans.
2009 – CA worked throughout the year in Washington, D.C. and at the grassroots level with our members across the country to ensure that health care cooperatives were included in the Senate Finance health care bill.
2009 – CA worked with rural hospitals to address the disparities in Medicare reimbursement rates that threaten rural Americans access to quality healthcare.
2009 – CA presented its white paper to every member of Congress in an effort to increase awareness of the issues that rural Americans, small businesses, and the self employed face in accessing quality, affordable health care.
2007 – CA was a leader in getting HSA contribution limits raised.
2003 – CA was a leader in securing passage of health savings accounts (HSAs) that expand medical savings accounts (MSAs).
SENIORS ISSUES
2006 – CA established a new agreement with John Hancock Insurance to offer a 10 percent discount on long-term care insurance for CA members.
SCHOLARSHIPS
2012 – The CA Foundation awarded scholarships to young people pursuing a variety of careers in agriculture and health care related fields.
2011 – The CA Foundation presented more than $15,000 for nursing students in rural America.
2010 – The CA Foundation established and awarded the first scholarship for the Justin Woldahl Memorial Scholarship, Education and Community Development Program.
2010 – The CA Foundation received a development grant from the USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program to collaborate with our local community college on a program to provide individuals aspiring to farm on a scale-appropriate, sustainable basis with the knowledge, skills and experience necessary to build commercially viable farming operations.
2009 – CA began working with businesses in the area of its national headquarters to raise scholarship money to allow young people to participate in the local community college and CAEP equine program.
2002 – CA awarded close to $50,000 in scholarship dollars to students studying agriculture and/or small business.
EXCHANGE PROGRAM AND IMMIGRATION REFORM
2013 – CA worked in Washington, DC, as well as through a grassroots advocacy effort with its membership to reach out to US Senators in several states to successfully amend the Senate immigration bill to include language that strengthens American agriculture and encourages the sharing of culture and ideas through international exchange programs.
2012 – CA worked on a variety of bills and testified to members of Congress on the H-2A bill, and the importance of temporary agricultural workers in the United States.
2011 – CA and CAEP conducted meetings in Washington, D.C. and California to educate lawmakers on the importance of the J-1 trainee and intern program to American agriculture, and also to distinguish CAEP’s agricultural training and intern programs from other programs under the J-1 visa category.
2010 – CA Board member David Ramey addressed a National Immigration Reform Summit on the benefits of the J-1 Trainee and Intern Visa Program.
2010 – CA Education Programs (CAEP) opened offices in Mexico, Columbia, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Hungary, Moldova, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Denmark, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines and China.
2009 – The CA Exchange Program hosted an international conference with participants from more than 20 countries attending.
2009 – The CA Exchange Program received a new designation from the US State Department to allow foreign professionals to have placements in Management, Business, Commerce and Finance.
2007 – CA received the first agriculture apprenticeship designation granted by the U.S. Department of Labor.
2000 – The CA International Exchange Program had almost 1,000 participants from more than 40 countries.
1985 – CA formed its own international agriculture exchange program. Within 10 years, the program grew to become the largest of its kind in the United States.
AGRICULTURE POLICY
2013 – CA worked with key congressional offices to change language in the tax code that would allow more beginning farmers to participate in beginning farmer loan programs.
2008 – CA helped to add two long-needed changes in the Aggie Bond program section of the 2008 Farm Bill enacted into law.
2001 – CA testified before Congress for tax incentives that would allow value-added agriculture enterprises to expand rural jobs and farm income.
1996 – CA fought successfully to save funding for the Farm Mediation Programs, serving 19 states, that were slated to be abolished in the 1997 federal budget.
1980 – CA was instrumental in getting the first beginning farmer loan program passed in Iowa.