Capitol Hill

Printing Industries of America (PIA), Sewickley, Pa., recently attended a White House event to announce major progress on a series of initiatives launched last year to combat "patent trolls" and abusive patent litigation. Michael Makin, president and CEO of PIA, accepted the invitation extended to the association by National Economic Council director Gene Sperling and secretary of commerce Penny Pritzker. Makin was represented at the event by Lisbeth A. Lyons, PIA's vice president of government affairs.

Printing Industries of America issued the following statement regarding the formation of the Coalition for Fair Effective Tax Rates, intended to focus the 113th Congress on passing necessary tax reform legislation.

Big news out of Washington, DC, during an otherwise sleepy week on Capitol Hill. The Obama Administration announced a one year delay (or "transition relief") of the employer mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) currently scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2014. The mandate would require employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent workers to provide health insurance at prescribed levels or to face penalties and fees starting at $2,000 per worker.

Printing Industries of America's members from across the country are gathering on Capitol Hill next month to oppose an emergency postal rate hike proposal that would dramatically bust caps on postal rate increases imposed by Congress in 2006.

Second quarter 2009 U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) numbers show improvement in workflow to private sector printers compared to the first quarter of this year and the fourth quarter of last year. However, industry concerns continue to grow about the lack of work being awarded to the private sector at a time when indications are federal government agencies are ordering more print than ever through the GPO. Some of the reasons for increased print demands from Capitol Hill include new administration print requirements, preparing for major legislation such as healthcare reform and gearing up for the 2010 census.

Public Printer Robert C. Tapella appointed Matt Reddell to the position of deputy chief of staff for the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington. In his new position, Reddell assists the chief of staff in the operational management of the agency. Reddell joined GPO in 2006, assisting the deputy public printer in managing day-to-day activities of GPO’s business units. Furthermore, he is an officer in the Tennessee National Guard. Having initially joined the military in 1990 after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Reddell recently returned from a tour of duty, where he trained future soldiers to fight in the global war on terror.