NEWS - November 2002

Titles:

Reserve December 12 for Electric League Holiday Luncheon

Plan now to attend the Annual Electric League Holiday Luncheon - set for Thursday, December 12 at Harrah's North Kansas City Conference Center. The event will begin with a networking from 11 a.m. - Noon.

The Luncheon will following with seating at Noon. As in the past, the Luncheon will include year-end League business as well as the election of members to the Board of Directors and the presentation of the Industry Achievement Award. In addition to the year-end business, an exciting part of the Luncheon is the prize raffle to benefit the Electric League Foundation. The proceeds from the raffle are donated to the Foundation whose two-fold purpose is 1) to provide scholarships to members, their children and grandchildren and 2) to provide a donation annually to a deserving local charity. The raffle has been a big success in the past and the Holiday Luncheon Committee is looking forward to another great event.

The Luncheon will also include a canned and nonperishable food drive for the Harvesters. Please remember to bring your food items to the Luncheon and be eligible to win a special prize.

The League is asking members to be a part of this year's event by donating raffle gifts. The donation of company promotional items is discouraged. If you are able to donate a gift, please contact Olivia or Cindy at the Electric League office. A Holiday Luncheon reservation form is enclosed; please complete this form and return it to the Electric League by Friday, Dec. 6. 

  The Electric League Needs Your Help!

The Electric League is seeking volunteers to serve on several important League committees. These committees make the important decisions that impact all League events. Volunteers are needed on the Golf, Lighting Awards, Program, Membership and several other important committees. If you would like to serve on a committee or need more information please contact Olivia at 816-561-5323.

Federal Legislative Update

Important Issues Stalled
Debate on the new Department of Homeland Security is stalled in the Senate over competing amendments focusing on personnel issues: Would the President be given authority to waive civil service rules on hiring, firing, promoting and transferring for national security purposes? Floor debate was interrupted to approve a resolution on use of force in Iraq .... and maybe a few more issues before getting back to homeland security. 

Neither House nor Senate has approved the conference report on consumer bankruptcy reform. The House leadership has not scheduled a floor vote because there were doubts the bill would pass. The Senate is waiting for the House to act. 

Pension reform was tangled up with small business tax relief and the minimum wage. The Senate Finance Committee started to mark-up a small business tax relief bill, only to postpone it, perhaps indefinitely, when senators presented 78 amendments. The idea was to attach it to a pension reform bill and that opened the door to tying tax cuts to an increase in the minimum wage.

The House Ways & Means Committee went to work on a couple of tax and pension bills. The tax bill would raise the amount of the annual deduction for capital losses against ordinary income to $8,250, almost triple the current deduction. The pension bill would speed up already-approved increases in tax-deferred contributions to IRA and 401(k) retirement plans and postpone mandatory distributions from retirement accounts.   

Major Issue: Health Insurance
According to a U.S. Census Bureau report, the number of Americans without health insurance increased by 1.4 million last year to 41.2 million. The proportion of people covered by employer-sponsored health insurance plans dropped one percentage point to 62.6 percent, a drop concentrated among small businesses.  

Reasons included an increase in unemployed workers, higher health care costs causing small businesses to drop coverage and employers passing on more costs resulting in employees dropping out of employer plans.  

This report prompted calls for action on legislation to create association health plans. There are bills in both houses to allow small businesses to purchase insurance through association health plans formed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Source: National Retail Hardware Association   

  Bill Andrews

Long-time Electric League member Bill Andrews passed away on Thursday, October 10, 2002 at his home. Bill was a strong supporter of the Kansas City Royals, Kansas City Chiefs and the University of Kansas Jayhawks. He regularly attended KU basketball games and the NCAA Final Four. Bill founded the Bill Andrews Company, a manufacturers representative agency. In addition to being a member of the League, Bill was a member of Indian Hills Country Club and The Missouri Merchants Manufacturer's Association. He was Paul Harris Fellow at Rotary Club 13. Bill was preceded in death by his wife, Julie Andrews, and son, Billy Andrews. He is survived by his daughter, Beth Andrews, granddaughter, Noel Andrews Sotta, son-in-law, Peter Sotta, and friend, Bron-Bee. 

  Electric League Spring 2003 Education Classes

The Electric League Education Committee is working on the Spring 2003 Electric League Education classes. If you have a suggestion regarding a course or topic that should be offered please contact Paul Kemp, Education Committee Chairman, at Midland Electric Co. - 816-356-9027. Members should watch for the new Education Classes brochure in January 2003.

34th Annual Lighting Awards: An Evening to Remember

The 34th Annual Electric League Lighting Awards banquet was held Monday, November 4 at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Kansas City. The evening featured a spectacular slide presentation and narrative of the winning lighting projects from this year's competition. Over 130 individuals involved in the electrical/lighting industry attended this year's banquet including engineers, architects, lighting designers, project owners and Electric League members.

The following projects received awards:

Commercial General Category
    Lankford & Associates

OfficeOutdoor Building Category
    Liberty Memorial

Commercial Office Category
    AMC Corporate Office Relocation

Institutional Category
    Sheffield Family Life Center

Hospitality Category
    Oak Park Mall Food Court

Industrial Category
    DST Output

Entertainment Category
The Missouri Theatre

Commercial Merchandise Category
    Webster House

Lighting Innovative Technology Award (L.I.T.)
    Shaw Hofstra + Associates

A special thanks to this year's panel of judges:
    Mark Hershman, Scott Denney, Gary Hickox, Andria Odrowski, Dustin Shaw, Vince Migliazzo, Kate Chell, Suzanne Bond, John Ohnesorge, Kathi Vandel, Terri Seyl, and Tom Ellis, Jr.

2002 Lighting Awards Committee:
    Terri Seyl, Dustin Shaw, Fred Denney, Mark Hershman, Andria Odrowski, and Suzanne Bond

The Electric League thanks Terri Seyl and Mark Hershman for their dedication and hard work on this year's Lighting Awards Competition. 

Thanks to Our Lighting Awards Sponsors:

Benefactors:

Associates:

Patrons:

Friends:

The People Column

Happy November and early December birthday greetings to Doug Rehfield at C&O Electric Sales, Jim Skarvan at Wesco, Rick Boswell at Rexel/Glasco and Chris Dix at Rains Electrical Sales.

Congratulations to Doug and Joan Carlson on the recent marriage of their daughter, Amy.

Bill Thorp (Appleton) is now part of the C&O team. Rod Schipull is now "hanging his hat," as they say, at Stanion in Kansas City, Kansas.

That's all folks!

See you next time - keep your news items coming. You can e-mail your news to: peoplecolumn@electricleague.org

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