WRITTEN TESTIMONY OF THE TELEWORK COALITION

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="064285a1erlcgo.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Telework Coalition</B></FONT><B>   </B></div> <div> <B>Enabling Virtual, Mobile, and Distributed Work through Education, Technology, and Legislation</B></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="063d2c00dkelyh.png"> <div>  <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Telework Coalition"><U>Home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id296.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Membership Sponsorship Opportunities"><U>Membership & Sponsorship Opportunities</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id208.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Sponsors"><U>Our Sponsors</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id270.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TelCoa in the News"><U>"TelCoa in the News"</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Calendar"><U>Calendar</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id282.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TelCoa / ACP Event"><U>TelCoa / ACP Event</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id259.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Strategic Alliances"><U>Strategic Alliances</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id278.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Business Continuity Planning (COOP)"><U>Business Continuity Planning (COOP)</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id294.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Avian Flu and Pandemic Information and A"><U>Avian Flu and Pandemic Information and Articles</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id156.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Virtual Call Center Sponsors"><U>Virtual Call Center Sponsors</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id157.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Virtual Call Centers "><U>Virtual Call Centers </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Board of Directors and Advisory Board"><U>Board of Directors and Advisory Board</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id158.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act "><U>The Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id223.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TelCoa Awards"><U>TelCoa Awards</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Vision and Mission"><U>Our Vision and Mission</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Telework in the News"><U>Telework in the News</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Federal, State, Regional News, Legislat"><U>Federal, State, & Regional News, Legislation, and Programs</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id263.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Telework Tools "><U>Telework Tools </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Telework Facts "><U>Telework Facts </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="You Should Know"><U>You Should Know</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Broadband"><U>Broadband</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Environmental Information and Fact Sheet"><U>Environmental Information and Fact Sheet</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id90.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Health, Safety Telework"><U>Health, Safety & Telework</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id105.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Telework Jobs and Opportunities"><U>Telework Jobs and Opportunities</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id337.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Other Jobs"><U>Other Jobs</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contributing Partners"><U>Contributing Partners</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Related Links "><U>Related Links </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reference"><U>Reference</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div>  </div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> WRITTEN TESTIMONY OF THE TELEWORK COALITION</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="http://www.telcoa.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.telcoa.org"><U><U>http://www.telcoa.org</U></U></A><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> PRESENTED TO THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM</div> <div> (HONORABLE TOM DAVIS, CHAIRMAN)</div> <div> U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 2154 RAYBURN OFFICE BUILDING</div> <div> JULY 8<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >TH</FONT>, 2004.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Presented by: John M. H. Edwards, Managing Director, TelCoa</B></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >(Can be reached at </FONT><A HREF="mailto:JohnEdwards@TelCoa.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:JohnEdwards@TelCoa.org"><U><U>John</U></U></A><A HREF="mailto:JohnEdwards@TelCoa.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:JohnEdwards@TelCoa.org"><U><U>Edwards@TelCoa.org</U></U></A><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >)</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Telework (sometimes called Telecommuting) has been more widely applied, for financial, socio-economic and National Security reasons. However, it has become increasingly obvious that many of our laws, having their origins in neutralizing abuses of the Industrial Revolution, have become outdated by the work practices made possible by the Digital Revolution, thus unwittingly becoming barriers to more telework. TelCoa respectfully suggests that the following legislation, initiatives and incentives be considered or be vigorously supported and/or not allowed to die by the Committee on Government Reform.</div> <bR> <div> <B>HR1588 (National Defense Authorization Act 2004), SEC.1428</B> - Authorizes Federal Contractors to include telecommuting employees in the performance of contracts, and so must not be removed from HR1588. New technologies, not envisaged by earlier lawmakers, make it possible to work productively and securely away from the traditional office.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Nexus (defined as the existence of presence in a State for tax or other purposes) Issues Threaten Interstate Telecommuting and so could thwart Government Laws and threaten National Security and Employment:--</B></div> <bR> <div> Because a telecommuter's home state may also tax the income he or she earned while working at home without being allowed a credit for the tax also paid to the employer's State, the interstate telecommuter may be subject to double taxation solely because he or she telecommutes across State lines some days/week or month. This potential disincentive could thwart:</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Homeland Security/Assuring Continuity of Government in the Event of Disaster</U></B><B>.  </B>Telecommuting is an essential component of both public and private sector employers' contingency plans.  The passage of H.R. 2844, the Continuity in Representation Act of 2004, reflects the nation's commitment to assuring that government can proceed with its work even in dire circumstances.  Similarly, as part of its Continuity of Operations Program, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requires that all Federal agencies designate alternate operating facilities and has encouraged agencies to consider telecommuting locations, including work at home, as viable alternative facilities. Additionally, the recent GAO report (GAO-04-160) describes the extent to which the Federal Government is not being made more resilient to external events. </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Compliance with Public Law 106-346</U></B>, which requires that telework is offered to 100% of eligible federal workers. For some federal employees, the prospect of taxation by both their employer's state and their home state, without double taxation relief, may deter them from participating in the agency's telework program. States should not be permitted to thwart the federal government in its effort to comply with federal law and make telework available to <I>all</I> its eligible workers.</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Integration of the Disabled into the Workforce</U></B><B>.  </B>A primary goal of the New Freedom Initiative is to integrate “Americans with Disabilities into the Workplace.” By subjecting disabled interstate telecommuters to the possibility of double taxation, would be the same as demanding that they pay a premium for exercising their reasonable accommodation rights, which may be prohibitive for some disabled individuals. (The EEOC has issued guidelines on how telework can be used as an accommodation.)</div> <bR> <div> <B><U>Rural Economic Development/Stemming the Loss of Jobs to Offshore Locations</U></B><B>.</B></div> <div> This administration has also encouraged the use of telework to help rural communities expand and stabilize their economies.  Public Law 107-171 contemplates, through the SBA, federal support for private sector businesses that employ rural [tele]workers. Interstate double taxation would make such telework unnecessarily costly for business and so obstructs this law. Among the workers threatened are call center agents working from home offices.  The bottom line benefits of 'Virtual Call Centers' are very compelling for American businesses, and their wider use would help to stem the loss of jobs to offshore locations.</div> <bR> <div> Because interstate double taxation threatens national interests in the ways identified here, remedial federal legislation to defuse this potential barrier to telework must become a federal priority. </div> <bR> <div> <B>HR2548 (Federal Property Asset Management Reform Act), SEC.4. sub.572 </B>- provides “Incentives for Real …Property Management Improvement”. Because Agencies currently can not benefit financially from the more efficient use of real property, there is little or no incentive for agencies to adopt “flexible officing/hoteling” strategies as part of the bottom-line benefits resulting from telework/telecommuting programs. HR2548 will allow agencies to retain some or all of the value of their real estate savings, which would allow such funds to be reallocated for a vigorous adoption of more telework/telecommuting. It is a barrier against the establishment of telework programs that they are essentially unfunded mandates, because the requirement to have such programs was not envisaged during an earlier budgetary process. </div> <bR> <div> <B>OSHA's</B> assumed authority to be able to regulate white collar home offices must be ended by legislation. A continuing perceived barrier against telework is that the current OSHA Directive, that employers are not responsible for their employee's home offices and are not expected to conduct home inspections, could be reversed by a new administration. The potential for renewing such inspection activity must be permanently removed. </div> <bR> <div> However, health and safety in the home office continues to remain the general responsibility of employers, who can carry out their due diligence both through their own in-house training programs and through Computer-Based Training (CBT), such as the new interactive “Ergonomics for Teleworkers” course, funded by a CDC/NIOSH grant. Again, new technologies, not available when the original law was written, make it possible to work in a safe and healthy environment anywhere.</div> <bR> <div> <B>CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation & air Quality Improvement Program) fund allocation processes must be adjusted, streamlined and accelerated </B>to prevent such Federal funds from not being spent/obligated and to allow needed resources to reach Counties with traffic & air quality problems more quickly. These funds could be used:</div> <div> To provide telework/telecommuting training and consulting services such as the eCommute and Telework!VA programs. </div> <div> Incentives to employers for high-speed connectivity, computers, ergonomic office furniture, and lighting.</div> <div> To pay for opt-in services and associated required hardware that confirm work-from-home activity, such as the EPA's Pay As You Drive (PAYD) car insurance discount program, the NURIDE teleworkers/telecommuter affinity program, services that aggregate employee data of miles-NOT-driven (because of telework/telecommuting activities) to calculate valuable Mobile Emissions Credits. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Tax Allowances</B> should be adjusted to include:</div> <div> Pre-tax deductions for employee-paid telework/telecommuting-related expenses, such as high-speed connectivity, computers, ergonomic office furniture, lighting, related training, and opt-in services and associated required hardware that confirm work-from-home activity.</div> <div> Accelerated employer tax deductibility and/or tax credits on telework enabling investments hardware, software, connectivity, and office furniture. </div> <div> Remove the `claw-back' Capital Gains Tax (CGT) levied on the sale of a teleworker's home if home office allowances have been taken, where telecommuting is a condition of employment.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Closing Comment</B>: As we have listed above, digital technology has made certain existing laws demonstrably in need of being updated, and that Government can make adjustments to laws to encourage a greater numbers of employers to adopt telework/telework strategies and employees to be able and willing to be included in such programs.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Telework Coalition"><U><IMG SRC="21c4b260.gif" border=0 width="75" height="38" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>