The much loved August recess is upon us here in the nation’s Capitol and — except for a brief return by the House this past Tuesday to pass yet another spending bill — members of both the House and Senate are at home until Sept. 14. While it is true that some members of Congress will take a brief vacation or participate in a “fact-finding” trip, most will be hard at work campaigning for the upcoming election. That means they actually will be looking for opportunities to see and talk to you, their constituents. While I know there are probably a lot of things on your minds that you would like to say to your senator or representative, I am going to ask you to be single-minded if and when you get an opportunity to have a face-to-face encounter with one or more of your lawmakers: talk to them about the total repeal of the IRS 1099 provision of the health care bill.

• Why the IRS 1099 provision of the health care bill needs repeal. Just in case you have forgotten, one of the provisions — Section 9006 — of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that was signed into law earlier this year requires all businesses to begin issuing IRS 1099 forms to any business that receives goods or services worth more than $600 in a given tax year. Unless this section is repealed, it is estimated that 40 million taxpaying entities will be subject to this provision, which will create an enormous burden on businesses, governments and nonprofit entities throughout the nation. The House has already seen the light on this, but the Senate, where the provision originated, is proving to be harder to convince that the 1099 reporting mandate is just plain bad and a job-killing policy that needs to be relegated to the dustbin of legislative history.
• What can you do? Look for any opportunity to attend an event where your senator(s) or representatives will be present and tell them that you support full repeal of the 1099 reporting mandate. If they tell you they want to try to exempt you, do not accept that argument. Even if you are exempt from sending out 1099 forms to vendors, you will still receive them from nonexempt companies you do business with. The only thing that prevents this is full repeal. The good news is that senators will have an opportunity to vote on an amendment to the HR 5297 that creates the Small Business Lending Fund. The amendment sponsored by Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) and cosponsored by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) will completely eliminate the 1099 reporting mandate. The Johanns-Lincoln effort is the only amendment that solves the problem with full repeal of the 1099 reporting mandate.
• Take action. If you have an opportunity to see your senator or representative while they are home during the August recess tell them you strongly support the Johanns-Lincoln amendment that repeals the 1099 reporting mandate. Also watch for future calls to action. The American Rental Association (ARA) will be asking every member to call the offices of their senators during the week of Sept. 7, 2010, and continue to call until the vote on the Johanns amendment is held on Sept. 14, 2010. This is an opportunity for you to make a difference. Step up and be heard.