Important Note: If your lodging membership renewal was due July 1st and you have not yet renewed, unfortunately you will no longer receive WH&LA's Capitol Insider or our weekly Wisconsin Lodging Insider as of tomorrow, Friday July 29. If this is the case, please go to  https://www.tfaforms.com/431580  to conveniently renew online.
 
"Tourism Entity" Guide, Final State Tracker, New OT Federal Bill, Room Tax on Campground Structure Rentals
July 28, 2016
  
 
Dear WH&LA Lodging Member:
 
The state legislature is busy gearing up for the August 9 Primary Elections and the November 8 Election Day, with all state Assembly Districts up for election and the even-numbered state Senate districts also up for election (although not all have primary challenges).  Following the Primary's, the WH&LA will provide to members a list of all the final candidates running for election in November, so that you can make a point of getting to know your candidates and whether they are supportive of tourism or for some reason are not, to enable you to make a knowledgeable decision when voting.
 
New WH&LA "Tourism Entity" Guide
The WH&LA is pleased to provide you with an advance copy of our new room tax guide "Tourism Entity Overview", which takes the changes to Wisconsin's Room Tax Statute 66.0615 passed in summer of 2015, along with the further changes passed recently at the end of this year's state legislative session, and provides a current overview of the new definition of Tourism Entity, what it means, and what the statutory requirements for Tourism Entities are relating to Room Tax - all in a two-page document for your convenience. This guide will be part of WH&LA's ongoing "Wisconsin Room Tax Series" posted at our website and will be available later next week for public access at www.wisconsinlodging.org/roomtax. 
 
Final 2015/16 State Issues Tracker
While the state's legislative session has ended for the 2015/16 years, the WH&LA tracked 105 bills introduced in the legislature that impacted WH&LA members, in addition to the huge state Budget Bill passed in July of last year. Our Board of Directors and Legislative/Tourism Committee Members are well aware of our State Issues Tracker document, which we use at our meetings to determine the association's position on proposed legislation, and at times whether no position is better due to so many possible factors. Attached, for those who may be interested in the variety of legislation that we have monitored or engaged in, is the Final WH&LA 2015/16 State Issues Tracker.  In the last column on the right it notes the bills that have "failed" (also shaded in gray) and the bills that were signed into "law". The descriptions are extremely condensed to keep it to the somewhat reasonable 26-page length, and are limited to the bill components that impact our members, keeping in mind some of the bills exceeding 20 pages simply can't be condensed to a few sentences.  The next two-year legislative session will begin later in January, after the newly elected legislators are sworn in, with the primary focus of the first six months on a new State Budget Proposal, although we also anticipate a number of other proposed bills to surface that will impact us as well.
 
New Federal Overtime Legislation Proposed
On July 17 Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR) introduced H.R. 5813 (called the Overtime Reform and Enhancement Act - or "OREA") in the House of Representatives, a bill pursuing a compromise to the onerous regulations rolled out recently by the Federal Dept. of Labor (DOL) which will have a huge financial and logistical impact on the tourism industry across the country. This proposal, which is gaining bi-partisan support despite being considered a long-shot change to the regulations planned to go into effect on Dec. 1, 2016, has the following components:
  • The same effective date of Dec. 1, 2016
  • Instead of the DOL regulation setting an immediate dramatic increase of the overtime salary threshold,this would provide an increase from the current $23,660 annual wages to $35,984 (a 50% increase instead of the planned 100% increase) for the first year.
  • Provide gradual increases each of the following 3 years starting December 1 each year (to $39,780 in 2017; to $43,628 in 2018; and to $47,476 in 2019)
  • Eliminate the automatic three-year increases that are in the DOL regulation.
The concept is to acknowledge that the current salary threshold needs to be increased, to provide a reasonable phase-in plan to help businesses to adjust, and to have Congress control such important changes with their legislative vetting process versus the DOL. Many national associations, such as the AH&LA and the ASAE, have already joined in to support this proposal bi-partisan legislation, and are encouraging businesses to contact their Representatives in the House to ask for their support of H.R. 5818 on Overtime Reform, despite the challenges in gaining action in time. Here is a copy of the letter (http://schrader.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hr_5813_overtime_reform_and_enhancement_act_one_pager.pdf)  sent by the sponsor to members of Congress asking for their co-sponsorship.
 
Room Tax on Campground Overnight Structure Rentals
The state Department of Revenue (DOR) has provided clarification to the WH&LA that overnight structures at campgrounds that are rented for overnight stays to the public are not only subject to sales tax, but if rented for less than 30 consecutive days also would be subject to local room tax. Rental of a campground lot (no structure) would only be subject to sales tax as a recreational admission, but not to room tax. 
 
 
We continue to be honored to work on your behalf to protect and enhance Wisconsin's Lodging Industry at the state Capitol and in partnership with the American Hotel & Lodging Association at the federal level, and to provide communications and resources to keep you informed.
 
 
 

Contact: Trisha Pugal
Wisconsin Hotel & Lodging Association
pugal@wisconsinlodging.org
262/782-2851