AROUND THE STATES By Dennis Brown and Megan Kueck What’s on the Horizon in 2016? T HE YEAR 2015 CAME AND WENT AS ONE OF THE BUSIEST YEARS IN ELFA STATE ADVOCACY HISTORY, with legislation passed in Utah, Washington and Illinois, and with bills forestalled in a handful of other states. Th is year, so far, promises to be equally busy for ELFA’s state advocacy eff orts. Forecasting is always diffi cult for state government relations, but there are a handful of issues that are currently on the horizon this year: Equipment Leasing Brokers. ELFA has also reached out to the California Bankers Association for input into the matter. California In California, the Finance Lenders License Law is on the front burner in 2016, aft er an ELFA workgroup fi led comments with the California Department of Business Oversight in Decem-ber 2015. Th is comes aft er the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 197 in August 2015, which placed restrictions on a licensee under the California Finance Lenders Law paying compensation to unlicensed persons or companies for the re-ferral of one or more borrowers to the licensee, which takes eff ect Jan. 1, 2016. Th e intent of the sponsor was to steer small businesses away from unlicensed brokers and into relation-ships with properly trained and regulated licensed brokers. However, there is confusion about to whom this law applied. As it stands, licensed lenders dealing with licensed bro-kers are not being impacted by the change in the law. ELFA members currently accepting referrals from unlicensed bro-kers fi nd restrictions in the legislation inappropriate for the commercial lease fi nancing industry. In ELFA comments fi led with the Department of Business Oversight, questions about interstate reach of these revisions to the Lenders Li-cense and conflicts with the California Model Business Corporation Act were addressed. Th roughout this process ELFA has been coordinating eff orts with the National Equip-ment Finance Association and the National Association of Oregon In addition to ELFA advocacy focused on policies related to fi nancing commercial leased equipment, the association oft en collaborates with allied organizations that are leading activities opposed to public policy initiatives that would be harmful to the broader corporate sector. ELFA alerts members to these eff orts and shares information about how you can engage in them. As example, Oregon public employees are behind a new ballot measure that, according to unions, would net the state $5.3 billion. Public employees are now gathering signatures (88,000 are needed) to qualify the initiative in order for it to be placed on the ballot during the general election in November 2016. Under the initiative, companies with an excess of Or-egon sales greater than $25 million would be subject to a new minimum of $30,001 due plus 2.5% of gross Oregon sales over the $25 million threshold. Sources inside the state say that businesses that would be hit the hardest are those with high sales and low margins. Various groups are forming coalitions to combat this imitative. For additional details, contact Nikki Dobay at the Council on State Taxation at ndobay@cost.org . Michigan In 2015, Michigan lawmakers introduced a “false claims act” bill that applies to taxes. Th e bill ultimately failed to pass, but look for similar legislation in 2016. Join the discussion on the most current topics in state advocacy by emailing Megan Kueck, ELFA Director of State Government Relations, at mkueck@elfaonline.org, and make sure to check your email inbox for the latest State Legislature Report, which comes out monthly. ■ For more information, please contact Dennis Brown , Vice President of State Government Relations, at dbrown@elfaonline.org, or Megan Kueck , Director of State Government Relations, at mkueck@elfaonline.org. ADVERTISING INDEX ADVERTISER PAGE The Alta Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 www.thealtagroup.com CHP Consulting. . . . . . . . . .Cover 2 www.chpconsulting.com/alfa First Merit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 www.fi rstmerit.com Great American Insurance Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 www.GAIG.com/EquipmentInsurance GreatAmerica Financial Services Corporation . . . . . . . . . 6 www.greatamerica.com/servicing LeaseTeam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 www.leaseteam.com Odessa Technologies, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cover 4 www.odessatech.com Russell Equipment Company . . 2 www.russellequipment.com/standard F or more information on advertising in Equipment Leasing & Finance magazine, please contact ELFA Advertising Representative Steve Wafalosky at stevew@larichadv.com or 440.247.1060. 52 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016 EQUIPMENT LEASING & FINANCE MAGAZINE