Maryland Senate Bill 280 - Employee Opportunity to Purchase Act was first read on February 6, 2009. There was a hearing on March 10 and the bill was given an unfavorable report on March 17. The Fiscal and Policy Note provides more details on the proposed bill:

This Thursday I will be presenting Building a Culture of Sustainability in Hard Times as part of Wisconsin Chapter's Spring Conference: April in Appleton. While there are many components to building a culture of ESOP Sustainability, I will be focusing a good portion of the session on employee communication issues during an economic downturn, and will be rolling out an Economic Downturn Toolkit. During the month of April I will be focusing on some key aspects of the Economic Downturn Toolkit on the blog. We will be expanding on the Economic Downturn Toolkit and our blog discussions at the 32nd Annual ESOP Association Conference, where I will be teaming with Dan Marcue from Woodward Communications, Inc. to present Communicating Information in Hard Times.

Last week we discussed the 2009 IRS Forms 5500 Electronic Filing Requirements and EFAST2 Filing System. Getting Ready for EFAST2 – Part 2 is part of the EFAST2 FAQ series and covers issues related to obtaining EFAST2 electronic signature credentials (an ID and pin code), which are owned by an individual and not a company:

The Winning Workplaces blog is back with some more posts about employee ownership. Employee Ownership Can be Accomplished Without Open Book Management points out that, while 14 of the 15 winners practice Open-Book Management and 10 of the 14 have a financial literacy training program, you can still achieve employee engagement without open-book management. It shares some audio of how one 2008 Top Small Workplace uses all but one of their weekly lunch meetings to focus on employee engagement without using open-book management:

Last week we discussed how a survey found that a Majority of Employers are Maintaining or Increasing Their 401(k) Match. The Wall Street Journal cites three surveys that contradict that message in U.S. Employers Cut 401(k) Matches:

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher [R-CA] introduced H.R. 692: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income compensation received by employees consisting of qualified distributions of employer stock on January 26, 2009. It is a reintroduction of H.R. 6419: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income compensation received by employees consisting of qualified distributions of employer stock with a new provision for a qualified disposition after holding stock for 10 years or more years. The bill has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee. Rep. Ron Paul [R-TX] and Rep. Walter Jones [R-NC] also cosponsored the bill.

75th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2009 Regular Session - House Bill 2698 requires that ESOP deductions are to be added to state taxable income for all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2010. The language references deductions from IRC Sections 401(a)(28), 404(a)(9), 404(k), 415(c)(6), 1042, 4975(e)(7), 4978 and 4979A:

Too Much Us Versus Them Going On addresses the current economic conditions and tells a story that illustrates the meaning of an ownership culture:

The ESOP Association (TEA) – Wisconsin Chapter is holding their annual spring conference, April in Appleton, on Thursday, April 2, 2009, at the Liberty Hall Conference Center in Appleton, Wisconsin. ESOP Insourcing LLC is once again a proud sponsor of the event. I will be presenting two sessions at the conference:

Beyond The ABCs Of ESOP Restatements And Submissions ... Can You Spell Opportunity?discusses the requirement that plan documents must be restated and submitted every five years for a determination letter and how this requirement offers a great opportunity. It suggests you start by asking the following questions:

We have recently focused on how a company can implement its own two-step rescue package by Implementing an ESOP and Developing an Ownership Culture. Add in employee development, and you have ESOP + Strong Ownership Culture + Employee Development = Customer Satisfaction. We have also discussed how Open-Book Management can help build a strong ownership culture.

We have shared information about reducing or eliminating matching contributions in the following posts:

Now is the Time for Employee Ownership discusses how "business as usual" won't cut it during an economic downturn and how employees with an ownership stake have more at stake and are more likely to rise to the challenge:

Getting Ready for EFAST2 discusses the 2009 plan year requirement to file IRS Form 5500 electronically.

The March 13, 2009 Employee Ownership Update is online and discusses the following:

The Joint Committee on Taxation recently published Joint Committee on Taxation: List of Expiring Federal Tax Provisions 2008-2020 (JCX-20-09), March 9, 2009:

Jackson's Hardware: Employee Ownership Nets Customer Loyalty is a Winning Workplaces video about Jackson's Hardware, an ESOP-owned, single-location hardware store in San Rafael, CA, and a 2008 Top Small Workplace:

ESCA has posted a summary of the 2009 ESCA Leadership Summit. This year's annual event had more than 120 S ESOP-related attendees meeting to discuss the political environment with the new Administration and The 111th United States Congress. Here are a couple of notable comments:

It's been a few months since the last major wave of negative ESOP coverage, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised with the coverage in Despite Risks, Workers Guzzle Company Stock - Participants in 401(k) Plans See Safety in Employer Shares; No Other Options for a Match, which cites the usual Lehman Brothers and Fannie Mae as examples. Nonetheless, it is essential that the ESOP community continue to Counter Negative ESOP Coverage with the Facts.

Yesterday we discussed a $1,500 award for a dissertation on shared capitalism through employee ownership. Dr. Beyster discussed the award in his latest blog post: Employee Ownership Award and Executive Pay. Also, Rutgers has announced
the first professorship in employee ownership:

The February 27, 2009 Employee Ownership Update is online and discusses the following:

The Statistical Profile of Employee Ownership was updated in February 2009. The estimating techniques have been revised to create a more accurate estimate of the number of plans:

No fable: ESOP a great incentive for employees discusses how an ESOP is a powerful tool to consider in the current economic downturn:

Here are links to recently published rules and regulations:

Here are links to recently published rules and regulations: