The Conference of Retail Associations (CORA) has announced its legislative priorities for the 2025-26 legislative session. CORA is a coalition of associations representing retail businesses throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest Hardware Association has been a longtime partner. The 2025-26 agenda focuses on several key areas of interest:

Credit Card Swipe Fees

CORA will advocate for the elimination of swipe fees on tax collection and look for ways to reduce burdensome credit card fees for small businesses. Swipe fees are often a business's highest operating cost after labor and can make it difficult for businesses to grow.

Transportation

The coalition will advocate for safe and reliable roads for transporting goods and services and for the safe travel of residents and visitors. In addition, the coalition will work with other stakeholders to provide ideas for more stable and reliable funding of short and long term state transportation infrastructure projects.

Labor-Related Issues

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Illinois is facing a significant fiscal challenge as it grapples with a projected $3.2 billion budget deficit for the fiscal year 2026, which begins on July 1, 2025. This shortfall, revealed in a report by the Governor's Office of Management and Budget (GOMB), has sparked concern among lawmakers and necessitated discussions on how to address the looming financial gap.

The Deficit: Causes and Context

The $3.2 billion deficit is attributed to several factors:

1. Stagnating Revenues: The state's revenues are expected to remain flat at approximately $53.4 billion for the upcoming year
2. Increasing Expenditures: Spending is projected to grow by $3.2 billion, driven by various factors including:

• An additional $350 million for K-12 education
• A $440 million increase in pension costs
• $1.1 billion growth in healthcare costs, partly due to medical inflation and the end of FEMA reimbursements for pandemic-related expenses

1. End of Federal Aid: The expiration of $7 billion in federal emergency COVID relief funds for schools has contributed to the budgetary pressure.

Lawmakers' Response and Potential Solutions...

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Hardware dealers who had 20 or more employees during the previous calendar year are required to electronically report data  found on OSHA Form 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses). Injury and illness data submission began January 2, 2025, so dealers may log in to the Injury Tracking Application (ITA) and submit their 2024 calendar year data anytime between now and the deadline of March 2, 2025.

WHO MUST ELECTRONICALLY REPORT INJURY AND ILLNESS DATA?

• Establishments with peak employment during the previous calendar year of 250 or more employees.
• Establishments with peak employment during the previous calendar year of 20 to 249 employees that are classified in certain industries (including hardware retailers). For a list of covered industries, go to: https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1904/1904.41AppA

WHO DOES NOT HAVE TO ELECTRONICALLY SUBMIT DATA?

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The OSHA Form 300A (Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses) must be posted each year from February through April, of the year following the year covered by the form. Remember to post your 2024 OSHA Form 300A from February 1, 2025, to April 30, 2025.                                                                                                                                                                                                  

If your company had more than ten (10) employees at any time during the last calendar year, you must keep OSHA injury and illness records unless your establishment is classified as a partially exempt industry (https://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/presentations/exempttable). Hardware stores are not classified as exempt from the recordkeeping requirements, and therefore, you must keep injury and illness records if you had more than 10 employees. In addition to recording illness and injuries, the records must be retained at the worksite for at least five years.  

If your company had 10 or fewer employees at all times during the last calendar year, you do not need to keep OSHA injury and illness records unless OSHA or the Bureau of Labor Statistics informs you in writing that you must keep records.  However, all employers covered by the OSH Act must report to OSHA within 24 hours any work-related incident that results in a fatality, in-patient hospitalization of one or more employees, an employee amputation, or an employee loss of an eye.

How do I determine the size of my company to find out if I qualify for the partial exemption for size?

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