Guest Speaker: Jason Turner

Great Lakes Advisors, LLC 

A Wintrust Wealth Management Co.

February 8, 2022 (Tuesday) 

After 2020 gave us the most significant economic slowdown since the Great Depression, 2021 was on pace for the most rapid economic expansion in 40 years. There are many questions and concerns that have risen from our economic experience in the last few years. Jason Turner, Head of Multi-Asset Strategy at Wintrust Wealth Management, will provide insights into how we arrived at the current condition, what economic data is telling us about the current environment, and what could influence the direction of economic growth in the future.

Jason Turner joined Wintrust in 2009 and currently serves as the head of multi-asset strategies at Great Lakes Advisors, a Wintrust Wealth Management Company. In this role, Jason has oversight for asset allocation, manager selection, and investment strategy for the firm’s Multi-Asset Strategy investment approach. He is also a member of the firm’s Investment Committee and Management Committee.

COST: Free to members

($20 non-members)

  TIME:  12:00 NOON 

IR-2021-251, Dec. 17, 2021

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2022 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2022, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

• 58.5 cents per mile driven for business use, up 2.5 cents from the rate for 2021,
• 18 cents per mile driven for medical, or moving purposes for qualified active-duty members of the Armed Forces, up 2 cents from the rate for 2021 and
• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations; the rate is set by statute and remains unchanged from 2021.

The standard mileage rate for business use is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile. The rate for medical and moving purposes is based on the variable costs.

It is important to note that under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, taxpayers cannot claim a miscellaneous itemized deduction for unreimbursed employee travel expenses. Taxpayers also cannot claim a deduction for moving expenses, unless they are members of the Armed Forces on active duty moving under orders to a permanent change of station. For more details see Moving Expenses for Members of the Armed Forces.

Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates.

Taxpayers can use the standard mileage rate but must opt to use it in the first year the car is available for business use. Then, in later years, they can choose either the standard mileage rate or actual expenses. Leased vehicles must use the standard mileage rate method for the entire lease period (including renewals) if the standard mileage rate is chosen.

Notice 22-03, contains the optional 2022 standard mileage rates, as well as the maximum automobile cost used to calculate the allowance under a fixed and variable rate (FAVR) plan. In addition, the notice provides the maximum fair market value of employer-provided automobiles first made available to employees for personal use in calendar year 2022 for which employers may use the fleet-average valuation rule in or the vehicle cents-per-mile valuation rule.

The federal mandate is slated to start on January 10th. OSHA won’t issue any citations to employers who don’t comply with the mandate before then, and won’t issue citations for non-compliance with the testing requirement before Feb. 9.

The mandate requires workers at private companies with 100 or more employees (a total of more than 84 million workers) to get vaccinated for Covid-19 by Jan. 9 or risk losing their jobs. While 73% of Americans over 12 have received at least one shot, there has been significant opposition to blanket vaccination policies.

President Joe Biden announced the rule in September, and the Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), wrote the rule under emergency authority due to the ongoing public health crisis. Opponents of the rule say it’s an overstep of power by the executive branch of government, while supporters claim the extenuating circumstances of the pandemic warrant the broad rule.

How Does the OSHA Vaccine Mandate Work?

The vaccine requirement applies to workers at companies with 100 or more employees. Included companies must provide paid time off to workers who need to get vaccinated, and to workers recovering from side effects after receiving a vaccine dose.

The mandate specifies that any worker not fully vaccinated by Jan. 9 would need to provide negative test results at least weekly; starting Dec. 5, unvaccinated workers were required to wear a mask while on the job site per the rule.

If workers refuse to get vaccinated, they’re on the hook to pay for weekly tests and masks. Giving employees the option to test weekly in lieu of vaccination would be at each company’s discretion.

Employers who didn’t enforce the new rule could face fines of up to $14,000 per violation, though it’s unclear how OSHA plans to enforce the mandate.

Under a similar rule, employees at health care facilities that participate in Medicare or Medicaid—the majority of health care workers in the U.S., a White House memo notes—don’t have the option to submit weekly tests in lieu of vaccination. In short: If you don’t get vaccinated, you’ll lose your job.

There are two challenges to the health care facility mandate, putting it on hold in 24 states.

Some companies had already chosen to implement a vaccine mandate without a masking exception before the mandate was announced.

“The new OSHA rule establishes a floor for safety – not a ceiling,” wrote Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients in a USA Today op-ed on Nov. 4. “Many businesses have already agreed to institute a full vaccination requirement without a testing option.”

The OSHA mandate wasn’t the first nationwide vaccine mandate, but it’s the first that includes private companies. Biden signed an executive order in September that required federal workers and contractors to get vaccinated for the coronavirus. Federal workers were required to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 22. Federal contractors would have needed to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 18, but that rule has also been suspended while it’s being challenged in court.

If they don’t comply and don’t have a religious or medical exemption, federal employees can be suspended or terminated.

The Bedford Park-Clearing Industrial Association will be hosting a Spring Tune-Up and two golf outing this summer at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club.

April 28 - Golf Spring Tune-Up

Golfers will meet on the driving range in the heated Toptracer stalls. The event will include unlimited balls, tips from the PROS, lunch, followed by 18 holes of golf.

June 9th - Golf outing

August 4th - Golf Outing

Coming soon ~ Sponsorship Opportunities & Registration