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New Projects and Products

Analysis of Proposed Changes to Family and Medical Leave Act

CONSAD has been assisting the Department of Labor, Employment Standards Administration in its effort to update the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Currently, covered employers must grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for one or more of the following reasons: for the birth and care of the newborn child of the employee; for placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care; to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition; or to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.

The CONSAD team, headed by Frederick Rueter, is examining alternative proposals to amend the FMLA to allow authorized caregivers of seriously wounded members of the armed forces to take up to six months of job-protected leave.

Evaluation Of ESA Wage & Hour Division: Increasing Compliance Among Previously Investigated Employers

For this study of employer recidivism, CONSAD has teamed with SRA to analyze WHD procedures, practices, and compliance tools with the goal of improving compliance among employers who have been previously investigated.

The CONSAD team is currently developing an electronic data file containing longitudinal records of successive WHD investigations for individual employers and developing criteria and procedures for measuring recidivism. These data and criteria will be used to conduct a multivariate statistical analysis of the relationship between the alternative measures of recidivism

Economic Impacts of Presque Isle Race Track and Slots Casino On the Northwestern Pennsylvania Region

The development and operation of the proposed Presque Isle Downs, Inc. (PIDI) thoroughbred racetrack and slots casino (or, alternatively, racino) near the intersection of Interstate Highway 90 and State Route 97 in Summit Township in Erie County would involve substantial expenditures by PIDI, its employees, and its visitors. Those expenditures would stimulate economic activity throughout the Northwestern Pennsylvania region.

CONSAD was contracted by Presque Isle Downs, Inc to produce projections of the total direct, indirect, and induced economic impacts that would be stimulated by the construction and the first five years of operation of the racino.

Effects on Revenues from Repealing the Estate Tax and Limiting the Step-up in Basis

In this study for the American Family Business Institute, CONSAD has estimated the change -- at the margin -- in government revenues from imposing limits on the "step-up in basis" provisions over a ten-year period. Results of CONSADs modeling demonstrate that immediate repeal of the estate tax and adoption of the specified limited step-up in basis will generate a cumulative net increase in government tax revenues equal to $38.0 billion over the period from 2003 through 2012.

Get the complete report here.

CONSAD Modeling Work Highlighted by NFIB

CONSAD was acknowledged by its client the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) for the development of the RIM - Regulatory Impact Model. The RIM assists NFIB Foundation analysts in examining the impacts of Federal and state regulatory actions on small business.  The model works in concert with the REMI regional model.