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The magazine Middle Market Growth, a forum for private equity professionals, includes an article on how private equity firms can best use ESOPs as an exit strategy.

In PLR 200732028, the IRS ruled that a C corporation ESOP can contribute up to 25% of pay to cover principal payments on an ESOP loan, plus contribute up to 25% of pay in addition if the contributions are not used to repay either principal or interest on the loan.

The Senate has now passed the Endless Frontier Act (S. 1260), Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) proposed an amendment that would have incorporated a version of the WORK Act (the Worker Ownership, Readiness, and Knowledge Act).

Pennsylvania Representative Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler County) and Senator Stewart Greenleaf (R-Montgomery County) have created joint legislation to mirror federal law as it applies to the deferral of capital gains taxation for sales of C corporation stock to an ESOP (the "1042 election").

On April 29, Representatives Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Ron Kind (D-WI) introduced the Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2015 (H.R. 2096).

S. 2298, introduced by Senator John Breaux (D-LA) on April 7, 2004, would make a number of changes in ESOP law. The bill has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee. It would:

On May 6, Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduced S.1212, the Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2015.

Several recent reports have noted that during the last decade, real total compensation (wages and benefits) have been stagnant while returns to capital have soared (remember the Dow in the 1980s and how analysts wondered if it could ever top 3,000?).

According to Karol Szadurski, head of UNIA, the Polish employee ownership support organization, there are now over 1,000 companies in Poland with broad employee ownership. Karol's fax to us did not indicate what percentage of these were majority employee owned.

Progress Through Business, a nonprofit organization, has launched a new website, Progress Daily, with daily updates on a number of topics connecting business with social welfare, including employee ownership.