No matter your political persuasion, the seemingly endless 2020 Election is over. Now the votes are cast, and the people have spoken, although it took some time to figure out exactly what they said. Regardless of how your preferred candidates fared, we as a country will go on. And the Hardwood Federation will continue to work across the aisles in our nation’s Capital to move legislation that supports the U.S. Hardwood industry and defend against negative policies that threaten to harm our sector.
While most professional pollsters in the days leading up to the elections predicted a Democratic wave to take the White House and the Senate, as well as add seats to the Democratic majority in the House, it appears that voters had other ideas. The election was much closer than expected. Former Vice President Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President but it was a much tighter race than anticipated. Republicans unexpectedly gained seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, but Democrats will retain control of the House; however, they will have the smallest majority since World War II which will make for some interesting policy maneuvering for their leadership.
The Senate will remain in Republican hands, although only very narrowly, until at least early January when both Georgia Senate seats head for a run-off election. Election trends and history seem to point to Republicans maintaining at least one, and probably both seats, but this is not a guarantee in the least. Should both seats go to the Democrats, this scenario will change and Democrats will have control, but only by virtue of the tie-breaking role held by incoming Vice President Kamala Harris. All eyes will be on Georgia until the election and it is anticipated that it will be the most expensive Senate race in history. It is important to keep in mind that, whoever controls the Senate, the party’s margin will be very slim. Typically, 60 votes are needed to move legislation in the upper chamber which requires opposing party support to pass any legislation. There are parliamentary ways around this, but historically the 60-vote requirement has been honored. In order to move any legislation, some compromise, on both sides, will be necessary. We will again most likely be working with a split government with both parties exerting some control over pieces of the legislative process.
The first order of business in the new year for the Hardwood Federation staff will be to connect with new Members of Congress and the Administration to educate them about the U.S. Hardwood industry and its contributions to the economy at both the state and federal levels. Early in the year we will be touching base with returning Committee Chairs and making ourselves known to new leadership. Identifying those in positions to help us, what points of agreement exist and who we need to win over to our way of thinking are at the top of our to-do list.
To prepare for 2021, the Hardwood Federation Board of Directors provided both the Trump and Biden campaign teams a list of our priorities for the new Congress. This list serves as our starting point for advocacy efforts and will also be shared with Senate and House leaders. Unexpected issues will inevitably arise, but these are the issues we hope to focus on over the next year. The Federation Board recommends that the new Administration:
- Enter into international agreements that promote free and fair global trade systems, grow the demand for U.S. Hardwoods around the world, and avoid the kinds of punitive retaliatory tariffs that have devastated the U.S. Hardwood industry.
- Maintain and increase USDA funding that supports growing global markets for U.S. Hardwood and Hardwood products, specifically USDA’s Foreign Market Development Program and Market Access Program.
- Implement policies that promote and foster strong domestic markets for U.S. Hardwood and Hardwood products including new funding to research the environmental and home health benefits of Hardwood products.
- Support public and private green building initiatives by extending a sustainable tax credit to building and construction projects, including U.S. wood products, used in these projects.
- Increase government purchases of U.S. structural and finished wood products for federal building and transportation projects and for U.S. military truck beds.
- Recognize the benefits and fully fund the programs that support active forest management on federal and private forest lands, including sustainable timber harvest, restoration, maintenance of forest roads and fire prevention. These programs are vital to the health and sustainability of not only the forests themselves, but also the surrounding communities.
- Finalize the EPA rule recognizing combustion of biomass derived from sustainably managed forests as carbon neutral. Forest based biomass is renewable and sustainable and bioenergy produced from biomass helps keep our forestlands as forests and not converted to other non-growing uses.
- Expand the pass-through deduction enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and make it permanent. Most businesses in the Hardwood sector are organized as S-Corporations and other pass-through structures. The TCJA provided favorable tax treatment for large companies that are eligible for C-Corp status, but small and medium sized businesses are taxed at a higher rate. This has created an unlevel playing field that skews against main street businesses in rural communities.
- Fully fund and enforce the Lacey Act, which was amended in 2008 to combat illegal logging around the globe. The Hardwood Federation actively supported this amendment and is committed to fair, equitable and legal trade in forest products.
Elections are a powerful reminder of why organizations like the Hardwood Federation exist and are important to you as a leader in the hardwood industry. Although elected officials, administrations and political appointees may come and go, it is important to have consistent representation in Washington, DC to represent your interest no matter who sits in the White House or speaks from the House or Senate floor. We remain dedicated to pushing Federal policies that help sustain and grow the Hardwood industry in the United States and look forward to reconnecting with returning members of congress and educating those new to Washington.
