What Happens In Washington Doesn't Stay In Washington!

What Washington Impact should green industry employers expect from the new Congress and the Obama Administration?

ANLA’s professional staff and outside experts advocate for the green industry on an array of federal legislative and regulatory issues. ANLA’s labor law expert Monte Lake, environmental issues expert Laurie Flanagan, and tax and small business guru John Satagaj, as well as Craig Regelbrugge, ANLA vice president for government relations, offer the following thoughts and analysis on what the green industry may expect from the new 112th Congress.

Tax and Small Business Issues

At a minimum, with a safe Republican majority in the House in 2011, the business community will not have to play defense full time. Initiatives such as the so-called “card-check” legislation regarding union organizing will not be considered by the House.

It is possible that modest positive business tax initiatives could be passed by Congress. If they are willing to take small bites, the Republican majority in the House can lead the way and we may be able to get the Senate to follow suit. A good example would be repealing the Form 1099 requirement. We would not be surprised if the House Ways and Means Committee made it one of its first actions.

We think the temptation for the new House majority will be to pass an estate tax repeal bill. There will be those that want repeal and those that want top rate relief. It would probably be better if they passed a reasonable higher exemption of $5 million per individual or at least the $3.5 million that was in place in 2010. There is a lot of sympathy for some relief in the Senate and it would be a quick negotiation with the Senate. Either way, the chances of some estate tax relief in the 112th Congress has risen dramatically. The key on this will be Representative Dave Camp (R-MI) who is expected to be the Chair of the Ways and Means Committee.

Health care reform repeal is unlikely. Even if both chambers of Congress were to be controlled by the Republicans, the Constitution would prevent that with its two-thirds veto override requirement. The likely outcome of the election is the House Republicans can pick their spots in the appropriations process to slow down some aspects of health care reform. They will still have to negotiate with the Senate and the President, so major changes are not likely. So the next stop for health care reform is what will happen in the courts. It probably will go all the way to the Supreme Court.