November 2019 Volume 1

WASHINGTON UPDATE

reason to find some common ground and pass a bill. Though we see this as a low probability, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility, and it would be a huge boon to the forging industry. Other Possibilities/Potentials (and their likelihoods) • Background checks/gun violence legislation (low possibility) • Cannabis banking bill (high possibility) • Disaster supplemental appropriations bill (low possibility) • Higher education reauthorization (low possibility) • Judicial confirmations (high possibility) • Pipeline safety reauthorization (medium possibility) • Prescription drugs/surprise billing (low possibility, but see previous section on USMCA) • Data privacy legislation (low possibility) • Russia sanctions (medium possibility) • Tax extenders/tax technical corrections (medium possibility) Even absent impeachment, all the legislative priorities listed out here would be a heavy lift. But the need for these priorities is great, and public opinion surveys time and again show that the American public wants to see policy progress made on these and many more issues. Interestingly enough, as of this writing, support for an impeachment process to investigate potential wrongdoing by President Trump now stands nearly even, with 46 percent of Americans saying Congress should conduct impeachment proceedings and 43 percent saying they should not. Indeed, we have entered historic times. Suffice to say, there is a lot going on.

This is a good sign—it shows Democrats are willing to get to yes. We think an opportunity exists here if the White House reopens the agreement and amends the data exclusivity provision for biologic drugs. The current agreement allows for 10 years; Democrats would like it to be seven. This shouldn’t be too controversial for Canada or Mexico, as their current laws are already lower than this threshold. If this were to happen, Speaker Pelosi and congressional Democrats could claim victory not just on USMCA, but also on doing something to lower the cost of prescription drugs, which right now ranks as one of the top issues on the minds of Americans. For the president, it gives him an elusive legislative victory. And for all parties, it can show the American people that its government is delivering on major priorities that have bipartisan support. Robocall Prevention Legislation. Now admittedly, robocalling does not have a direct affect on our industry. But as cell phone users, you’d certainly be happy if something could be done to curb the amount of robocalls you get. Both houses of Congress have passed bills to do this and are currently working on ironing out their difference to create one cohesive product to send to the president for his signature. Given the consumer-friendly nature of this effort, this seems like something that Congress would want to do amidst the impeachment madness to show a tangible legislative deliverable. Infrastructure (Surface Transportation Reauthorization). The current authorization for the Surface Transportation Act, which is legislation that earmarks funding to be given out to states, municipalities and federal agencies to build infrastructure projects (roads, bridges, airports and the like), runs out on Sept. 30, 2020. Congress must reauthorize or extend funding by then. At the beginning of this year, there was discussion of going beyond this reauthorization and doing a large (read: $1-2 trillion) infrastructure bill; but those negotiations fell part under the weight of the cost and no coherent agreement on how to pay for it. Those disagreements over how to pay for a surface transportation reauthorization bill still exist and will continue to prove difficult. However, the cloud of impeachment may be a compelling enough

Steve Haro is Principal at Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas and can be reached at sharo@mc-dc.com

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2019 20