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Following the signing of the May 2024 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between NEMA, NEMRA, NAED and NECA, the leadership teams from each association, along with Southwire President and CEO Rich Stinson, recently gathered in Washington, D.C., for a strategic planning session. The meeting centered around shared priorities and culminated in visits to Capitol Hill to advocate for key legislative initiatives. The team worked collaboratively on three key issues: workforce development; supply chain optimization; and electrification policy advocacy.
They also had a full slate of meetings with members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and a member of both the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Finance Committee (the chamber’s tax-writing committee.) discussed energy supply and demand, electrification, permitting reform, workforce issues, and the need to maintain a favorable tax environment.
Senator Peter Welch (D-VT), who has been very active on workforce issues and recently participated in an event with the Brookings Institute and NEMA entitled, “The energy transition and workforce development in the U.S.,” also met with the group. Senator Welch expressed his commitment to addressing the workforce shortages faced by the industry.
The MOU partners then met with Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which is responsible for tax policy. Chairman Smith and his committee members have been working on field hearings to understand the need for continuation of pro-business tax policies that impact the associations’ members and evaluating the effectiveness of the tax credits included in the Inflation Reduction Act. This includes the corporate rate; the 199a deduction for pass-through businesses; extension of the full deductibility of the R&D tax credit; and protecting the alternative energy tax credits that incentivize electrification. The group also had the opportunity to impress upon Chairman Smith the importance of maintaining many of the tax credits in the IRA that have been instrumental in advancing the electrification of America.
The association executives and Southwire’s Rich Stinson also met with Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT), to discuss crafting policies that will help young workers consider careers in the trades and was interested to learn what association members are doing to recruit and retain talent.
The final meeting of their day on Capitol Hill was with a meeting with Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. They discussed the need for continued pro-business tax policies established in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
The MOU partners committed to meeting quarterly to further strengthen relationships and continue advancing these shared priorities.