BCA's Washington Briefing
follow us on facebook follow us on twitter follow us on youtube May 8, 2015

BCA-BACKED BILL WITH POTENTIAL TO CREATE 1.9 MILLION AMERICAN JOBS GETS APPROVAL BY SENATE COMMITTEE

 

The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs on Wednesday voted 12-1 to approve S. 280, the "Federal Permitting Improvement Act 2015."

 

The bill is supported by a U.S. Chamber of Commerce coalition including the Business Council of Alabama. The BCA joined more than 302 groups throughout the country in signing a letter urging Congressional leaders to fix the broken federal permitting process.

 

Also Wednesday, U.S. Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue published commentary regarding the broken federal permitting process for critical energy and infrastructure projects.

 

The piece included an infographic showing the difference in present and past permitting delays. 

 

The 2010 Project No Project study cites more than 350 projects that were cancelled, delayed, or litigated indefinitely during the permitting process.

 

The legislation is important because it will streamline environmental permits and approvals for development projects in a timely and efficient manner. Millions of jobs are not created when projects are stalled or cancelled because of a dysfunctional permitting process that that allows limitless challenges by opponents of growth.

 

The Chamber said that 351 stalled energy projects in one 2010 study had a total economic value of over $1 trillion and represented 1.9 million American jobs that were not created.
ALABAMA SUES ARMY CORPS OVER WATER BLOCKAGES

 

Alabama has filed a lawsuit challenging a U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's operating manual for the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basis.

 

The Business Council of Alabama in its 2015 Federal Legislative Agenda supports ensuring that Alabama has adequate water for municipal and industrial needs, navigation, energy production, economic development, irrigation, and recreational uses.

 

Governor Robert Bentley announced the lawsuit's filing on Thursday. He said the manual governs the way the federal government, through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, operates dams on several rivers that flow from Georgia into Alabama.

 

"The flow of water through the ACT Basin is vital to the economy and environment of Alabama," Bentley said. "This manual will decrease the quality of water in our State, which will hurt our citizens. It will also adversely impact the flow of water into our State. It prioritizes water recreation on lakes in Georgia at the expense of hydroelectric power generation in Alabama, which will hurt jobs and the economy. Therefore, on behalf of Alabama, I am requesting that the federal government adopt a lawful manual that respects Alabama's interests."

 

The lawsuit alleges that the new manual allows the federal government to diminish the quality of water in Alabama to the detriment of all Alabama citizens and to allow the unlawful hold of water at a Georgia dam for the purposes of promoting recreation there rather than releasing the water so it can generate hydroelectric power in Alabama and serve other important purposes the law requires. In taking these drastic steps, the federal government has failed to issue an accurate environmental-impact statement that discloses the substantial harm its actions will cause to the Alabama environment, the lawsuit alleges.


The lawsuit is filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT 

U.S. Chamber Applauds Alabama's New Manufacturing Protections

BUSINESS WIRE (Rickard 5/4) "Lisa A. Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), issued the following statement today applauding Governor Robert Bentley for signing into law a bill (SB 80) to correct a 2014 Alabama Supreme Court ruling holding drug makers liable for products that they did not manufacture.

 

"We also applaud the Business Council of Alabama's work on this law to uphold the commonsense principle that you are only responsible for your own products, not those of your competitors. Holding manufacturers liable for products that they didn't make isn't fair and marks a steep departure from bedrock legal principles. That is why courts throughout the country have rejected the flawed logic adopted in the court's decision. ILR seeks to promote civil justice reform through legislative, political, judicial, and educational activities at the global, national, state, and local levels."

Study: Policy Changes Might Help Encourage Capital Investment

Manufacturing.net (Szal 5/6) "A new report argues that tax and regulatory changes could alleviate lagging capital investment in the U.S. over the past 15 years. The study from the Aspen Institute and the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation noted that gross private domestic investment increased by 3.9 percent between 2007 and 2014 - less than half of the 8.7 percent increase in real gross domestic product over that span.

 

"The report suggested that the nation's tax and regulatory climate, along with global economic uncertainty, could be deterring investment opportunities and entrepreneurialism in the U.S., while global competition - particularly in manufactured goods - eroded domestic companies' market share. The study recommended an overhaul of the nation's corporate tax structure, which should include a provision allowing businesses to write off their capital investments, as well as regulatory reform that eases companies' ability to form new businesses.

"The National Association of Manufacturers and the American Council for Capital Formation helped sponsor the study, along with Dover Corp., Madison Industries, Parker Hannifin Corp. and Snap-on Inc."
PROUD PARTNERS OF

US Chamber of Commerce   National Association of Manufacturers
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
Sixth District
 U. S. Rep. Gary Palmer
202.225.4921

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