Senate Recesses Following Infrastructure, Budget Votes; House to Return Early to Washington

You Auto Know 08/09/21

Though August in Washington is typically sleepy, the last few weeks saw a flurry of activity by the U.S. Senate and the Biden Administration, including quite a few items with significance for the auto industry. The following is a wrap up of the most important news that You Auto Know about:

Infrastructure

Early this week the Senate passed the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF) in a bipartisan vote of 69-30. The legislation includes $7.5 billion for the installation of a network of EV charging stations nationwide, less than the administration initially sought.  The IIJA also included a Buy America provision, which would require that only American-made products, such as steel and iron, can be used in federally funded infrastructure projects. 

The legislation also touches on several auto safety-related items, including setting standards on things like keyless ignition systems and impaired driving technology, as well as requiring all new vehicles to be equipped with new safety technologies, such as forward collision and lane departure warnings.

Budget Resolution

The $3.5 trillion Budget Resolution passed along party lines by the Senate this week became somewhat of a catchall for a wide variety of policy issues.  Some of the most pertinent include:

·       a non-binding resolution, which passed by a narrow margin, that would limit EV tax credits to those making less than $100,000 and would ban tax credits on EVs costing more than $40,000,

·       a provision that would instruct the Senate Finance Committee to consider how to use a “carbon polluter import fee,”

·       a non-binding resolution that would protect “step up in basis,” a tax provision that protects heirs from paying a hefty tax should they decide to sell inherited assets.

·       and $95 billion for transportation, a portion of which could be used for EV purchase incentives.

Though non-binding, the EV resolution, which passed with some Democratic votes, could indicate challenges ahead for the Democratic proposal which would add an additional $5,000 to the current $7,500 tax credit, with $2,500 unfairly favoring union-built vehicles.  House Democratic Leadership has announced that House will return to Washington the week of August 23 to consider the budget measure.

Emissions

Last week the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and DOT proposed even tougher than expected new emissions rules.  The new standards would mandate fleet-wide vehicle mileage of 52 mpg by 2026, up from 40 mpg this year. The EPA will be accepting public comments on the new rules until late September. The notice came shortly after an announcement by the Detroit automakers and the UAW at a White House event in which they pledged that 40-50% of vehicles sold in the U.S. would be electric by 2030.  No international automakers were included.  Read what AIADA Chairman Steve Gates had to say about that in his most recent blog post.

ICYMI

In the latest installment from Dealers Make An Impact, Ashley Burch, AIADA Sr. Advocacy & Grassroots Manager, discusses AIADA’s Dealer Visit Program, its importance to AIADA’s mission on Capitol Hill, and why now is a great time to sign up to host legislators at dealerships.

Sign Up for a Dealer Visit Today!

Dealers Make An Impact is an effort to encourage dealers, dealership employees, and industry partners to engage with Congress to show how Dealers Make An Impact on their communities, and how, even without flying in to DC, dealers can make an impact on decisions in Washington right from their dealership floor.  

Quote of the Week

To be clear, it’s not that I don’t believe in an electric future or climate-saving technology. I want to sell what Americans want to buy, and I know the time is now for powerful leadership on climate change. What makes me doubt the success of Biden’s plan is his unyielding adherence to the old-school politics of generations past. He appears to have zero interest in working collaboratively with non-union manufacturers, no matter how many good-paying American jobs they generate or how critical they are to achieving his zero-emissions vision.”

            -Steve Gates, AIADA Chairman (www.aiada.org)

Friday Feel Good

Here are just a few recent example of how the international nameplate auto industry is doing good in communities across the U.S.:

West Houston Subaru and West Houston Volkswagen in Texas have teamed up with their neighbor, Citizens for Animal Protection (CAP), to support their mission of finding homes for Houston's stray and unwanted animal population. Every year they help to adopt about 1000 animals by sponsoring the adoptions. They also sponsor CAP as their home town charity through Subaru's Share the Love Campaign. Last year alone West Houston contributed $65,329.36 and to date they have made 11,948 pet adoptions possible.

Kevin Reilly, owner and president of Alexandria Hyundai in Virginia, has long been active in Hyundai Hope on Wheels, a charity funded by Hyundai and its dealers that directs a portion of every sale to pediatric cancer research. Inspired by “hand-on” car contests typically held at auto shows, he convinced the Washington-area Hyundai dealers to change up the contest to feature local children’s hospital staffers as the contestants, and make a substantial contribution to pediatric cancer research. The staffers who maintain contact with the car receive keys and the lucky staffer whose key starts the car wins it. The winner’s institution gets 60 percent of a $100,000 pot to fund its research, with the runner-up getting the rest.

We want to hear more about how you are supporting your local community – tweet us at @AIADA_News and use the hashtag #DealersDoGood.

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