advocacy

Weekly Legislative Update
March 1, 2021

TIA Maps Out Estate Tax Repeal Plans

TIA been working to help add as many cosponsors as possible before introduction of the Death Tax Repeal Act and we thank the groups that have signed on so far to our coalition letter supporting the bill.

While we’ve yet to see what form it will take, we expect that Democrats with control of Congress and the administration will at a minimum propose rolling back some of the estate tax relief from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act this year.

In his campaign tax plan, President Biden proposed reverting to 2009 law for estate and gift taxes – a unified $3.5 million exemption and 45% rate, which would triple the number of families subject to the death tax according to CBO.

Last Congress, Senate Democrats proposed an infrastructure package partly funded by rolling back the TCJA doubling of the estate tax exemption and in 2019 House Democrats passed a disaster relief package partially funded by rolling back the TCJA estate tax improvements. In our estimation that makes this “tax the rich” pay-for easy for Democrats to take back off the shelf.

As you all know, moderate Senate Democrats, including Sens. Manchin and Sinema, will play an outsized role in determining what tax increases can pass the Senate through budget reconciliation.

Both Sens. Manchin and Sinema have supported full repeal of the death tax in the past. We worked hard to secure Senator Manchin’s death tax repeal pledge which we’ve already shared again with his staff, along with our coalition letter supporting repeal.

TIA will be calling on both of these Senators and other moderate Democrats to reject any tax package that reverses the estate tax relief in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

TIA is gearing up to oppose other potential tax hikes that make it harder for family businesses to pass to the next generation.

Our TIA priorities for 2021 include not only opposing death tax hikes and supporting repeal but pushing back against many of these more creative ways to hike taxes on successful family businesses.

TIA Priorities for 2021

  • Oppose any roll back in estate, gift, and generation skipping taxes
  • Oppose any stealth death tax hike via the elimination of section 2704 valuation adjustments for family businesses, through both legislation and regulations
  • Oppose a new capital gains tax due at death, taxing capital gains as ordinary income, and new “wealth taxes”
  • Oppose the elimination of or changes to step up in basis law
  • Oppose any technical changes to the estate tax that make it harder for family businesses to plan for succession
  • Continue to support full and permanent death tax repeal legislation through our allies Senator Thune and Congressmen Jason Smith/Sanford Bishop
  • Support legislative efforts the make the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act individual tax changes permanent

Active Winter for TIA Government Affairs

The first two months of 2021 have kept the Tire Industry Association (TIA) busy on the legislative affairs front. As many state legislatures opened in January, the association has been reviewing bills that have been introduced that may impact the tire industry and tire dealers. Further, TIA has been continuously managing the covid-19 pandemic response through actions on both the state and federal levels.

January's legislative affairs efforts included:

  • Taking part in a Save LIFO coalition meeting.?More information about LIFO can be found here;
  • Taking part in a scrap tire coalition call with the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA);
  • Meeting with ASTM International (formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials) to discuss policy priorities and agendas for 2021 and ways in which the two organizations can collaborate; and
  • Participating in a Family Business Estate Tax Coalition meeting. TIA continues to be active members of the coalition, which works to eliminate estate taxes.

February has brought TIA’s opposition to several crumb rubber and extended producer responsibility (EPR) bills in New York, Connecticut and Maryland. This month, TIA also has:

  • Taken part in a roundtable with Congressional staff to discuss highway bill proposals;
  • Taken part in a virtual workshop on behalf of WBCSD’s Tire Industry Project (TIP) and the USTMA on End-of-Life Tire (ELT) management;
  • Taken part in a Scrap Tire Value Chain Group coalition call with USTMA; and
  • Met with Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA-1) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to discuss the association’s opposition to the federal minimum wage increase.

Also in February, the TIA Government Affairs Committee and the TIA Advisory Council held meetings to discuss the pending California program for energy efficient replacement tires for passenger cars and light-duty trucks.

So far in 2021, TIA has met with the following members of Congress on webcam:

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.); Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo-8); Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.-2); Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.); Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.); Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.-8); Rep. David Trone (D-Md.-6); Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.-1); Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md-3); Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.-7); Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.-5); Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.-4); Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.-2); Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.); Rep. Van Drew (R-N.J.-2); Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.-6); Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.); Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.-4); Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.-2); Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.-11); Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.-1); and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

TIA also looks forward to the opportunity to collaborate with the newly appointed Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on important highway transportation initiatives to ensure roadway investment is a top priority, make roads safer and less congested and advance the interests of the tire industry.


TIA Participates in Highway Roundtable with Congressional Staff

On February 10th, TIA took part in a Highway Users roundtable discussion with key Congressional staff focused on perspectives on the 117th Congress and transportation policy. Guest speakers examined the transportation reauthorization and the path forward from the House and Senate perspective.

Key Takeaways:

  • Next priority for Congress is the President’s Build Back Better initiative;
  • Possibility of addressing the Highway Trust Fund and user fees in a second reconciliation package;
  • The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is looking for feedback on H.R. 2;
  • Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee held a hearing on February 24th on Build Back Better;
  • Senate EPW Committee will be soliciting priorities from committee members and other Senators for the reauthorization bill this month;
  • Memorial Day is the goal to get the highway bill out of the EPW Committee.

TIA thanks the Congressional speakers for participating and sharing their valuable insights.