REMINDER: Make Your Voice Heard On Infrastructure And Taxes

As Connecting the Dots reported last week, Congress now has set a date certain for final U.S. House passage of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that the U.S. Senate already has approved. Under an agreement between House moderates and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the chamber must consider this legislation by September 27, 2021.

Now more than ever, leaders and employees in the industrial metals sector need to make their voices heard — especially since lawmakers also are set to vote on a budget reconciliation bill that will raise taxes on businesses and families. MSCI member company employees and leaders can make their voices heard on infrastructure investment by using the American Society of Civil Engineers’ portal here.

Want to know what to say to lawmakers? Click here for additional information about how the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill will help business operations in every state, and remember to check out MSCI’s infrastructure website, www.build-now.org. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also has explained how the infrastructure bill will help address climate change. Click here to read that article.

While MSCI asks it member company employees and leaders to call their lawmakers in support of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure legislation, it also urges members to tell their senators and representatives to oppose the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation that Congress also will consider soon.

As a reminder, this legislation contains several tax increases that will have a devastating impact on the industrial metals sector and the broader U.S. economy. According to research from the National Association of Manufacturers, for example, these new levies could destroy at least one million U.S. jobs in just two years. Additionally, the S-Corp Association estimates that these tax increases will cost U.S. businesses and families around $1.75 trillion.

The new taxes also could be coupled with other destructive policies like enacting anti-worker Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. (Click here to read more about the PRO Act.) Indeed, MSCI and other business trade associations have heard congressional Democrats are currently writing legislative text that will allow civil monetary penalties for violations of the National Labor Relations Act, a key part of the PRO Act. Additional information about this potential provision is not yet available. Stay tuned to Connecting the Dots as this topic develops.

With both the House and Senate so narrowly divided, MSCI asks that its member company employees and leaders contract their members of Congress to ask that they oppose the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation. There are several ways to do so, including:

• Calling your lawmakers directly. Contact information for U.S. senators is here. Contact information for U.S. House lawmakers is here.
• Using the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s website to send a letter directly to individual senators and members of Congress.
• Taking action through the Coalition to Protect American Workers.

Business and constituent efforts already are having an impact. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a key swing vote in the U.S. Senate, last week wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal that asked congressional leaders to hit the “pause” button on the $3.5 trillion bill. Sen. Manchin said he would not vote for the measure, questioned the price tag of the proposal, and said it could increase inflation. Subscribers can read the article here.