No images? Click here Welcome back to this week's edition of the Washington Weekly newsletter - bringing you the latest and greatest policy updates from Washington, D.C.GCCA Hosts Successful IN-PERSON 2021 Policy Forum! Last week GCCA hosted a 3-day Policy Forum in Washington, D.C. with over 110 registered attendees. This year’s forum featured speakers such as Senator Mike Braun of Indiana, who discussed the PRO Act, infrastructure, harmful tax proposals impacting businesses and much more. In addition, we had the opportunity to hear directly from Will McIntee, Associate Director of Public Engagement at The White House, who discussed what the Administration is doing to tackle supply chain issues. One of the most exciting and new components of this year’s policy forum was our in-person Congressional Briefing that GCCA and our members hosted on Capitol Hill. GCCA members had the opportunity to brief over 35 staffers from congressional offices on important issues impacting our industry! Thank you to all our members that attended the event. We hope that you enjoyed this year’s programing, and we are already looking forward to hosting you next year! Read our Capitol Hill Briefing One-Pager HERE. CDC Changes Mask Guidance for Vaccinated IndividualsThe US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday, July 27, 2021 changed its masking recommendations as it grows more concerned over the Delta variant of Covid-19, urging vaccinated people in certain areas of the country to resume wearing masks indoors in public areas. CDC now recommends that people in areas with "high" or "substantial" Covid-19 transmission should resume wearing masks indoors. Nearly two-thirds of US counties have high or substantial transmission of Covid-19, according to CDC data; 46% of counties have high transmission and 17% have substantial transmission. Read the full guidance HERE.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal Advances in SenateOn Wednesday, July 28, 2021, the White House and a bipartisan group of Senators finally reached a deal on bipartisan infrastructure legislation, more than a month after tentatively agreeing to a framework for the package. The deal calls for $550 billion of new investments. That includes $110 billion for roads, bridges, and major infrastructure projects, $55 billion in water infrastructure, and $7.5 billion to build out a network of electric vehicle chargers. President Joe Biden’s initial infrastructure plans called for a much larger bill paid for by a mix of corporate tax hikes. This bipartisan agreement is smaller and relies on a different mix of mechanisms to pay for the programs. Roughly half of the new spending would be offset by redirecting $205 billion in unspent pandemic relief funds appropriated in earlier legislation. Another $53 billion in offsets come from unspent unemployment benefits from states that decided to cut-off enhanced benefits early. Hours after the deal was reached, the Senate voted to begin floor debate on the infrastructure measure. The procedural vote, which passed 67-32, drew the support of 17 Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky). |