GAC Report: A Flurry of Activity on Capitol Hill

A Flurry Of Activity on Capitol Hill

By Amber Peoples and Blake Lincoln

There has been a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill since our last quarterly report, marked by the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, known more widely as the bipartisan infrastructure passage (BIF). The House of Representatives approved the Senate-crafted infrastructure passage on November 5, after progressive Democrats agreed to back it in exchange for swift passage of the tax-and-spend Build Back Better Act (BBB). President Biden has since signed the BIF and appointed former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu as the czar responsible for distributing the funds. Some Republicans are facing backlash from their base, as ultimately 19 senators and 13 House members joined all Democrats in voting to pass the landmark bill.

With the beginning of the new year, Democrats are focused on the daunting task of passing BBB, although this is a political goal rather than a procedural necessity. On November 19, two weeks after the passage of BIF, the House — on a party-line vote — passed BBB and sent the budget bill to the Senate. Upon BBB’s arrival in the Senate, senators began to probe the bill’s content to guarantee eligibility for the reconciliation process under the Byrd rule. Senators have already held several meetings with the senate Parliamentarian on the bill’s content and are questioning whether some spending provisions are allowed the privileges that come with a budget bill. Before the holidays, Leader Chuck Schumer indicated to fellow Senate Democrats that the Senate would vote on a revised version of the BBB in early 2022.

A key vote in the BBB, Sen. Joe Manchin has stated that presently, he is not participating in negotiations with the White House. In December, the moderate senator surprised Democratic lawmakers by announcing his refusal to sign the economic and climate package, saying “I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation.” The move solicited very serious backlash from the White House, which stated in a release that Manchin’s comments

With the beginning of the new year, Democrats are focused on the daunting task of passing BBB, although this is a political goal rather than a procedural necessity.

“represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position, and a breach of his commitments to the President and the Senator’s colleagues in the House and Senate.”

Another ongoing battle with lawmakers and the White House is Biden’s vaccine mandate. On December 8, Sens. Manchin and Jon Tester joined forces with Republicans to overturn the regulation by a vote of 52-48. This move has been described by many as largely symbolic and the mandate will likely not see a vote in the House. The future of the mandate was left in the hands of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which voted on December 17 to dissolve the stay put in place by the Fifth Circuit in November of 2021. As expected, several petitioners immediately filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the Sixth Circuit Court’s decision. The Supreme Court is holding a special session in January to decide the fate of Biden’s orders. Until that decision is made, employers are expected to comply with the ETS requirements, with OSHA stating that it will begin issuing citations for noncompliance on Jan. 10, 2022. Testing requirements will not begin being cited until Feb. 9, 2022.

Stay Involved, Donate to the AKFCF PAC

Contributing to the AKFCF Political Action Committee (PAC) is the best way to support the election and re-election committees of pro-business Members of Congress who share the same concerns as franchisees. The money raised in the PAC goes directly to the campaign of those running for Congress, or incumbent members seeking re-election.

You may make your 2022 AKFCF PAC donation online by visiting our portal on the AKFCF website in the Government Affairs tab.

For more information, please contact your regional GAC representative or Amber Peoples of Polaris Consulting, LLC (apeoples@ polariswdc.com).

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AKFCF – Political Action Committee (PAC)

The AKFCF created a PAC to make sure our voices are heard in Washington, D.C. The AKFCF Government Affairs Committee and the AKFCF PAC Board of Directors would like to thank the franchisees listed below for their contributions this year to the AKFCF PAC. Each quarter, we list the names of the franchisees who have supported the PAC at time of print as a token of our appreciation. This list is all the latest contributions, broken down by region. We encourage you to please join your fellow franchisees and support your AKFCF PAC. For information on how you can become involved, or if you don’t see your name and should, please contact Leslie Sharp, treasurer of AKFCF GAC/PAC at lcsharp4133@icloud.com.

Greater Midwest

Dale Black Joan Bowling Heather Dexter Alessio DiFranco Douglas Elish Timothy Fitzpatrick Glen Flewelling Nancy Fox Anne Goodnight Lesley Hottinger Michael Houston John Jefferis Ben Johnson Michael Kulp Stephanie Kulp Mark Lambos James Mayer James McKenzie James Mikula John Moroney Diana Myers Troy Saunders Kevin Schlutz Susan Schmidt Douglas Smith Justin Stewart Scott Vorrath Nanette Walker Chris Walker Peter Wasilevich Bob Widder

Northeast

Ray Aley Cheryl Aley John Arsenault Jeff Bower Charmain Bower Anthony Buford Tony Cameron Joseph Cavegn Tommy Cecconi Keith Cole Stacey Dion David Evans Frederick Gallant Sherry Houston Michael Houston Robert Rianna Larry Starkey

Northwest

Ralph Harman Jeannie Harman James Jackson Fred Jackson Marvin Jorgensen Cindy Jorgensen Stephen Prendiville Todd Stewart Barry Thiriot Calvin White

Southeast

John Brown Matthew Druten Barry Dubin Austin Felker Sandra Felker Eric Felker Chris Fowler Michael Galloway Kirk Gillam Matthew Hansen Tim Harris L. Inman Hodges Michael Houston Howard Killgo Doris Lewis Kristin Mana Angela Ogle Johnny Outlaw Terry Rogers Dan Rosenbalm Linda Rosenbalm Gurpreet Sandhu Leslie Sharp Bill and Bonny Shelton Kelly Shoffner Madison Shoffner Jeffery Wallace Kent Weir Richard (Dick) West William (Bill) West Gary (Steve) West Charles (Tim) West Earl Wilson

Southern California

Amjad Chaudhry Shahid Chaudhry Israel Diaz Piyarali Hashim Zubair Kazi Patricia McBrayer Raziel Valiente

Southwest

Debra Ashmore Krystal Burge Scott Duke Anthony Lovato Kyle Ogden Stan Richardson Brandon Robertson Kelli Spring