Adobestock
WASHINGTON - With the Presidential election looming in November, this year’s National Pest Management Association (NPMA) Legislative Day, scheduled for March 10-12, in Washington, D.C., has added significance.
Legislative Day is critical to the success of NPMA member companies in federal policy arenas. It provides PCOs with opportunities to get to know their Senators and Representatives first-hand and ultimately adds to NPMA’s roster of Congressional champions. This helps NPMA with advocacy efforts regardless of the outcome of the 2024 Presidential Election. It is important to have champions elsewhere in government on both sides of the aisle — including in Congress — so that they can advocate directly on the industry’s behalf and influence whichever administration is in place.
Congress has a packed 2024 first quarter agenda. Republicans and Democrats have been working together to secure a pro-growth, pro-worker tax relief package. Republicans, in particular, have a track record for facilitating a more pro-business atmosphere.
“We could see changes in U.S. family and business tax policy, which would be positive for the industry,” said J.D. Darr, director of legislative and regulatory affairs, NPMA.
Further, Congress will be working to fund the government via fiscal year 2024 spending in early March, and the fiscal year 2025 government funding process will simultaneously kickstart. Additionally, the State of the Union is expected on March 7, just days prior to Legislative Day.
All of this work is with an eye towards influencing the executive branch. Whenever Presidential elections occur, change trickles down to EPA. Current administration political staff will turnover or, if it’s a new administration, new political appointees are put into place. Generally speaking, a Republican President in office has contributed to predictability in the pest control industry, as EPA regulations tend to slow down.
Darr said that during the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden NPMA has been “making asks” to EPA to slow down their processes to allow for thoughtful feedback from industry. “There have been situations where NPMA needs more time to engage its member companies to actually see how mitigation measures the agency is proposing would ultimately affect them,” Darr said.
An example of EPA moving quickly under the Biden administration was the agency’s Proposed Interim Decision (PID) on rodenticides during which EPA rejected a comment period extension that NPMA and its members —as well as other coalition groups — requested.
On the flip side, under the Biden administration the Federal Trade Commission has proposed a rule to ban non-competes on the basis that they constitute “unfair methods of competition.” FTC is expected to vote on this ban in April.
Darr stressed that having a Democratic President in office is workable for NPMA. “Regardless of political leadership, most of the work at EPA is shouldered by the hardworking professional staff, which remains the same no matter what political party is in charge,” he said. “NPMA has worked hard for decades to position our association as a credible resource for EPA as they develop regulations regarding the products used by pest professionals. At the end of the day, our goals are the same — to protect public health, food, property, and the environment. They have had their doors open to us and we have been able to engage with them.”
In addition to the Presidential election, there are a number of hotly contested congressional races on the November ballot. Currently, Republicans control the House (222-213) while Democrats control the Senate (51-49).
Regardless of the outcomes of these races, Darr said NPMA and its members will continue to work with key offices on both sides of the aisle they have developed relationships with to ensure they understand the critical services NPMA member companies provide their constituents. “Gone are the days where the Republicans were seen as the only advocate for the PCO,” he said. “We've done a really good job of building relationships with Democratic offices that are eager to hear what we have to say and are willing to spread the good word about the work of the pest control industry.”
FARM BILL. One of the reasons NPMA and its members are closely following the 2024 election is because this Congress intends to re-authorize the Farm Bill, which directs most major federal agricultural policy.
As previously reported by PCT, included in the Farm Bill is language to codify the role of state lead agencies as co-regulators of pesticides alongside EPA. Currently, in 45 states the lead agency (which is usually each state’s department of agriculture) co-regulates pesticides with EPA through longstanding cooperative agreements.
“We don’t always see eye to eye with these agencies, but we’re okay with the process,” Darr said. “We feel like we can weigh in with experts and with government entities who have the appropriate people on staff with scientific expertise (e.g., entomologists, soil scientists, water quality experts) with whom NPMA and our members are able to ‘talk shop with,’ if you will.”
In five states without preemption, localities are able to restrict pesticides. “Those localities often just don’t have the funding to bring on the expertise we need in order to engage with them to make sure that sound science is being prioritized in the regulatory process,” Darr said.
Perhaps the most significant issue for applicators is that in states without preemption, “a technician who services 10 accounts in 10 different political subdivisions may be forced to operate under 10 different sets of rules, which is incredibly burdensome,” Darr said.
At this year’s Legislative Day, attendees will be encouraging their congressional representatives to include preemption in the Farm Bill.
“As for Legislative Day, it's so, so important that our members show up in D.C. I know it's a tiring day, but those eight or nine hours of advocacy work are so important to our industry,” Darr said. “I can run around Capitol Hill all day and tell lawmakers about how great our members are, but at the end of the day it's just me telling that story — and I'm not a member. It’s much more effective when our legislators hear from the men and women running companies and delivering pest control services talk about the important work the industry does.”
Learn more about this year’s Legislative Day at www.NPMAPestWorld.org/LegislativeDay.