How The New Congressional Makeup Will Affect The Pest Control Industry
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Date:
Tue, 10 Dec 2002 11:02:52 -0500
From:
Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
How The New Congressional Makeup Will Affect The Pest Control Industry
By Brad Harbison
12/9/2002
URL: http://www.pctonline.com/news/news.asp?ID=3D1527/
WASHINGTON - The November congressional elections, which gave Republicans majority control of both houses of Congress, is generally being viewed as good news for the pest control industry.
The GOP historically has supported small business owners such as pest control operators.
"On fiscal issues and regulatory issues in general, even for Democrats, it's hard to deny that Republican control in both houses is beneficial to PCOs," said Bob Rosenberg, director of government affairs, National Pest Management Association (NPMA).
However, a secondary effect of the November election could be cause for concern for the pest control industry. Rosenberg said that Senate Democrats, looking to upcoming elections to regain the majority, will focus on important "wedge issues" to attack the Republicans. One of the issues Democrats likely will attack Republicans on is the environment.
"What happens is that the Republicans will be afraid to cast votes against certain environmental issues," Rosenberg said. "So the bottom line is Republican control of Congress is good for fiscal reasons, but on environmental issues it is a little more ambiguous."
LAUTENBERG ELECTION MIGHT NOT BE GOOD NEWS. One of the more interesting outcomes of the past election was for the New Jersey Senate seat that became available after Sen. Robert Torricelli chose not to run for re-election.
Torricelli co-authored the School Environmental Protection Act (SEPA), an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). SEPA was pesticide legislation designed to set safety standards for the use of toxic pesticides in and around public schools. Torricelli was initially viewed as an industry adversary, but Rosenberg said he was receptive to feedback for the pest management industry.
"We had made our peace with Torricelli and found that he was someone we could work with," Rosenberg said. "It took us a while to get there but once we got there we found him to be a man of his word. He did what he said he would do and honored his agreements."
Of greater concern for Rosenberg is Torricelli's replacement, Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who defeated Douglas Forrester (R-N.J.) in New Jersey's Senate race. In 1997, the House passed a bill that exempted PCOs from Haz Mat requirements for small quantities of pesticides and Lautenberg was the only member of the House or Senate in opposition of the bill.
"It's normally hard to find instances when a single member of Congress hurt you because that's not the way Congress works. In Lautenberg's case you can," Rosenberg said.
LANDRIEU WINS RE-ELECTION. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), a past supporter of the pest control industry who filed SEPA, won a tough re-election battle over Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell.
Landrieu defeated Terrell in a special run-off election held Saturday, Dec. 7. Unofficial returns had Landrieu with 643,359 votes, or 52 percent, to 603,293 for Terrell, according to the Associated Press.Landrieu carried 35 of the state's 64 parishes.
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), a past supporter of the pest control industry who filed the School Environmental Protection Act (SEPA), won a tough re-election battle over Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell.
Landrieu received 46 percent of the vote in Louisiana's unique open primary Nov. 5, but she needed a majority to win. The three major Republican candidates won more than half the vote, led by Terrell, the state's election commissioner.
During her term, Landrieu has served on the Senate Appropriations Committee, helping to keep language harmful to the pest management industry out of appropriations bills and she also played a very aggressive role with SEPA.
"In this last two sessions of Congress there probably isn't any member of the House or Senate that has been more helpful to the pest management industry than Mary Landrieu," said Bob Rosenberg, director of government affairs, National Pest Management Association (NPMA). "We probably would have had to go a whole different direction with SEPA if she had not been there. She changed the face of that issue entirely by her personal involvement."
SEPA was not included in the final version of H.R. 1, the Better Education for All Students and Teachers Act or in the final version of the farm bill. Both bills were passed last year.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS. More than 90 percent of House incumbents were re-elected in the November election.
NPMA-supported Tim Holden (D-Pa.) won central Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District race by a mere 2 points over Republican George Gekas. Both Holden and Gekas were incumbents pitted against each other due to census redistricting.
Rosenberg said NPMA was disappointed to lose "industry friendly" House incumbents, Karen Thurman (D-Fla.) and Ronnie Shows (D-Miss.). Thurman lost Florida's 5th Congressional District race to Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) while Shows lost Mississippi's 3rd Congressional District race to Chip Pickering (R-Miss.).
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