Attendees Bring Pesticide, Business Issues to Capitol Hill

Legislative Day attendees from Virginia.

Legislative Day attendees from North Carolina.

NPMA President Chuck Allgood.

Raleigh Jenkins discussed some of the vector and pest work he and ABC Home and Commercial Services are doing in Haiti.

Bert Putterman discussed Zika and other mosquito control efforts in Puerto Rico.

Orkin's Kevin Smith reviewed some of the company's public health efforts, including treating for ticks.

Kevin Kordek discussed the emotional side of selling his business, A-Active Termite & Pest Control, to Rentokil.

Stuart Aust discussed his role with Anticimex, which purchased his company, Bug Doctor, last year.

More than 400 attended this year's event.

Andrew Bray discussed issues that Legislative Day attendees took to Capitol Hill.

Mark Halperin of Bloomberg TV's 'With All Due Respect' presented in a session sponsored by Dow AgroSciences.

The Ohio delegation plots strategy prior to their visits.

Paul Simons of Dow AgroSciences speaks prior to introducing Mark Halperin.

Attendee Chris Christensen asks Mark Halperin a question.

Joe Wilson spoke about his experience selling to his former, longtime employer Rollins.

Galvin Murphy, Jr., was named the PestVets Veteran of the Year.

Billy Tesh accepts the FMC Legislative Day Award from FMC's Pramod Thota.

FMC's Anrold Ramsey speaks prior to presenting the award to Murphy.

FMC's Pramod Thota is thanked for FMC's sponsorship of Legislative Day by NPMA CEO Dominique Stumpf.

Fox News' Bret Baier gave the keynote luncheon speech, sponsored by FMC.

Wisconsin attendees, along with Washington friend Larry Treleven.

MGK's Steve Gullickson welcomed attendees to the MGK Headquarters on the Hill event.

Gullickson introduced Sen. Marco Rubio.

Marco Rubio spoke as part of the MGK Headquarters on the Hill event.

MGK's Brian Krelitz.

Political analyst Charlie Cook spoke on Tuesday morning in a session sponsored by Control Solutions Inc.

(From l to r): CSI's Ty Ferraro, NPMA's Dominique Stumpf, CSI's Curtis Clark and Tony Gugliuzza.

Curtis Clark of Control Solutions Inc., is thanked for his sponsorship of the Tuesday morning session by NPMA's Andrew Bray.

PCT's Technicians of the Year (l to r) Rob Heisner, Danielle Whitley and J.D. Donaldson, with BASF's Jonathan Sweat.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 400 pest management professionals braved a snowstorm last week to make their voices heard on a variety of pesticide and business issues at NPMA Legislative Day.

This was a milestone year for NPMA Legislative Day as it marked 30 years since the first event, which was attended by about 28 industry professionals. While the Legislative Day programming has changed throughout the years, the centerpiece of the program — members making visits to Capitol Hill — remains the same.

For this year's visits, attendees raised awareness about four pesticide- and business-related issues. In advance of their congressional visits, Andrew Bray, director of public policy, NPMA, and Jim Fredericks, director of technical services, NPMA, reviewed the following issues.

NPDES – An issue on the pest control industry's radar for many years has been the requirement of National Pollutant Discharge and Elimination System (NPDES) permits, which the industry believes place a burden on the pest management industry. Despite the fact that pesticides applied in accordance with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) have already undergone a thorough review during the EPA registration and reregistration processes, NPDES permits are required under the Clean Water Act any time chemical pesticides are used in, over or near Waters of the United States (WOTUS). Bray said recent developments with regards to NPDES permits have been positive. In late February, the House Agriculture Committee approved the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act (H.R. 953), legislation that would eliminate NPDES permits. A counterpart bill in the Senate, the Sensible Environmental Protection Act of 2017 (S. 340) also was introduced. Legislative Day attendees met with their Congressional representatives and encouraged them to support both HR 953 and S. 341.

Lowering the Corporate Tax Rate – The pest control industry has joined other industries in the fight to lower the corporate tax rate. In June 2016, Republicans published “A Better Way for Tax Reform.” Under the bold plan the corporate tax rate would drop from 35 percent to 20 percent. The plan also proposes to lower the S-Corp maximum level to 25 percent. “What that means is corporations are passed through entities meaning you don't pay taxes you pay on your personal income. Currently your personal income can be taxed as high as 38 percent. This tax reform would cap that at 25 percent — just a 13 percent reduction even for S-corps,” Bray said. 

Funding EPA’s OPP – While the pest control industry has somewhat of a love-hate relationship with EPA, the agency’s Office of Pesticide Programs is viewed as vital; it is responsible for registering and reevaluating pesticides. Since 2010, EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs has seen a 25 percent decrease of full-time employees and since 2010 funding has dropped from approximately $143 million to $120 million. This drop in funding has resulted in an underfunded and understaffed office that bogs down the registration and reregistration process of pesticides. Legislative Day attendees asked their congressional reps to reauthorize PRIA (H.R. 1029) and protect OPP funding levels under the new administration.

Modernizing the Endangered Species Act – NPMA is part of a larger group that is pushing to modernize the Endangered Species Act (ESA). NPMA and others believe that the ESA, as currently drafted, is broken. The Department of Interior, specifically the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and National Marine Fisheries Services (collectively the Services), are tasked with implementing the ESA. Specific to the pest control industry, if this group believes that a pesticide going through new registration or registration-review may affect a listed species it may result in a slow-moving consultative process — involving scientific assessments with different standards and expertise — with EPA. NPMA believes this collaborative consultation process is broken and unnecessarily bureaucratic. Currently there is no pending legislation in Congress to address the ESA, so the goal at Legislative Day was for attendees to raise awareness of this issue with their legislators.

Other highlights included:

• Fox News' Bret Baier gave the keynote luncheon speech, sponsored by FMC. Baier made several interesting observations about President Donald Trump from time he has spent with him personally and professionally. Baier said that despite the bumpy first few weeks, “Don’t count him out no matter how bad things get.” One advantage the Trump administration has, Baier noted, is that in 2018 there will be 11 Senators up for re-election in 2018 in states that Trump handily won. Baier said the Republican strategy might be to have Trump spend time in these states encouraging support for issues such as tax reform and support of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.
• Mark Halperin of Bloomberg TV's "With All Due Respect" presented in a session sponsored by Dow AgroSciences. Halperin’s observation of Trump is that there is a “good Trump” and a “bad Trump”  and that is creating a lot of anxiety. From having observed Trump on the campaign trail, he said he thinks what people get the most wrong about Trump was his motivation for running for President. “He ran because he wanted to make America great again – not because he was bored. He didn’t believe that career politicians could get the job done on issues such as trade and tax reform, immigration and regulatory reform.”
• Political analyst Charlie Cook spoke on Tuesday morning in a session sponsored by Control Solutions Inc. Cook said the outcome of the 2016 election can be boiled down to two issues. (1) Voters were disenchanted with Washington. “They all hated Washington and when that happens people will be even more oriented to change.” (2) Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, was a deeply flawed candidate. “She inherited all of her husband’s baggage and none of his charm.”
• Marco Rubio spoke as part of the MGK "Headquarters on the Hill" session. The Florida Senator and 2016 Presidential candidate, praised pest management professionals for the important role they play in protecting public health. Rubio said small municipalities should consider contracting with the private sector for vector work.
• PCT and sponsor BASF recognized this year’s Technicians of the Year: Danielle Whitley, Massey Services (residential category); Rob Heisner, McCloud Services (commercial category); and John “J.D.” Donaldson, Parker Pest Control (termite category). The annual awards, sponsored by BASF Professional & Specialty Solutions, recognize a trio of standout service professionals in the residential, commercial and termite categories (read more about this year's winners). Following the awards presentation, PCT Publisher Dan Moreland reviewed results of the 2017 Business Outlook, a study PCT conducted in partnership with NPMA and BASF.