Palmer gives Washington update at multi-chamber event
As information and news stories abound coming out of Washington, D.C., keeping up with what’s going on can be overwhelming. On Wednesday, April 4, however, Rep. Gary Palmer visited the Birmingham area to provide a Washington update on what could affect his constituents.
Palmer, who represents Alabama’s Sixth Congressional District, spoke at the Birmingham Marriott as part of Eggs and Issues, an event co-hosted by the Greater Shelby and South Shelby chambers of commerce as well as other area chambers.
A main focus of his speech was the economy, as well as what changes have taken place under President Donald Trump.
“What really got the economy growing again is the work that the administration and congress got started on regulatory reform,” Palmer said.
Palmer said that under President Barack Obama’s administration, “the economy never grew greater in any single year than 1.8 percent,” adding that it was the first time in history that a two-term administration hadn’t had economic growth of at least 2 percent in one year. According to Gross Domestic Product information from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, however, GDP growth reached -2.8 percent in 2009 and then fluctuated between 1.5 and 2.9 percent over the remaining years in Obama’s administration. In 2017, growth was at 2.3 percent.
When it comes to encouraging new businesses to open and helping existing businesses remain open, Palmer said he sees uncertainty over regulations and tax policy as tying businesses down.
“At the beginning of the 115th Congress, at the beginning of the Trump administration, the first thing we did was start rolling back regulations,” Palmer said.
The Congressional Review Act was used to repeal Obama-era executive orders, Palmer said, and the Trump administration ordered agencies to review regulations. Ones that were obsolete, duplications or contradictions were removed, he said, and those changes were not met with as much resistance as was expected.
“I thought we would really get some pushback, but not only did we not get resistance, we got enthusiastic support,” Palmer said.
Simplifying regulations, removing contradictions and streamlining the permitting process are things Palmer said he believes will lead to economic growth. Tax reform, he added, can also help.
Lowering the corporate income tax from 35 percent to 21 percent can prevent the loss of more corporations to countries with lower tax rates, Palmer said, but it is important to remember that tax policy should not be unpredictable.
“The key thing is, as important as the rates are, the single most important thing in tax policy is predictability,” Palmer said. “Because money, like water, will always seek the path of least resistance.”
Prior to this reform, “we had a tax code for a 1986 economy,” Palmer said. It is important to not wait 30-plus years to reform the tax code, he said, because it will not line up with what the economy needs.
Palmer also discussed the nation’s natural resources and how those could potentially affect the economy and infrastructure.
“If we drive our advantages in energy, and we are an energy superpower, there’s no question ... we will be more than competitive,” he said.
The country has a “two-legged” stool in some Asian countries, he said. The U.S. has an economic alliance and military alliance with these countries, but needs to add an energy alliance as well, he said, citing India as an example.
“We’re in a prime position to really strengthen our relationships with these countries,” he said. “… We’re floating in oil and natural gas.”
By evaluating royalties on federal energy resources and bidding that out in the market place, Palmer said, they could direct a portion of those revenues into infrastructure funding.
Infrastructure is a “critical issue” for the U.S., he said, as it can directly affect quality of life for communities. One issue, however, is wasting money on drawn out processes and projects, Palmer said. As projects are delayed, the cost adds up over the years.
“That eats up our infrastructure money and that’s got to stop,” Palmer said.
Other important ways to improve the country’s economic situation, Palmer said, involved stopping improper payments on taxes and with Medicaid and continuing to work on tax reform. A civil dialogue on issues of contention, he said, is also important.
“We’re going to have to make some tough decisions. The fiscal future is cloudy, maybe stormy,” Palmer said. “We’re about 78-80 percent debt to GDP right now. The Congressional Budget Office projects that in another 30 years, it will be 150 percent debt to GDP. … That’s the bad news. The good news is we have the ability to correct our course.”