May 06, 2015

On April 22-23, 2015, Electralloy added its voice to other member companies from the Forging Industry Association (FIA) as they lobbied lawmakers as part of the FIAís Annual Lobby Day.

More than 20 Forging Industry executives descended upon Capitol Hill to visit over 35 Congressional and Senate Offices to advocate for manufacturing issues important to the Forging Industry. Throughout the day, many vital topics were discussed including comprehensive tax reform, The Death Tax Repeal Act, LIFO, the Ratepayer Protection Act, the burden of excessive regulations, and issues relating to overreach of the EPA regarding ozone regulations.

As always, each FIA member headed into the meetings with the singular goal of encouraging lawmakers to stop regulations that harm American businesses and American jobs.

The Pennsylvania delegation of the FIA was represented by George Currie (Erie Press), Mike Kamnikar (North American Forgemasters) and Jack Simmons (Electralloy).  The delegation visited the offices of Representative Keith Rothfus (PA 12), Representative Glenn Thompson (PA 5), Representative David Joyce (OH 14), Representative Mike Kelly (PA3) and Senator Pat Toomey (PA).  The trio also met with the House Small Business Committee and the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

After a busy and productive day of the lobbying, the full FIA group gathered for dinner and was honored to have Representative Mike Bishop (M I8) a cosponsor of HR 427, S226, The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act (REINS Act) as the guest speaker. The Forging Industry has 500 operations in 38 states, (54 in Pennsylvania) that employ over 39,000. The supply chain employs thousands more and the industry, with annual sales of close to $9 billion, is critical to the U.S. economy.