Kari Rihm Participates in ATD Legislative Fly-In

From the American Truck Dealers (ATD): Last week, ATD members gathered in Washington for the annual ATD Legislative Fly-In. ATD members heard from special guest speakers Rep. Jim Baird (R-Ind.), sponsor of anti-catalytic theft legislation (H.R. 6394), Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), the lead Democratic sponsor of a bill (H.R. 8116) introduced earlier this month to repeal the 12% federal excise tax (FET) on heavy duty trucks. Also, Environmental Protection Agency Office of Transportation and Air Quality Director Sara Dunham discussed a pending heavy-duty truck emissions rule that ATD is concerned will cause CMV prices to skyrocket, resulting in a slowdown in fleet turnover. On the other hand, EPA’s proposed “Option 2” would keep new commercial motor vehicles relatively affordable, reliable and viable for the marketplace, resulting in fleet turnover that could achieve dramatic emissions reductions. Ms. Dunham indicated the Biden administration intends to finalize this $31 billion rule by the end of the year.

During the Fly-In, ATD members met with more than 70 Congressional offices in support of S. 2435/H.R. 8116, bipartisan bills that would repeal the 12% FET on heavy-duty trucks and trailers. Attendees also educated Congress on the EPA’s proposed NOx rulemaking that by one estimate would raise the average price of a heavy-duty truck by $42,000. Dealers also advocated in support of H.R. 6394, the “Preventing Auto Recycling Theft (PART) Act,” a bill to curb rising catalytic converter thefts, and voiced opposition to H.R. 6570, the “REPAIR Act,” an overbroad bill which would regulate medium- and heavy-duty trucks the same as light-duty vehicles. For additional information on ATD's legislative priorities, please contact David Bell, Director of Legislative Affairs, at dbell@nada.org.

Earlier this year, Rihm Family Companies President & CEO, Kari Rihm, was named the ATD Dealer of the Year and had the opportunity to participate in the Fly-In last week. After the Fly-in Kari stated, “it was my privilege to attend the meetings with Scott Lambert and Amber Backhaus from MADA. We met with Representative Michelle Fischbach; aides of Representatives Angie Craig and Tom Emmer; Senator Amy Klobuchar; and the legislative director from Senator Tina Smith’s office. We presented our concerns on each of the issues and bills listed above and pointed out the bi-partisan aspects of these commonsense pieces of legislation. We asked for their support and received positive responses on many of the asks right away. During this time, we also thanked Senator Smith for her leadership in crafting the PART Act (see above).  Engaging with elected officials is important, and it is our responsibility, in order to advance truck-friendly policies and laws, while also preventing bad ones.”