Equipment dealers seek investment support after election

Equipment dealers are pressing for tax policies that encourage capital investment, infrastructure spending, and support for agriculture after the midterm elections, which saw Democrats win majorities in both the U.S. House and Senate. 

Associated Equipment Distributors President and Chief Executive Brian McGuire called for bipartisan cooperation in a statement today, outlining priorities including equipment customers’ financing needs, workforce development and rural investment. 

McGuire urged policymakers to set aside partisan differences and work together to address the country’s toughest challenges. 

The Schaumburg, Ill.-based trade association urged support for equipment dealers, manufacturers and their customers through infrastructure investment and tax policies encouraging equipment purchases and hiring. 

Those priorities overlap with the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association federal agenda. Tax policy, access to capital and manufacturing investment guide the association’s advocacy, Allyson Gale, vice president of federal government affairs, said during an Oct. 27 panel at ELFA’s annual convention in Palm Desert, Calif. 

Financing, investment 

Construction customers also want financing and regulatory changes. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) identified expanded financing opportunities for builders and buyers, streamlined permitting and reduced federal mandates among its priorities in a release today. 

The association said it expects Congress to begin debating the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, a bipartisan permitting reform proposal aimed at speeding federal approvals for energy, infrastructure and housing projects, during the lame-duck session. NAHB supports the permitting proposal as a means of reducing development costs and expanding housing supply.  

For equipment lenders, ELFA’s access-to-capital priorities include the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Section 1071 small-business lending data requirements and bank capital regulation, Gale said during the panel. 

Ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, said in a statement today that he wants the next Congress to restore congressional authority over trade policy, end President Donald Trump’s tariffs and rebuild trade partnerships. 

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York also identified eliminating Trump’s tariffs among his party’s priorities in the first 100 days, according to a letter to colleagues released today. 

Equipment buyers can face higher costs between ordering and delivery that make previously arranged financing insufficient, ELFA’s Gale said. The organization has raised the potential consequences of those disrupted transactions for lenders with lawmakers, she said. 

Changing legal landscape 

State commercial financing disclosure and licensing proposals remain another focus for equipment lenders, Kyle Alexandre, ELFA’s vice president for state government relations, said during the panel. 

Proposals targeting other financial products can also affect equipment lenders, making early engagement with lawmakers important, Alexandre said. 

Federal compliance preparation also requires sustained attention. Lenders covered by Section 1071 need to prepare to collect and report application data while developing systems to assess and explain that information, Elena Babinecz, a shareholder at law firm Baker Donelson, said during the panel. 

The work extends beyond initial implementation to maintaining a compliance management program that can address questions about fair-lending issues, she said. 

“It’s a long-term commitment,” Babinecz said. 

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