Thanks Congress and Mr. President

At different times all of us in the U.S. look at what is happening in Washington D.C. and scratch our heads; we wonder how our leaders could miss some of the most obvious things. Many of us are quick to complain when we see this happening.

At other times our leaders get it right and when they do they should be given credit for it. That happened last month on three significant issues impacting the boating industry. A little background:

• Last July I wrote a blog for Boating industry encouraging Congress and the President to take action regarding the U.S. infrastructure problem. If you are interested you can read that blog here.
• In September I wrote another blog for Boating Industry encouraging Congress and the President to renew the charter of the Export-Import Bank. If you are interested you can read that blog here.
• Finally, last November I wrote a blog for Boating Industry asking Congress and the President to work toward tax code stability by approving what are known as the “tax extenders.” If you are interested you can read that blog here.

I am happy (and pleasantly surprised) to report that last month Congress passed favorable legislative bills regarding each of these issues and the President has signed them:

• Congress approved and President Obama signed a $305 billion, five-year infrastructure program that is the largest and longest infrastructure bill out of D.C. in more than a decade. This is a great first step toward improving a huge U.S. infrastructure problem
• In the same infrastructure bill there was language to extend the Export-Import bank through 2019. This is a big win for U.S. competitiveness on the global stage.
• Finally, in December Congress approved and the President signed the “tax-extenders” bill. While approval of the tax-extenders was good news, the big news from this bill was that Congress made the R&D credit permanent for the first time in its 31 year history. U.S. businesses need stability and certainty in the U.S. tax code and this was a big step in that direction.

Each of these bills are good for the boating industry. Additionally, all of these bills were passed in a bi-partisan fashion which demonstrates that sometimes common sense does prevail and those who were involved should be commended. Let’s hope there is even more progress in 2016!

Bill Yeargin is the president and CEO of Correct Craft.