January 2021 brings a clean slate to Washington, DC. We now have a completely new Congress and a new Administration. Additionally, with the permanence of the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act, WineAmerica now has a clean policy slate to start the new year and the 117th Congress. 

On January 20, former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris will be the 46th President and 49th Vice President of the United States.  A new Administration means that there will be a turnover in leadership at every federal agency. In the coming weeks, the incoming Administration will formally submit  their cabinet picks and other appointments to the Senate for consideration. Much of the next two months will be focused on the change in leadership at the agency and cabinet levels. The new Administration does have a legislative and administrative agenda that it intends to pursue as soon as possible, almost exclusively related to COVID-19. This includes mitigation and vaccine distribution, as well as more targeted economic relief.

THE HOUSE

The House will largely stay the same, although the Democratic majority has decreased. Nancy Pelosi will remain Speaker, and Steny Hoyer will remain Majority Leader. On the Republican side, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) will remain the Republican leader. 

The Biden Administration will work closely with a Democratically controlled House. Many of their legislative priorities should pass without much pushback. 

THE SENATE

The Senate was unsettled for a few months, but now we know what the makeup will be. With the Democrats winning both Senate seats in Georgia there is now a 50/50 tie in the Senate. The Vice President is President of the Senate. In that position, she will have the ability to break a tie with her vote. Because of that, the Democrats will now be the majority in the Senate, with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) as the Majority Leader. Senator Schumer has been a great friend to the New York and American wine industries over the years, including personally pushing for the changes in standards of fill for wine containers and making the CBMTRA tax bill permanent. Senator Mitch McConnell will now be the Minority Leader. Also, of note, we must mention that Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) will now be the chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Without Senator Wyden there would be no Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act. 

As we referenced above, the Senate will be focused on confirmation hearings for the next few weeks, but with the Democrats holding the majority the Biden Administration will be able to pass some of their legislative agenda with more ease than with a Republican-controlled Senate.

NEW ISSUES

At the very end of 2020, WineAmerica was able to  bring a lot of our outstanding issues to the finish line. We now have a clean slate with Congress and the new Administration. We will be discussing internally where we go from here, but we believe that we need to secure more COVID-19 aid for the industry. We are also always looking at new regulatory issues that may emerge from TTB. WineAmerica is truly at a crossroads when it comes to public policy. We are in a unique position and look forward to what the future might bring.