Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1511664
PalletCentral • November-December 2023 13 Kylie Fronczak is a senior associate at Lot Sixteen. Her background in communications lends to her current policy work, focusing on government affairs. She may be reached through www.lotsixteen.com. (R-LA-01) left one of those closed-door votes having beat Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH- 04), only to drop out of the race a day later after determining that he wouldn't be able to win the 217 votes to clinch the Speaker's gavel. After his third failed floor vote, Jordan lost a closed-door vote and is no longer his party's pick to lead the House. While a handful of other members – such as Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R- MN-06) – may toss their hats in the race, several GOP members are questioning whether anyone within the conference could get the necessary votes. A couple of fallbacks, "last-resort options," were considered and rejected, which would keep the current Speaker Pro Tempore McHenry on as a caretaker Speaker for a limited period or strike a deal with Democrats to elect a Speaker. Ideally, those issues have been resolved by the time this article is published. Once the leadership question gets answered, both chambers must turn to how they solve the funding problem that has been hard to solve. Despite bipartisan committee momentum, the Senate has yet to pass an appropriations bill, and while the House passed four of its twelve bills, those took herculean efforts to get across the finish line. On top of that, the two chambers harbor deep divisions in how they intend to fund federal agencies, making the process that much more complicated to find common ground. NWPCA Remains Vigilant During this time of ambiguity, NWPCA has remained involved with dozens of meetings in the House and Senate. e Farm Bill significantly impacts forestry, directly impacting the wood pallet industry, and our engagement is critical. To ensure our voice is heard, we're fostering invaluable relationships with policymakers on the Hill and partnering with coalitions such as "Forests in the Farm Bill." With combined expertise, we've developed a comprehensive set of recommendations tailored to safeguard our industry's interests and promote sustainable forestry practices. Additionally, we're leveraging insights from consulting firms like Lot Sixteen to strategize our approach and deploying PalletPAC funds to engage Members of Congress directly. rough collaboration and engagement, we navigate the legislative changes effectively, ensuring the wood pallet sector remains robust and thriving. NWPCA Staff President/CEO Brent J. McClendon, CAE, brent@palletcentral.com Senior Director, Business Partnerships Mark A. Barford, CAE, mbarford@palletcentral.com Directora Senior, México y LATAM Hilary R. Carr, PhD, hcarr@palletcentral.com PDS and Membership Services Manager Susan Cheney, scheney@palletcentral.com PDS Principal Engineer & Strategic Business Advisor Kristen DeLack PE, kdelack@palletcentral.com Vice President, Communications Annette Ferri, aferri@palletcentral.com Vice President, Science & Technology Brad Gething, PhD, bgething@palletcentral.com Vice President, Public Affairs Jason Ortega, jortega@palletcentral.com PDS Software Engineer Kevin Richey, krichey@palletcentral.com PDS Associate Software Engineer George Scharps, gscharps@palletcentral.com Vice President, Operations and Events Isabel ("Mimi") Sullivan, msullivan@palletcentral.com PalletCentral Editorial, Design & Production Caryn Smith, Driven By Design LLC palletdesign@comcast.net PALLETCENTRAL, Volume 23, Number 6. PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL WOODEN PALLET & CONTAINER ASSOCIATION Advertising: To advertise in PalletCentral, contact Mark Barford at 703-519-0186 or mbarford@palletcentral.com. Address changes and subscriptions: To update your mailing address or to subscribe to PalletCentral, email info@palletcentral.com. ©2023 NWPCA. All rights reserved. The views expressed in all articles, editorials and advertisements appearing in PalletCentral are solely those of the author and advertiser, respectively, and do not necessarily represent the views of NWPCA. iStock/Amy Sparwasser