Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) announced its 2011 legislative priorities at the annual AED Summit and CONDEX trade show in Orlando.

“What happens in Washington will, to a great extent, determine whether AED members are able to grow and prosper, or whether the equipment industry continues to scrape by or shrink further,” said AED President and CEO Toby Mack. “The association will aggressively push for robust and sustained infrastructure investments and tax and labor policies that create an environment conducive for job creation and economic growth.”

“Underinvestment in our national infrastructure poses a serious challenge to our economic growth and must be a top congressional priority,” said AED Vice President of Government Affairs Christian Klein. “When combined with tax policies that have stifled growth and discouraged investments, the construction equipment industry has been hit especially hard. Without a new approach, industry unemployment will continue to outpace other sectors and America’s economic well being and competitiveness will be severely undermined.”

Insufficient funding for transportation networks clogs the arteries of national commerce, costing the U.S. economy $115 billion annually in wasted time and fuel. A lack of attention to underground water infrastructure meanwhile, has led the American Society of Civil Engineers to give it a grade of “D-”, the lowest in any infrastructure category, according to AED.

“Spending alone will not solve the national infrastructure. Companies need certainty in the tax code and investment schedules to aid long-term planning. Business owners need assurance that lawmakers will not propose laws and regulations that jam the wheels of industry,” said Mack.

The association’s legislative agenda encourages investments in America’s crumbling infrastructure and pushes for changes that will make it easier for dealers and distributors to succeed by reducing the costs of doing business.

To promote the interests of its members, AED will work toward the following goals in 2011:

• Enacting a multiyear highway bill that meets America’s infrastructure needs and stabilizes equipment markets

• Ensuring access to clean water by adequately funding water infrastructure programs

• Enacting tax legislation to revitalize the economy and restore certainty to the tax code

• Protecting equipment distributors from harmful and unnecessary regulations

• Repealing the three percent government contractor withholding tax

• Protect the Last in, First out (LIFO) method of accounting

• Resolving the uncertainty associated with the estate tax

• Reforming the recent health care overhaul law to help small businesses provide affordable health insurance to their employees.

For more information, call 703/739-9513 or visit www.aednet.org.

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