The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) recently caught its members up to speed on what the 2022 midterm election results mean for the industry and travel advisors' businesses moving forward.
In a detailed analysis sent out last week, ASTA highlighted some key outcomes and important updates regarding pertinent items such as the Employee Retention Tax Credit Reinstatement (ERTC), the Visit America Act, Department of Transportation (DOT) rulemakings, independent contractor policies and FAA reauthorization. This came on the heels of the organization's initial post-election member update on November 10.
The Democrats will retain control of the Senate while Republicans will control the House. "While this represents a meaningful change in the balance of power in Washington, keep in mind that President Biden retains full control of the federal bureaucracy and any bills passed by the Republican-controlled House would need to be passed by the Democratic-led Senate (and vice versa) and signed by the President to become law," ASTA reminds its members.
In regards to the ERTC and Visit America Act, ASTA believes they'll require a bigger "vehicle" to attach themselves to in order to get through Congress. "ERTC is a heavy lift given 'spending fatigue' after trillions spent to respond to COVID-19 and related inflation concerns," the association stated. In reference to the latter, ASTA notes that this "legislation doesn't meaningfully impact the federal budget, in our view it stands a better chance of passage before the end of the year than does ERTC reinstatement."
ASTA also predicts that final action on the FAA reauthorization bill will likely be pushed into 2024. In the meantime, ASTA will continue to prioritize things such as consumer refunds, ancillary fees and efforts to reduce the regulatory burden on travel advisors who sell air tickets.
Travel advisors can visit ASTA.org/Advocacy to learn more and stay in the know.
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