2024 elections: Experts dig into industry impact

The next occupants of Congress and the White House likely will bring changes to corporate taxes, project permits, worker protections and other industry concerns no matter who wins this year’s elections, legal experts said last week during the first of four webinars hosted by the Recycled Materials Association about the 2024 races. But uncertainty still reigns when it comes to who will win, what they’ll be able to accomplish and how states and courts will respond.

“You’ll just want to buckle your seatbelt and hang on,” said Timothy Taylor, a partner with the Florida-based multinational law firm Holland & Knight. He joined several of his colleagues on Sept. 4 to speak specifically about the national elections’ business and labor impacts.

“If we have a divided Congress, my guess is it’s going to be hard to get much legislative activity done, so states are going to pick up on that,” Taylor added. Legal challenges also have slowed or halted many recent executive branch employment efforts, such as the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed ban on noncompete agreements last month. The next administration will decide the fate of the Department of Labor’s recently proposed worker protections against extreme heat as well, he said.

The dynamic of lengthy legal challenges will probably continue with the next administration, Taylor said: “I think you’re just going to see a lot of uncertainty and volatility.”

The webinar series is open to ReMA members and continues with a session about international trade on Sept. 18, environmental impacts on Oct. 8 and a roundup of election results on Nov. 20.