Hubacz-Kiley weighs the pluses and minuses of Trump, Biden

Editor’s note: P&Q turned to some of the industry’s leaders for their takes on the 2020 presidential election. Leaders were posed with the following questions in advance of this month’s issue: How do the potential outcomes of the upcoming presidential election impact your outlook on the aggregate industry? What effects would another four years of President Trump have on the industry? What effects would a Biden administration have on the industry?

There are pros and cons with each of the candidates.

If President Trump is reelected, we are confident that there will not be new, egregious regulations, increases in corporate taxes or additional burdens on businesses that we will have to worry about. This will allow us continued growth.

However, depending on Congress, the president may face resistance in doing anything if the House or the Senate is controlled by Democrats. If that occurs, we would certainly hope for a bipartisan infrastructure bill, but it may be smaller than what is really needed. Republicans are looking at the additional national debt, especially following all of the money paid out related to the coronavirus.

If former Vice President Joe Biden is elected as president, we may be able to enjoy a huge infrastructure bill. And yes, that would be great for our businesses.

However, even with the giant appetite for aggregate that a large infrastructure bill would initiate, the huge regulations that would be reinstated could be devastating. How could we as an industry keep up with huge demands of aggregate if we become so regulated that we cannot mine them? Then, if that isn’t enough to hurt the industry, large changes in the corporate tax base could be crushing to our growth, causing layoffs and a spike in unemployment to occur.

As an industry, we can only hope for an end to all of the bickering and hate between the two parties in government. Find some common ground and work on that. Small compromises on each side will get us to a middle ground.

All we can truly ask and hope for is that the people we put in place to represent us take their jobs seriously, and do what is in the best interest of the citizens of the United States of America.

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Karen Hubacz-Kiley is COO at Bond Construction Corp., which is based in Spencer, Massachusetts.

Featured image: PamElla Lee Photography