Md. groups closely watching new Congress, political landscape

As Congress opens its session on Tuesday, several Maryland interests including chicken farmers, environmentalists and federal employees will be watching for signs of how the new political landscape on Capitol Hill will affect issues they say are critical to the state's economy.

With Republicans in control of both the House and Senate for the first time in nearly a decade, Washington is bracing for more battles over health care, immigration and government spending. But there are indications that agreements might be possible on overhauling the nation's tax code, funding for infrastructure and finalizing trade agreements with Asia and Europe.

All of those issues could have implications for Maryland.

Meat and poultry groups, including those that represent the Eastern Shore's poultry industry, are hoping trade agreements include stronger enforcement mechanisms to limit overseas markets from blocking imports. Federal employee unions want lawmakers to increase or at least not cut compensation for their members. Environmentalists worry about the potential rollback of regulations and funding.

"As was shown in the 1990s, there are areas like trade, tax reform, and support for biomedical research that Republicans and Democrats can jointly support," said Rep. Andy Harris, a Baltimore County Republican, referring to deals between Democratic President Bill Clinton and the GOP-led Congress at the time.

But Harris said President Barack Obama has jeopardized the possibility of finding common ground with what he called his "unconstitutional executive overreaching" on immigration and other issues.

Obama and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have signaled a willingness to work together on trade, including deals pending with Asia and Europe. Free trade agreements are often more popular among Republicans than Democrats, who worry they lead to a loss of U.S. jobs.

"Global trade is extremely important to the future of manufacturing," said Michael Galiazzo, president of the Regional Manufacturing Institute, a nonprofit association that represents Maryland manufacturers. "Manufacturing in Maryland benefits greatly by doors of opportunity that get opened for us to sell our products overseas."

Tom Super, a spokesman for the National Chicken Council, said the group would like to see a trade agreement pending with Pacific Rim countries to loosen Canada's restrictions on poultry imports, for instance. And the group has long raised concerns about safety standards it believes other countries sometimes impose as a form or protectionism.

Other groups are waiting to see if previous GOP proposals will remain priorities now that the party is in control of Congress.

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Md. groups closely watching new Congress, political landscape