From tech to finance to trade, industry group CEOs like familiar faces, predictability, professionalism and broad representation

Is it ever truer than during a presidential transition that what's important in Washington, D.C., is less what you know than who you know?

Despite 2020's drumbeat of down notes, many association advocates share a positive view of President-elect Joe Biden's transition team. That's partly because they see professionalism and a breadth of experience and perspective. But it's also because they know these people.

Though the Trump administration so far has refused to assist the transition, Biden is forging ahead.

Business groups and other associations were quick to congratulate Biden once the media declared him the election winner on Nov. 7. Since then, many current and former association figures have been named to various agency review teams.

Helen Kanovsky, general counsel at the Mortgage Bankers Association, is on the Treasury Department team, as is Buzz Roberts, CEO of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders.

The leader of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy team is Cristin Dorgelo, former CEO of the Association of Science and Technology Centers. Also on that panel is Kei Koizumi, a visiting scholar in science policy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Both are Obama administration alums.

Koizumi also is on the Arts and Humanities review team, as are David Skorton, CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, and Bob Lynch, CEO of Americans for the Arts.

Tech savvy

TechNet has good reasons for optimism, including the fact that Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain is a former TechNet member and sat on the association's executive council. Klain, with a long resume in Democratic politics and policy, also was general counsel and executive vice president of Revolution, a venture capital firm.

"He is very knowledgeable on tech," said TechNet CEO Linda Moore, herself a veteran of four Democratic administrations. "He'll bring a lot to the table. He's a thoughtful person on these issues."

Further, many representatives of major technology companies are on the transition team.

Moore sees not just expertise, but predictability.

"There are a lot of very experienced hands who know exactly what they're doing," Moore said. "I have great confidence in them and I know that they know exactly what they're doing.

"More than anything, really, we are just pleased to have a more transparent and consistent and predictable transition in place," she said.

Members represented

Dan Berger, CEO of the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions, appreciates that a member CEO (Bill Bynum of Hope Federal Credit Union in Jackson, Miss.) is on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau review team and a former credit-union regulator (Gail Laster) is on the Housing and Urban Development team.

"We have long-standing relationships with a lot of folks who are part of the transition," Berger said.

Biden has "people who represent the consumer groups and labor unions as well as people from Wall Street. We like having a diversity of opinions and a diversity of knowledge coming together. In policy, that's good not only for our industry, but for the country as well."

Peddle to the metal

Aluminum Association CEO Tom Dobbins said he is focused on the U.S. Trade Representative team, where he sees the president-elect quickly putting together an experienced group. "That is an impressive team right there," he said.

Dobbins said he preferred not to single out any individual members for comment. But the group is led by Jason Miller, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who was a top Obama administration manufacturing policy aide.

Biden is signaling more of a multilateral approach to trade frictions with China, an improvement on President Trump's bilateral focus, Dobbins said.

"We do not foresee that the new administration will in any way back off on China," he said. "We think there's potential for being even more effective. We feel that a multilateral approach (involving other trade partners) is really what's needed."

Dobbins said the lack of cooperation from the Trump administration during the transition isn't hampering the association's efforts at this point. The Biden camp's experience in government should help them get off to a good start regardless, he said.

"The more cooperation that we can get, the smoother and easier that transition will be," Dobbins said. "But on the other side, the Biden folks are seasoned public policy professionals."

FADING STIMULUS HOPES A THREAT TO ASSOCIATIONS

Expectations for another economic stimulus package have diminished further since the Nov. 3 election, as control of the Senate was left unresolved pending two run-off elections in Georgia. It doesn't help that President Trump has so far refused to concede the race.

"We needed an atmosphere that was at least slightly less political after the election than what existed before the election," said Jeff Evans, associate director of public policy at ASAE. "To say nothing of the presidential aspects, the Georgia run-off has created a retrenchment on both sides.

"We find ourselves in a position where the two sides are actually further apart in terms of overall dollars," he said. The House, controlled by Democrats, passed a package worth trillions of dollars before the election, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says he favors something in the $500 billion range.

That could be bad news for many sectors of the economy. Associations are among the vulnerable if there is no stimulus, or if any final package doesn't include loan assistance for those organized under Section 501(c)(6) of the tax code.

"The situation is pretty dire for many associations," said Chris Vest, ASAE vice president of corporate communications and public relations.

Prospects for pandemic insurance are a little brighter, but "certainly not" in the lame-duck session of Congress, Evans said.

Associations need such insurance to cover the current COVID-19 outbreak, not just future pandemics, he said.

"We are certainly moving along in a positive direction," Evans said.