June 2026
Every year when this issue comes out, the conversation in our industry turns to advocacy. What's moving in Washington. What's happening at the state level. What the industry is doing about it.
This year, I can tell you firsthand.
I just returned from the Woodpack Global fly-in on Capitol Hill, where I and a group of industry leaders spent two days meeting with members of Congress and their staff about the workforce and regulatory challenges facing this industry. What struck me most was not the politics. It was when a congressional staffer leaned forward and said, "I didn't know that." When we mentioned that less than 3% of pallets end up in a landfill. That 94% of goods moving on a pallet are on a wooden pallet. Regardless of which side of the aisle we were sitting on, there was understanding that workforce development and immigration policy are critical to American manufacturing infrastructure. And that pallets are at the center of it.
That is what advocacy looks like in practice. And it is why it matters.
Let's start with immigration, because it is where I hear significant concern from members.
The H-2B visa program hit its cap for the second half of FY2026. Again. For companies that depend on seasonal or supplemental labor, that pattern makes planning harder every cycle. At the same time, enforcement activity has intensified across manufacturing and supply chain sectors. The downstream effects on hiring, retention, and operational continuity are real.
There are actual legislative proposals on the table worth paying attention to. Representative Lloyd Smucker introduced H.R. 5494, the Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act, which would create a new H-2C visa classification for temporary workers in non-agricultural industries facing labor shortages. Unlike H-2B, the H-2C visa allows initial placements of up to 36 months with renewal options, starting with 65,000 visas and designed to scale based on actual labor market conditions. Also worth watching is H.R. 4393, the bipartisan DIGNIDAD Act, introduced in July 2025, which addresses broader immigration reform including border security, an E-Verify framework, and renewable work authorization for certain individuals currently without lawful status. In every office we visited, there was acknowledgment these efforts are worthwhile. The work is not finished. But the will to get there is bipartisan.
Labor regulation is moving in multiple directions simultaneously. Federal discussions around overtime thresholds, independent contractor classifications, and workplace safety standards are all active. Several states are layering requirements on top of whatever the federal baseline looks like at any given moment. Each new requirement feels manageable on its own. Collectively, they add up in ways that show up in margins before leadership fully understands where the pressure is coming from.
In our meetings with California representatives, we had a different but equally important conversation. We thanked them for their work on Senate Bill 54 and the exclusion of wooden pallets from California's Extended Producer Responsibility framework. That outcome happened because the industry showed up and made the case that a product repaired, reused, recycled, and repurposed at the rates ours is should not be regulated like single-use packaging. They heard it. EPR legislation is expanding across the country, and as other states develop similar frameworks, the same logic applies. Pallets are a renewable, circular, sustainable resource. That language belongs in every EPR conversation going forward.
We also raised emerging discussions around biochar, wood waste, and zero-waste manufacturing in agricultural and energy committees. This industry is already leading the way. We are not just recycling pallets. We are ensuring that the plastics, cardboard, and fasteners that come off those pallets are fed back into the recycled ecosystem. That story is bigger than most policymakers realize, and we are just beginning to tell it in those rooms.
That is the through line connecting all of it. Advocacy works best before problems become policy.
The industries that shape outcomes are the ones that show up early, communicate clearly, and stay consistent. The ones that wait to react are working with far less leverage.
The WPA Advocacy and Insights Committee tracks what is moving, communicates what matters to members, and represents the industry's perspective at the right levels. But that work is only as strong as the engagement coming from the membership. When members share what they are experiencing on the ground, it makes every conversation we have on your behalf more specific and more credible.
If you have questions about WPA advocacy efforts, or want to share what you're seeing in your market, please reach out. Staying engaged with what is happening right now in your community, state, and in Washington is one of the most practical things any of us can do for our own bottom line.
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