From NLBMDA Legislative Affairs Federal

Congressional Spring Break Action Alert! Both the House and Senate passed their fiscal year 2010 budget resolutions last week before adjourning for the spring Congressional recess (April 6-17). When they return April 20, energy legislation and tax issues are expected to dominate the agenda. Now is the time to attend a town hall meeting or other local events with your elected officials to seek their support for the building supply industry. Contact their district office (phone numbers can be found at http://www.buildthevote.org/ and then select “Your Elected Officials” tab) to inquire about public appearances or to schedule a face-to-face meeting. Share your personal story of how the housing crisis is impacting jobs at your company, and ask your legislators to take the following actions:
1. More help is needed for Housing Recovery. An enhanced, $15,000 tax credit for all home purchases is needed to reduce existing inventory, stabilize home prices and get buyers back into the market.
2. Oppose the “Employee Free Choice Act” and any so-called “compromise” measures that would strip workers of their right to private ballots when determining union representation and insert government arbitrators into contract negotiations.

If you can’t meet with your legislators in person, visit http://www.buildthevote.org/ to quickly send a message to them on these critical issues. Contact Colleen Levine at colleen@dealer.org for assistance or to report on a successful meeting.

Estate Tax Reform Included in Budget Resolution. Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) led a bipartisan effort to successfully adopt an amendment to the FY2010 budget resolution during floor debate last week to create a deficit-neutral reserve fund to allow the estate tax exemption to be increased to $5 million, indexed to inflation, and the maximum tax rate reduced to 35%. This is a more significant reduction than the Administration’s plans to maintain the estate tax at 2009 levels ($3.5 million exemption and 45% rate) and was supported by NLBMDA and other members of the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition (FBETC). The amendment passed by a vote of 51-48, with all Republicans and 10 Democrats voting in support (Democrats: Lincoln, Pryor (AR), Ben Nelson (NE), Landrieu (LA), Baucus (MT), Murray (WA), Bill Nelson (FL), Cantwell (WA), Bayh (IN) and Tester (MT).) Separate legislation will still be needed to adopt these changes, and revenue raising measures, (“pay-fors”) must be identified to cover the cost of the larger exemption and rate cut, guaranteeing a heated debate ahead in the Congressional tax committees.

Net Operating Loss (NOL) Expansion Bill Introduced in the Senate. Last week, Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Max Baucus (D-MT) introduced legislation to expand the net operating loss five-year carryback to companies of all sizes, not just those under the arbitrary $15 million revenue cap that was contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) earlier this year. The “Net Operating Loss Carry Back Act” (S. 823) was introduced with six additional cosponsors from the Senate Finance Committee (Hatch (R-UT), Stabenow (D-MI), Ensign (R-NV), Lincoln (D-AR), Cantwell (D-WA), Nelson (D-FL)). NLBMDA continues to work with a large coalition of retailers, manufacturers and other industry groups to seek meaningful NOL relief to protect jobs in the building supply industry.

Senators Seek Ban on Chinese Drywall. Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) have introduced a resolution (S. Res. 91) responding to the Chinese drywall investigations currently taking place in Florida and other states. In addition to calling on the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to identify potential health hazards for the product in question, the resolution seeks to prohibit further importation of any drywall and “associated building products” from China, order a recall of “hazardous Chinese drywall,” and seek to ensure that Chinese manufacturers and their US subsidiaries or distributors bear the costs of replacing hazardous drywall in homes. The resolution further calls for tax incentives to assist homeowners in recouping their costs for drywall replacement.

Maximum Truck Weight Increase Proposed. The “Safe and Efficient Transportation Act” (H.R. 1799) was introduced March 30 by Reps. Mike Michaud (D-ME) and Jean Schmidt (R-OH) to allow states to authorize travel on interstate highways of vehicles up to 97,000 lbs. gross vehicle weight on six axles. It would raise the overweight vehicle tax cap to $800 per year, with funds going to a new Safe and Efficient Vehicle Trust fund to be allocated to states for bridge and infrastructure repairs. NLBMDA is a member of the Coalition for Transportation Productivity seeking such an increase, with corresponding safety measures, to improve efficiency in building material transport.

Lacey Act Declaration Enforcement Delayed to May 1. The Customs Department is now accepting electronic submission of Lacey Act imported wood product declarations as of April 1, but enforcement of the declaration requirement has been delayed until May 1. Dealers who directly import any foreign wood products should visit this website to make sure you are in compliance with the new requirements.