Report of the MCAA Legislative Committee
Words: Dave AbbottLegislative & Regulatory Action
The goal of the MCAA Government Affairs Activities is to influence the decisions/actions in Washington D.C. that will impact our industry. This past year the MCAA played a key role in impacting a potential OSHA Silica Standard that would devastate our industry. We maintained our industry overhand bricklaying exemption and we reaffirmed our ability to use man-baskets. In addition, we established a Masonry Best Practices Education Program to train OSHA compliance officers on the nuances of our industry safety efforts which we believe will go a long way towards eliminating contradictory citations from different OSHA compliance officers. Key Legislative Issues
The Association influenced key legislative initiatives debated before Congress. Some of the issues we were involved in were: Association Health Plans; OSHA Reform; Hexavalent Chromium; permanently eliminating the Inheritance Tax and most recently, Immigration Reform. To educate the industry on these issues and their impact on our industry, we published a legislative article in each issue of masonry magazine in addition to informational material on our association website. In addition we kept members informed through our monthly email newsletters. We will continue to provide our industry with informative briefings through our media outlets and seek to call our industry's 20,000 contractors into both legislative and political action in the coming months and years. We believe that if we can engage our industry's 20,000 mason contractors, our association will become a major force for change in our nations capital.
MCAA's Legislative Conference
This past year we conducted our first Washington Legislative Conference where 35 members had the opportunity to meet with key policy makers and to discuss masonry issues. Based on the success of our first conference, we have agreed to allow the NCMA, BIA and BSI to partner with us this April to conduct the first Masonry Industry Legislative Conference. We hope that every member will join with us and our allied partners in attending the 2006 Legislative Conference in Washington.
Staff Changes
Over the past three years, the MCAA's image and influence has been initially established in our nation's Capitol. Our Association must now look to expand those efforts to gain both member and non-member mason contractor action in our efforts to influence policy. We have conducted a search to find a strong staff member that will:
- Educate contractors on how to become influential.
- Establish a 6 figure political action campaign account to have the resources to elect a pro-masonry congress.
- Establish an active political program with members becoming engaged in local campaigns.
- Expand our legislative and regulatory efforts.
We have a strong candidate who has experience in federal campaigns, legislative affairs, experience on Capitol Hill as well as a strong regulatory background. She has already been extremely active in establishing herself, not only with the coalitions we have been engaged in but, she has expanded our activities and alliances with other groups as well. We welcome Ms. Jessica Johnson Bennett on board our association staff.