Making the rounds

WASHINGTON, D.C. —On New York’s Long Island, pro dealer Florence Building Materials operates three yards in the state’s first congressional district, and a fourth location in the second congressional district. These are Democratic Party strongholds, especially the second, where Congressman Steve Israel won his fifth term with 67% of the vote.

So, when Florence VP Diana Perenza arrived on Capitol Hill armed with talking points from the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association’s (NLBMDA’s) lobbying agenda, she expected to find some opposition to certain measures.

Home Channel News followed Perenza and a small group of like-minded New York dealers into a meeting in the office of Congressman Israel during the NLBMDA’s Legislative Conference last month.

First topic on the agenda: frivolous lawsuits. While expressing respect for the congressman’s previously stated position that “everyone deserves their day in court,” Perenza pleasantly pushed for the Innocent Sellers Fairness Act to Israel’s legislative assistant Scott Wetzel. She explained that dealers shouldn’t be sued when contractors or builders who negligently expose building materials to the damaging elements. “There has to be some level of responsibility,” she said. Wetzel nodded.

The group moved on to the hot button Employee Free Choice Act, or “card-check” legislation, that would ease unionization. The visitors rallied against it, but Israel supports it.

“There are a lot of angry businessmen out there,” said Michael Alter, of U.S. Lumber in Roslyn, N.Y.

Wetzel defended Israel’s decision to support the bill. “It wasn’t a simple decision,” he said. “[Congressman Israel> talked to a lot of small businesses about it. He talked to constituents, large businesses, small businesses.”

“What keeps this country working is small business,” said Perenza.

“Sure,” agreed Wetzel.

And on it went. Finally, after discussing incentives and tax breaks for home buyers, the half-hour time slot had expired.

“You’ve been more than gracious with us,” Perenza added to her hosts.

Perenza, who chairs the NLBMDA’s government affairs committee, along with a Long Island contingent, visited representatives Bishop, Ackerman, McCarthy, King and Senator Schumer. Some were friendlier than others. She has been coming to Capital Hill on the group’s behalf since 1996 and described the congressional halls and meeting rooms as particularly hectic during the 2009 NLBMDA Legislative Conference. (On the day of the Israel meeting, the AIGCEO was being grilled by the House finance committee downstairs and to the right.)

“I definitely believe it is worthwhile,” she said of the personal visits to representatives. “We need to be in touch with Washington, because they’re making laws that affect us. That’s the whole crux of the situation.”

The NLBMDA presented a thorough overview of key measures during the 2009 Legislative Conference, which took place March 16 to 18.

The unified message consisted largely of support for efforts to spur economic recovery, protect innocent sellers from frivolous lawsuits and freeze the Employee Free Choice Act in its tracks. (See the group’s 2009 agenda in detail at www.dealer.org .)

Before dealers descended on Capitol Hill for visits with lawmakers, they received some expert instruction in some early morning meetings, one of them was led by NLBMDA director of government affairs Colleen Levine.

“There will not be a recovery with out housing,” said Levine, who led the dealers through a detailed out line of industry lobbying positions. Hence, dealers were armed with materials promoting the “Fix Housing First Home Buyer Tax Credit Act,” in particular.

While the economy was front and center, the matter of card-check legislation was no less compelling to many of the dealers at the conference. The Employee Free Choice Act would effectively eliminate secret ballot voting, according to Levine.

Linda Nussbaum of Huntington, N.Y.-based Kleet Lumber, pointed to her company’s experience with some union employees. She lamented the $45-per-hour wages for union drivers and described examples of a vocal minority of union workers poisoning the labor-management relationship.

“There’s nothing more important to your business than to protect yourself from this,” Nussbaum said.

Also during the conference, the dealers were briefed by Marsha Blackburn, a fourth-term Republican congress woman from Tennessee’s seventh district. Blackburn criticized the staggering national debt, which she said could grow to $14 trillion by the end of the year. “It is a tough time, and we are a nation in recession,” Blackburn said. “My constituents know you cannot spend your way to recovery.”

Blackburn added her voice to the chorus of anti card-check movement, calling the Employee Free Choice Act “a very, very dangerous piece of legislation.”

One bit of encouraging news came on the card-check front. New York Congressman Peter King—an original sponsor of the EFCA—had recently switched his position. In his words, the EFCA “would be too severe a shock to our economy at this time and would be counterproductive.” The reversal was important because by all accounts, a few votes one way or the other could decide the fate of the bill.

Florence’s Perenza was pleased by the reversal. Although, she said the lumber industry couldn’t take credit for the congressman’s change of heart, it shows the power of small businesses and constituents to influence legislators. “It’s important that we continue these effort s not in only in Washington, but also in our own home towns,” she said.