NLBMDA reaffirms Capitol Hill priorities

As the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) readies for its 2024 Spring Meeting & Legislative Conference, the organization outlined its top priorities during a recent webinar.

NLBMDA Government Affairs Director Jacob Cater provided an overview of legislation the association plans to focus on during the event. 

The conference, in addition to lobbying on Capitol Hill, takes place April 9 and April 10 at the Westin Washington D.C. City Center Hotel. Click here for the full agenda for the event.

Here are the NLBMDA’s priorities for the conference, as highlighted by Carter.

• Credit Card Competition Act: The legislation addresses excessive credit card swipe fees by enabling LBM dealers to access more credit card payment networks outside of Visa and Mastercard. Additionally, the act requires the largest credit card issuing banks to allow at least one payment transaction network to be used on their credit cards that is not Visa or Mastercard. 
  
  While this is legislation on the NLBMDA’s radar, the issue impacts just about all independent, smaller retailers. “Every retailer we talk to has a big issue with swipe fees,” Carter told HBSDealer.
  
  In 2021, credit card swipe fees jumped by 25% to a record $137.8 billion, according to the NLBMDA. While heavyweight retailers such as Walmart and Target might not feel the impact of the fees, it’s a major burden for smaller retailers and businesses, including lumberyards, Carter said.
  
  Visa and MasterCard nearly have a monopoly over credit card processing by controlling about 80% of the market. The lack of competition has resulted in high fees.
   

• Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act: This bill expands the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) to build 2 million homes over the next 10 years. 

  The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is also supporting the act, Carter noted. LIHTC was designed by President Reagan and Congress in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Since then, the LIHTC has helped finance the development of more than 3.7 million homes for over 8 million low-income families.

  The NLBMDA notes that over the past 30 years, LIHTC has generated approximately $643 billion in wages and business revenue along with $223 billion in tax revenues.

• Tax package: The NLBMDA is supporting the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024. The bipartisan bill extends tax breaks from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The NAHB is also supporting the legislation.

  The new tax relief package would be passed provides a 100% bonus depreciation allowing for immediate tax deductions for the purchase of equipment, machinery, and vehicles. While a 100% deduction was allowed from 2018 to 2022, it was dropped to 80% in 2023, and will fall to 60% in 2024, 40% in 2025, 20% in 2026, and phased out in 2027.