The Summit of Importance
“The times are wild. Contention, like a horse full of high feeding, madly hath broke loose and bears down all before him!”
That’s the Earl of Northumberland awaiting news from the battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. But it could easily be any business executive reading the newspaper in 2022 about the contention in Washington, D.C.
The times are indeed wild in the nation’s capitol. Policy makers are emboldened. The men and women who have given us lines as memorable as “(9) in subsection (i)(2), by striking “other grants under this section” and inserting “grants under subsection (e); …” are flexing their legislative muscles. All kinds of ideas are brewing in the halls of power.
[Note to reader: if you’re in a rush, skip to the bottom of this column for a rare “Call to Action.”]
And it’s more than just the trillion-dollar “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” (quoted above) that was recently signed into law.
Consider the White House “framework” for the Build Back Better Act. It’s a broad collection of spending that includes everything, including the kitchen sink. Here’s language from the White House staff: the Framework “will enable the construction, rehabilitation, and improvement of more than 1 million affordable homes, boosting housing supply and reducing price pressures for renters and homeowners.”
Sounds great. But the contention lies —as it usually does—with the question: who’s going to pay the bill? And who’s going to benefit?
Rest assured there is no shortage of cryptocurrency, CBD or electric-car lobbyists knocking on doors in the Dirksen and Rayburn buildings and saying: “Don’t tax us, tax them.”
Meanwhile, regulators at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration generated a serious source of contention with a vaccination mandate founded partly on the idea that businesses — regardless of their expertise — are capable, at the drop of a hat, of establishing sophisticated medical counseling and healthcare tracking services.
Thanks to a Supreme Court ruling, the OSHA rule was blocked. But that was close. And the battle against federal over reach is not over.
Call to action: Join us in Washington D.C. March 29-April 2. The National Lumber and Building Material Dealer Association, in partnership with HBSDealer are hosting a first-ever combined ProDealer Industry Summit and NLBMDA Legislative Conference.
There’s never been a more important time to engage at the Summit. Find out more at Prodealer.com.
Got opinions? Send your thoughts to us at [email protected].
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