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The Week of

MARCH 8, 2010

This Week

• MCAA'S SUPPLIER PARTNERS WILL SHOWCASE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES TO HELP YOUR BUSINESS SUCCEED AT THE ANNUAL MANUFACTURER/SUPPLIER EXHIBIT AT MCAA 2010
• NEW U.S. EPA REGULATION REQUIRES CONTRACTORS TO BE LEAD CERTIFIED
• MCA OF UTAH CONTRIBUTES $10,000 TO MCERF
• HEALTHCARE REFORM IS BACK
• MCAA AND ALLIES CONTINUE PUSH FOR PENSION REFORM
• GREEN BUILDING INITIATIVES GAIN GROUND IN NEXT ROUND OF JOBS PROPOSALS
• WORKER MISCLASSIFICATION PICKS UP MOMENTUM
• HIGH ROAD FEDERAL CONTRACTING PROGRAM SPARKS INTEREST

MCAA'S SUPPLIER PARTNERS WILL SHOWCASE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES TO HELP YOUR BUSINESS SUCCEED AT THE ANNUAL MANUFACTURER/SUPPLIER EXHIBIT AT MCAA 2010: Ninety MCAA member firms who manufacture, supply and sell HVAC equipment, software, services and supplies will be displaying their products and answering your questions at our Annual Manufacturer/Supplier Exhibit during MCAA 2010 (March 28-April 1, San Francisco, CA). Enjoy a tasty continental breakfast while you stroll through the exhibit, examining the items that just might give your business what it needs to make it through the current economic slump. Share your ideas with the representatives on hand and gain some new ones as you discuss possibilities for new applications. Don't miss one of the most popular events of our annual convention. For more information about the other MCAA 2010 business-building sessions and to register, visit www.mcaa.org/mcaa2010.

NEW U.S. EPA REGULATION REQUIRES CONTRACTORS TO BE LEAD CERTIFIED: Contractors who work on homes, schools, day-care facilities or other structures built before 1978 and occupied by children must be trained and certified in accordance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Lead Renovation, Repair, and Painting regulation by April 2010 or face fines of up to $37,500 per day. The rule applies to contractors- plumbers, painters, electricians, renovators, maintenance personnel-who may perform work on a structure that could involve removing or otherwise affecting lead paint on the structure. All contractors affected by this regulation must be trained and certified under this new program, including those who have had previous lead abatement training. To apply for firm certification, contractors are to complete an application (available at http://epa.gov/lead/pubs/toolkits.htm#renovator) and submit it with a fee to EPA. For more information about the regulation, go to CONTRACTORmag.com (http://contractormag.com/news/lead-certification-2345/).

MCA OF UTAH CONTRIBUTES $10,000 TO MCERF: The Mechanical Contracting Education & Research Foundation (MCERF) received a very generous $10,000 donation from the MCA of Utah recently, raising its total contributions to $20,000. MCERF President Jack Wilhelmi and the Board of Trustees are very grateful for the contribution and the association's continuing support of the Foundation's ongoing industry research and education programs. For more information about MCERF and its program, please visit www.mcerf.org or contact Dennis Langley (dlangley@mcaa.org).

HEALTHCARE REFORM IS BACK: The Senate version of the health care reform bill may go through the House, then with technical changes later, on a simple majority vote reconciliation. In one scenario, the construction industry small business equitable carve-out provision, the Merkley Amendment, may pass into law, saving some small measure of equity in the entire proposal for high value construction industry health plans and sponsoring employers.

MCAA AND ALLIES CONTINUE PUSH FOR PENSION REFORM: Pension reform and the 2010 funding relief measure are making their way through the House and Senate, with narrow reform likely in the Senate bill and technical issues still up for grabs in the House. The MCAA and the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans (NCCMP) coalition are trying for full 30-year amortization for all 2008 stock market losses and a 30-year fresh start for all funding accounts, as the adverse market and catastrophic stock market losses demand more comprehensive relief.

GREEN BUILDING INITIATIVES GAIN GROUND IN NEXT ROUND OF JOBS PROPOSALS: Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced the Building STAR Energy Efficiency Rebate Act of 2010, which would provide Treasury Department rebates to multifamily and commercial building owners that invest in substantial energy retrofits. The Rebuilding America Coalition's Building STAR program is being pressed for inclusion in several of the jobs bills that are moving forward. Also on the table are the Water Efficiency and Conservation Investment Act, which would provide tax incentives for installation of WaterSense approved plumbing fixtures, and the Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act, which would provide an accelerated and/or bonus depreciation for fire sprinkler retrofits in multifamily and commercial buildings.

WORKER MISCLASSIFICATION PICKS UP MOMENTUM: Reform of worker misclassification is gaining momentum with House and Senate bills (H.R. 3408, and S.2882, The Taxpayer Responsibility, Accountability and Consistency Act) gaining interest. MCAA and the Campaign for Quality Construction (CQC) are working with the Building Trades to push this long-sought reform into law this session.

HIGH ROAD FEDERAL CONTRACTING PROGRAM SPARKS INTEREST: MCAA and the Campaign for Quality Construction (CQC) are beginning to track the development of the High Road Federal Contracting program, which would provide source selection preference points to prospective contractors with high-value employment standards and to implement legal compliance checks in negotiated contract selection awards. Even in its preliminary stages, the proposal is drawing high heat from open shop groups who oppose most every measure that raises the bar in federal contract selection systems.