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Ann Mattheis, Editor, Phone: 301-869-5800; Fax: 301-990-9690
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The Week of

March 15, 2010

This Week

• MCAA RELEASES NEW BULLETIN ON EPA'S LEAD RENOVATION RULE
• SEE OUR INDUSTRY'S FUTURE PROFESSIONALS PERFORM AT MCAA's ANNUAL STUDENT CHAPTER COMPETITION
• THERE'S STILL ROOM FOR YOU IN MCAA'S ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT
• ALI CAN HELP YOU LEAD YOUR COMPANY THROUGH TOUGH TIMES
• MCERF ACKNOWLEDGES CONTRIBUTION FROM THE MCA OF INDIANA
• CONGRESS, ADMINISTRATION GETTING CLOSE ON PENSION REFORM, HEALTH CARE

MCAA RELEASES NEW BULLETIN ON EPA'S LEAD RENOVATION RULE: MCAA recently released a new safety and health bulletin on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new rule affecting contractors performing renovations on target housing and child-occupied facilities built before 1978. The rule becomes fully effective and enforceable on April 22, 2010. Go to http://www.mcaa.org/private/safety/ for a copy of MCAA's new bulletin. To find an EPA accredited training program in your area, go to www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm. Scroll down to "Information for Contractors" and click on "List of Training Providers."

SEE OUR INDUSTRY'S FUTURE PROFESSIONALS PERFORM AT MCAA's ANNUAL STUDENT CHAPTER COMPETITION: Your next professional hire just may be onstage on March 29 (1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.) competing with his/her team for cash and glory during the annual MCAA Student Chapter Competition during MCAA 2010. Four teams representing Colorado State University, Oregon State University, the University of Wisconsin-Stout and the University of Washington will each have 20 minutes to convince a panel of three judges (all members of the Career Development Committee) that they are the best firm to renovate the Denver Health Medical Center's 41,000 square-foot cafeteria. The first place team will receive $5,000, the second place team will receive $2,500 and the other two finalist teams will each receive $1,000. The competition results will be announced at the Annual Awards of Excellence Ceremony on March 31. For more information about the competition or starting a student chapter, please contact Ann Mattheis (amattheis@mcaa.org).

THERE'S STILL ROOM FOR YOU IN MCAA'S ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT: There are still a few spots available in MCAA's Annual Golf Tournament (sponsored by Victaulic and Carrier Corporation) which takes place on March 28 during MCAA 2010. This year, the tournament will take place on the historic Presidio and Harding Park golf courses. Register online at http://www.mcaa.org/mcaa2010/ and then click on the "download registration form" sidebar link. Or, contact Dennis Langley (dlangley@mcaa.org) directly for assistance.

ALI CAN HELP YOU LEAD YOUR COMPANY THROUGH TOUGH TIMES: Our industry is dealing with a sluggish economy, but opportunities are still out there if you know where and how to find them and make the most of them. MCAA's Advanced Leadership Institute (ALI) has assembled a world-class faculty of experts in leadership development and business planning to help our industry's top executives carve out a path to success for their companies, despite the challenges of a down economy. For more information about the ALI program and the learning experience it offers, take a look at our new video (www.mcaa.org/ali). You will hear from ALI graduates and business owners who have sent multiple executives through the program. Contact Dennis Langley (dlangley@mcaa.org) with questions or to obtain an e-application.

MCERF ACKNOWLEDGES CONTRIBUTION FROM THE MCA OF INDIANA: The Mechanical Contracting Education & Research Foundation (MCERF) recently received a generous $5,000 donation from the MCA of Indiana, a payment toward its pledge of $80,000. The contribution will enable the Foundation to continue its support of education and research programs that help our industry advance. MCERF President Jack Wilhelmi and the Board of Trustees are grateful to the MCA of Indiana for its donation. For more information about MCERF, please visit www.mcerf.org or contact Dennis Langley (dlangley@mcaa.org).

CONGRESS, ADMINISTRATION GETTING CLOSE ON PENSION REFORM, HEALTH CARE: On pension reform, the most recent Senate version of the jobs bill included some minimal relief for multiemployer defined benefit plans that are reeling under the wake of the 2008 stock market decline and the ensuing downturn in contributions to those plans. The Senate bill provides narrowly circumscribed relief, allowing only extended amortization of 2008 and 2009 stock market losses for 30 years, up from 15. The Senate measure also would permit another five years of asset smoothing for those losses, extending to 10 years. MCAA and the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans (NCCMP) coalition support a broader House relief measure headed for mark-up in the Ways and Means Committee next week, with a proposed added option allowing plans to choose a 30-year fresh start for the entire funding standard account, instead of the extended amortization of the 2008/09 stock market losses. The challenge for the coalition will be to get the expanded 30-year fresh start option in the eventual House/Senate conference agreement on the measure. The Senate proposal takes a cramped view of the 2008 market decline's impact; while the House measure would grant that the 2008 market crash had impact beyond the value of the equity holdings, that it was compounded by a steep and persistent decline in hours. On health care, deliberations continue on the entire bill, as well as the construction industry's equitable small business requirements in the Merkley Amendment. Targeted political action continues by proponents of the equitable treatment of the industry detailed in the Merkley Amendment.