July was a month of collaboration as our TRI Lobbyist, Craig Brightup worked behind the scenes in supporting initiatives that affect our members and the roofing industry. UPS-Teamsters Contract Negotiations The TRI Alliance worked with the U.S. Chamber-led collation to draft a letter that TRIA signed urging the White House… Read more

By Craig Brightup, TRI Alliance Washington Lobbyist Unified Agenda of Federal Regulations The federal government must publish the status of agencies’ regulatory actions twice yearly and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently released the Spring 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory Actions.  Here are additional DOL/OSHA details:… Read more

Craig Brightup, is the TRI Alliance Washington DC lobbyist covering our Governmental Initiatives. Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 On May 27, President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy announced a deal to raise the federal debt-ceiling which Treasury says could be reached by June 5.  The deal follows negotiations based on… Read more

Pictured – TRI Alliance GR team, with Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), Appropriations Committee TRI Alliance Washington Fly-In Was A Chance To Voice Our Concerns The TRI Alliance fly-in to Washington, DC, was productive.  On April 18, we had breakfast with Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), Appropriations Committee (photo attached); a meeting… Read more

Pictured: Left to right -Tyler Allwood, Wade Shepherd, Craig Brightup, Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), John Campbell, T.J. Curtis Last week, our TRI Alliance Government Relations Committee traveled to Washington, DC, to help support NRCA’s 2023 Roofing Day in DC.  While there, Craig Brightup, our TRI Alliance DC Lobbyist, set meetings… Read more

By Craig Brightup, TRI Alliance Lobbyist Congressional Review Act Resolutions   March saw a flurry of CRA resolutions.  The CRA allows Congress to repeal regulations by simple majorities with resolutions passed to repeal: DC’s Revised Criminal Code (signed by President); DOL allowing retirement plan fiduciaries to use ESG for investment decisions (vetoed);… Read more

by TRI Lobbyist, Craig S. Brightup Biden Nominates Julie Su for Labor Secretary With U.S. Labor Sec. Marty Walsh leaving to head the NHL Players Union, President Biden nominated Deputy Labor Sec. Julie Su for the job.  But Su’s record as California’s Labor Sec. features unemployment insurance fraud that squandered… Read more

Updated 3/1/23 by TRI Lobbyist, Craig S. Brightup OSHA Withdraws Proposal to Revoke AZ State Plan On Feb. 14, OSHA announced it will withdraw a proposal to revoke AZ’s State Plan.  This is a victory for TRIA which submitted comments to OSHA opposing the proposal.  Biden Nominates Julie Su as… Read more

Updated 1/30/23 by TRI Lobbyist, Craig S. Brightup; photo by Andy Feliciotti on Unsplash 118th Congress Republicans control the House 222-213 and Democrats the Senate 51-49. With Speaker McCarthy (R-CA) in place the House was able to pass a rules package mostly focused on preventing more gigantic omnibus bills, and… Read more

Update 1/4/23 by TRI Lobbyist, Craig S. Brightup; photo by John Jensen $1.7 Trillion Omnibus Bill Signed Into Law On Dec. 29, President Biden signed an omnibus spending package for the remainder of FY23 that Congress was able to pass with all Democrats and 18 Republican Senators.  At 4,000 pages,… Read more

Update and photo by TRI Lobbyist, Craig S. Brightup Midterm Election There was no red wave because abortion was a factor in states like Michigan and races like VA’s 7th CD where Republican Yesli Vega came up short against Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D), and Trump endorsed candidates underperformed in Republican-leaning… Read more

Updated 11/1/22 by TRI Lobbyist, Craig S. Brightup DOL Independent Contractor Rulemaking On Oct. 11, DOL released its proposed Independent Contractor rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The NY Times reports it would, “make it more likely for millions of janitors, home-care and construction workers and gig drivers… Read more

Photo by Andy Feliciotti on Unsplash Updated 10/3/22 by TRI Lobbyist, Craig S. Brightup Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) On August 24, the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) issued its DACA final rule which codifies existing policies and is effective Oct. 31.  The DHS News Release explains that pursuant… Read more

Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Taxes Update by TRI Lobbyist, Craig S. Brightup In addition to giving the IRS $80 billion to hire 87,000 new auditors, Inflation Reduction Act revenue raisers include a 15% minimum tax on companies making $1 billion annually; a stock buyback tax; and targeted taxes like the… Read more

Schumer-Manchin Reconciliation Deal On July 27, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) released a relatively “slim” Build Back Better reconciliation bill.  The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 would extend Affordable Care Act subsidies from the American Rescue Plan and allow Medicare to negotiate certain prescription… Read more