On Thursday, April 28th, the ABMA Legislative Committee met virtually to receive a congressional briefing from our Government Affairs Associate Pat Rita, specifically detailing the revival of Build Back Better (BBB) and the Congressional Career and Technical Education (CTE) Taskforce. Afterwards, ABMA Legislative & Regulatory Affairs Coordinator Julianna Rauf updated the committee on ABMA Advocacy Week and upcoming events. Lastly, new business took place among ABMA Director of Legislative & Regulatory Affairs Kirk Ives and ABMA Legislative Committee Member Sara Belletete.
In an effort to follow up on our Advocacy Week priority issues and continue to drive our message home, it is important to follow up virtual meetings with in-person events. Therefore, ABMA will be scheduling District Office visits. If you’re interested in participating, please sign up here.
Regarding in-person events, ABMA is also scheduling Congressional yard tours. Yard tours provide ABMA members an excellent opportunity to build and grow existing relationships with policymakers. They are a critical tool that take on added importance to augment our virtual meetings that were held across the NRLA and CSA regions during the legislative session. If you’re interested in hosting a yard tour, please sign up here.
The committee recapped ABMA’s meeting with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and their meeting on Softwood Lumber. Please click the links to be re-directed to detailed information on those meetings.
New business unfolded with the bittersweet news that Director of Legislative & Regulatory Affairs for both ABMA and NRLA Kirk Ives is departing. ABMA’s launch would not have been possible without Kirk. While we are excited to see him seize a new opportunity, it is no secret Kirk will be sorely missed.
Lastly, Sara Belletete posed the grading issue of SPF (spruce-pine-fir from Canada) vs. SPFs (spruce-pine-fir from the U.S. south) in front of the committee to gauge interest and see if its an issue worth pursuing.
The ABMA Legislative Committee’s next scheduled meeting is Thursday, May 26, 2022 at 11am.
