Dear NLBMDA Members,
As the situation surrounding COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues to evolve, NLBMDA is taking a number of proactive steps to ensure the LBM industry has the most up-to-date information on the issue, and to protect the LBM industry as the government considers several measures to address the pandemic.
First, we would like to provide a brief update on the legislation in Congress. The House of Representatives has passed H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which provides economic relief to individuals impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. The bill has just passed the Senate and will now be sent to President Trump to sign, who supports the legislation. NLBMDA has detailed the requirements contained in this legislation, which can be accessed
here
.
Second, NLBMDA remains concerned with ongoing discussions regarding designating certain employers as “essential v. nonessential”. We want to be clear that NLBMDA’s primary focus at this time is protecting the LBM industry and member businesses from closure. To this effect, we are implementing both direct lobbying and grassroots advocacy strategies to ensure this, including discussions with our contacts on Capitol Hill about all tools available to Congress. We will be communicating further on this effort in the next couple of days.
In addition, state and local governments are taking their own actions on closures, quarantines, and other measures. NLBMDA is committed to assisting our members with educating these lawmakers on our industry and ensuring our member companies remain open for business. As a result, we will be providing NLBMDA members with both a form letter and a grassroots engagement to lobby their state and local representatives.
We cannot stress enough that our current focus is protecting the LBM industry and keeping our members open for business. We will provide regular updates regarding our efforts and additional steps we are taking. For further questions, please contact Kevin McKenney, NLBMDA Director of Governments Affairs, at
[email protected]
.
Sincerely
,
Jonathan M. Paine, CAE
NLBMDA President & CEO
