Anne Newcombe, Editor, Ph: 1-800-556-3653, Fax: 301-990-9690
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Volume 4, Number 30, July 26, 1999
NEW TOOL & EQUIPMENT SURVEY ALSO AVAILABLE IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT – The fully searchable electronic version (PDF format) of the recently revised Tool & Equipment Rental Survey (M9) may be ordered in the MCAA Online Store at www.mcaa.org/store. Or, you may use the attached MCAA Publication Order Form to order the printed version.
MODEL APPLICATION WILL HELP WITH BRT SAFETY AWARD APPLICATIONS – This year, MCAA is sending a model application along with application forms for The Business Roundtable's Constructor Safety Awards program. The model will allow you to compare your entry to a checklist of key points and should be very helpful in making your application as competitive as possible. If you have Lost Workday Cases Incidence Rates below 3.6, Recordable Incidence Rates below 10, no Willful OSHA Violations and no fatalities since December 31, 1995, MCAA urges you to participate in the program. The BRT presents awards in five size categories to companies that fall under SIC Code 17. Note that smaller firms do not compete against larger firms. Please fax your request for an application to Pete Chaney at 301-990-9690.
NEW AFFILIATED ASSOCIATION RECEIVES MCAA CHARTER – The Allied/MCA of the Carolinas, Inc. received its MCAA charter on July 23 from MCAA Executive V.P. John Gentille at its headquarters in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Jack Weaver, of Weaver Plumbing Company, is the new association's president.
1999 MECHANICAL CONTRACTING FOUNDATION (MCF) GRANT REQUEST FORMS NOW AVAILABLE – There have been changes in this year’s process to request project funding from the Mechanical Contracting Foundation. In addition to changing the name of the form from "Project Request" to "Grant Request" to more accurately reflect the process, the deadline for submissions has been extended to November 5. MCF President Ray Jung is hopeful that the November 5 deadline will encourage more and varied requests. For a copy of the 1999 grant request form, contact Dennis Langley (dlangley@mcaa.org).
PREFABRICATION SPECIALISTS, WHERE ARE YOU? – If you are a contractor with experience in either piping or plumbing prefabrication -- and would like to share your knowledge with others -- please contact Cynthia Buffington (cynthia@mcaa.org).
STILL TIME TO REGISTER FOR MSCA CONFERENCE – There is still plenty of time to register for MSCA’s 14th annual educational conference, MSCA ’99—Strategies for Service Excellence, scheduled for September 22-25 at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort in Incline Village, Nevada. See the MCAA/MSCA Web site for conference information or contact Adrienne Breedlove (abreedlove@mcaa.org) or Shawn Durand (shawn@mcaa.org). Please note that rooms at the Hyatt Regency are sold out on Monday, September 20 and Tuesday, September 21 -- the two nights prior to the first day of the conference. If you want to arrive early for the conference, contact Shawn Durand for information on alternative hotel options.
LEGISLATIVE NOTES – Tax reductions supported by MCAA and the Alliance advanced somewhat this week in a tax reduction measure passed by the House on July 22. It includes an across-the-board 10% income tax rate cut…Estate taxes would be eliminated over 10 years under the House bill; the Senate proposal would reduce them for small business and family farm transfers…Individual capital gains taxes would be reduced to 15% for assets held over one year (down from 20%) in the House measure (corporate rates would come down to 30% in 2005)…Tenant lease improvements would be depreciated over 10 years (down from 39) in the Senate bill. MCAA, along with its Alliance partners SMACNA and NECA, are working to make sure the leasehold improvement provisions include structural building components (including chillers) in the allowable improvement depreciation schedule. The Senate is slated to take up the tax measure passed out of the Finance Committee on July 26; House/Senate conference negotiations are slated for early August.
DAVIS-BACON ACT/HELPER REGULATIONS – The House Education & Workforce Committee Oversight Subcommittee held Davis-Bacon Act hearings on July 21, with a witness panel consisting of only a single Building Trades Department witness, along with four non-union representatives. The MCAA/NECA/SMACNA Alliance was denied the opportunity to testify. Representatives Roemer (D-IN), Scott (D-VA) and Kind (D-WI) were most receptive to the Alliance statement position, submitted for the record, that the federal government should join the opposite trend in the private sector toward supporting higher workforce standards, not lowering them. (MCAA and Alliance statements for the record are available at http://www.constructionalliance.org//)
PLA UPDATE – On July 22, Massachusetts joined the growing list of states with high court decisions supporting project labor agreements on public works projects under competitive bidding laws, with a decision upholding a PLA on the City of Malden 5-year, $100 million primary school reconstruction program.
THOMAS J. HUNTER, UNITED ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE, DIES – UA International Repre-sentative Thomas J. Hunter died on July 16. A memorial service was held in San Mateo, California on July 23. The family asks that those who wish to honor his memory make contributions to the American Cancer Society (Phone: 1-800-365-2858), Samaritan House (Phone: 650-347-3648) or the Redwood City Friends of Literacy (Phone: 650-780-7018).
