b'Washington Update Herethe topissu that theAsbestosCom ActMarG_h and has "g back to the areespensationone NRCA\'s Washington, D Office isapproved by the Hou Judiciarydrawing board." .C.se covering forroofing industry:Committee. The outlookr thisSBAOfficeofAdvocacy thefoOAssociationHealthPlanslegislation isgood this yearFunding-NRCAiscurrently not ouse/di obbying (AHPs)-Currently a H for severalreasonsinclu ngaIHouse Appropriators to Sen conference com isPres ial veto threat, Senatoradd ate ne item for atemitteeident new, separa limeeting to reconcile differencesConrad Bu (R-Mont) pul ingthe O ceof Advocacyin the rnsIffibetweentheHou andSenatehisp for the bill after com budget for theSmallBusiness sesup ort versionsof health care legisla ing under fire by the trial lawyersAdministration.Wearealso tion that passed earlier this Con in hisstate,arequesting moremoney for the homeandmember gress.T H versionofof the H of RepresentativesOffice of Advocacy since it heouseousefights ar esrucefo sma bushealthc e reforminclud a(B Vento)recentlydiag the good fightrlliness provisionthatwould al lowannosedwithlungcancerth and d important research on atoes as to offer h lth in resultedfromexposuretobehalf ofthesmallb iness sociationea sur usance tomembers n ionwide,asbes . Also, becauseofacommunity. at tosexemptingtheplanfromstatecompressed election leg @ Reauthorization-DuryearSBA mandates.N isworkingislativecalendarthatwillbeing the Senate Small Business RCA eesdin ill and closely withthe confer anddominated by spen g b sCommittee\'s"mark-up" ofthe lea pmake s this pro trade legislation, th won\'t beSBA bu on March 21, Sena-dershi toureeredget vision remainsthe final con time top thebill throughtor Kit Bondir for the cominush(chate report.Congre mittee)in rtedlanguageth~ er ncess.se@ SkilledWorkforceo\'sErgonomicsPro would givetheOicel,j The0SHA SBA\'sffEnhancement Act (SWEA) posal-OSHAisproceedingAdvocacymore independence S would allow small busi with its ergonomics proposal inwithin the SBA. We are hopeful WEA ness ownerstrainion orthe h of fina g it b that the billllthe whoun opeslizin eforewi come tofloor open-shopa renticesinthe end ofyear.OSHA heldfor ainlullsoon. pp thevotetheSenate highly-skilledtrades,includinghea onprop a on(;}Tax Package Included With ringstheosalnd roofing, a tax credit of $15,000March 22, NRCA staff Ken BrownMinimum Wage-The House p trainee pertr ningandCraig BrightuptestifiedinandSenateh bothpa d eryear. Theai avesseamwagehe progr mustbetwo-to-fourWashington,D.C.,statingminimumincreases. Ty sdlude 2,000ofNRCA\'soppositiontothep Senate a acheditsversion to ear an inc hoursro tttraining per year. T was aposal.Bankru Reform legislation hereptcy hearing in theSmall Busi @ Administration\'swh eH passed aandHouseTheBlack il theousestnessttee onbruary 9,listingProposal- Thealonebill.T Houseversion Commi Fe he in which John G ding (Good Administrationhasprop would raise the minimum oo osedwage Macke edera Acq is rs and ing, Simpson ands, Inc.)revisions to the F lu i $1 over two yea ,the Sentestified onf of NRCA andtionRegulationsthatwouldate version raises it $1 over three behala that the 2000requ e "blacklist"(a contractoryears. T tax provisions to help skedhourir debar)he ment be lower tohours.fromfederalcontractsforsmal Iiness offset the wage ed1,500bus es Rob Geo ine,P ident,"alleged"violationsund hike include: ertrg res er A -CIOngConstru O the N B or oth bAn increaseinexpensingto FL Buildi andc SHA,RL er la or ad artmen nt tionTr es Dep t sent aandemployme lawsandtax$30,000 letter to alousemembersinand environmen l laws.NRSome limited estate tax relief I H ta CA April o ing SWEA.o sesth p lasitincluding making$600,000 ppos ppo isroposa the @)Coalition for Asbestos Res wou negatively impactunionu fiedexem aue ldni creditptiontrolution(CAR)-As anactiveandnonunionroofing contrac exemptionandslight\\~ me of C CAsuc torsalike. TheAdministrationContinued on page ;_/ mberAR, NR was cessful intting the Fairnessscrapped the original proposal in ge in'