The Summit of Importance

Ken Clark Editor in Chief

“The times are wild. Contention, like a horse full of high feeding, madly hath broke loose and bears down all before him!”

That’s the Earl of Northumberland awaiting news from the battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. But it could easily be any business executive reading the newspaper in 2021 about the contention in Washington, D.C.

The times are indeed wild in the nation’s capitol. Policy makers are emboldened. The men and women who have given us lines as memorable as “(9) in subsection (i)(2), by striking “other grants under this section” and inserting “grants under subsection (e); …” are flexing their legislative muscles. All kinds of ideas are brewing in the halls of power. [Note to reader: if you’re in a rush, skip to the bottom of this column for a rare “Call to Action.”]

And it’s more than just the trilliondollar “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” (quoted above) that was recently signed into law.

Consider the White House “framework” for the Build Back Better Act. It’s a broad collection of spending that includes everything, including the kitchen sink. Here’s language from the White House staff: the Framework “will enable the construction, rehabilitation, and improvement of more than 1 million affordable homes, boosting housing supply and reducing price pressures for renters and homeowners.”

Sounds great. But the contention lies —as it usually does—with the question: who’s going to pay the bill? And who’s going to benefit?

Rest assured there is no shortage of cryptocurrency, CBD or electric-car lobbyists knocking on doors in the Dirksen and Rayburn buildings and saying: “Don’t tax us, tax them.”

Meanwhile, regulators at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration generated a serious source of contention with a vaccination mandate that’s based partly on the idea that businesses — regardless of their expertise — are capable, at the drop of a hat, of establishing sophisticated medical counseling and healthcare tracking services.

The OSHA rule remains clouded in legal challenges and uncertainty as this issue goes to press.

CALL TO ACTION: Join us in Washington D.C. March 29-April 2. The National Lumber and Building Material Dealer Association, in partnership with HBSDealer are hosting a first-ever combined ProDealer Industry Summit and NLBMDA Legislative Conference.

There’s never been a more important time to engage at the Summit. Find out more at Prodealer.com.

The ProDealer Industry Summit returns to Washington, D.C. March 29-April 2.

HARDWARE + BUILDING SUPPLY HBS

DEALER

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SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT (HBSDealer, Drug Store News, Chain Store Age) John Kenlon, jkenlon@ensembleiq.com, 212-756-5238

EDITOR IN CHIEF Ken Clark

kclark@ensembleiq.com, 212-756-5139

LBM EDITOR Andy Carlo

acarlo@ensembleiq.com, 845-891-5108

HARDWARE EDITOR Tim Burke

tburke@ensembleiq.com, 773-216-7880

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Ken Ryan

ryankgr@aol.com, 516-567-3034

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