On Thursday, April 28th, the Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ 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, Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ Legislative & Regulatory Affairs Coordinator Julianna Rauf updated the committee on Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ Advocacy Week and upcoming events. Lastly, new business took place among Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ Director of Legislative & Regulatory Affairs Kirk Ives and Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ 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, Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ will be scheduling District Office visits. If you’re interested in participating, please sign up here.
Regarding in-person events, Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ is also scheduling Congressional yard tours. Yard tours provide Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ 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 Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½’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 Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ and NRLA Kirk Ives is departing. Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½’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 Ñî¹óåú´«Ã½ Legislative Committee’s next scheduled meeting is Thursday, May 26, 2022 at 11am.
