Mr. Smith goes to Washington...sort of

A couple of things happened recently that have made me think more about what I, as a citizen can do to further the interests of my industry....not in a bad way, mind you, but to make sure that government OF the people, BY the people and FOR the people actually listens to, well....the people.

The first happened a few days ago, when I received a call from Dave Merrick, who is in charge of NARI's Legislative Affairs Committee. Apparently, Maryland is considering enacting a tiered contractor licensing system, similar to Virginia's. The gist of it is that there would be different classes of licenses which would allow contractors to do different sized projects. Smaller contractors, with a limited amount of experience and capital, would only be able to undertake smaller projects, and so on up the line.

According to Dave, the Maryland Home Improvement Commission (MHIC) had contacted NARI; requesting its input into the proposed changes. As the chair of the relevant committee, Dave thought it would be a good idea to solicit input from the big guys, the middle guys, and guys like me....the little guys. He thought I probably had an opinion and that I was articulate enough to express it well. I do and I am, and I, along with the big and middle guys will be meeting next week with a representative from the MHIC, to talk about things.

I'm looking forward to it, and I have to say I am impressed that MD would think to do such a thing, considering how often rules and regulations appear and get rammed down everyone's throat. Which leads to the 2nd thing.......

Today, for the first time in my adult life, I wrote a letter to my Senator (Cardin, in this case), asking him if he wouldn't mind looking into how the EPA has gone about enacting and modifying the recent Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting law (more information here: http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm) Unlike the MHIC, the EPA has, in my opinion, presented our industry with a fait accompli; a law whose expressed goal is the protection of customers and workers from the hazards of lead dust, but which, in practice, will increase costs greatly and, in the end, fail to have the desired effect.

I'm not setting out here to debate the law, really. It is what it is, and I and my colleagues in the industry are trying as best we can to obey it. We do have some issues with it, though; issues which could have been addressed prior to its enactment, had the EPA done as the MHIC is doing.....consulted those whom the law will affect most heavily. And so today I wrote my Senator, and asked for his help. Oddly enough, I've had some positive experiences with "the man" recently, so I hope I'm not being too naive.

I feel like Mr. Smith, though!