House approves Concrete Masonry Products Promotion Act

Source: National Concrete Masonry Association, Herndon, Va.

On the opening day of the 114th Congress lame duck session, the U.S. House of Representatives approved HR 985, the Concrete Masonry Products, Research, Education and Promotion Act of 2015 by a 355–38 vote. The legislation authorizes the concrete masonry industry to pursue the creation of an industry-wide check-off program. Such programs have positioned other industries to pool resources to support commodity product market development efforts.

“The attributes of concrete masonry are well suited to constructing modern, high-performing buildings. A concrete masonry check-off program will simply enable our industry to better organize to promote those values to the marketplace,” says NCMA Chairman Patrick Sauter (Kings Material LLC). “This is an important step in achieving the necessary authorization for the program before we can present the program for final approval by the concrete masonry manufacturing companies operating in America.”

Representatives Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Kathy Castor (D-FL) sponsored the bill and were successful in compiling an impressive co-sponsor list of 247 colleagues, balanced with nearly equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans. The list is indicative of active grassroots efforts on behalf of the concrete masonry industry, which has small manufacturing plants in every state in the country and in most congressional districts. — www.cmucheckoff.com

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