The legislation holds flood insurance premium increases to 18% per year. More
LBM dealer Ray Gaster's controversial signs tell off President Obama. More
The continued homebuilding slump edged out the leadership and organizational shakeups at ProBuild as the most significant story in construction supply this year, a survey of ProSales readers found. Meanwhile, president Barack Obama and Congress were the runaway winners as the most significant individuals in LBM in 2011. More
President Barack Obama signed into law a bill repealing controversial legislation... More
The U.S. Senate passed a bill to repeal the controversial 1099 legislation by a vote of 87 to 12 today. The passage was hailed as a victory by many associations and businesses within the LBM industry who have worked over the past year to repeal the burdensome legislation. The repeal legislation will now go to the President Obama's desk where he will choose to sign it or veto it. More
Scores of building material dealers and association executives headed to Capitol Hill to urge members of Congress to repeal a paperwork mandate spawned by last year's health care reform package, halt expansion of intensely disliked EPA rules on lead paint, and protect dealers from getting caught up in product-related lawsuits simply because they sold the product. More
In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama gave a boost to efforts to remove from the health care reform package a provision that would force building material dealers and other small dealers to issue huge numbers of 1099 tax forms to vendors, suppliers, and contractors. More
Rarely have we entered a year in which perspective and attitude matter more in our industry. Most dealers I've met lately regard this slump glumly, as a famine to be endured. That's why it was such a head-turner to hear Peter Ganahl refer to our current malaise as "The Opportunity Zone." More
Banks reducing lending to builders in an effort to improve their balance sheets edged out the Republican Party's election resurgence as the Top LBM Story of 2010, while US LBM president and CEO L.T. Gibson was chosen by voters as this year's Most Significant Person in LBM, according to the results of a vote held by ProSales that were announced today. More
Scores of LBM dealers, distributors, and window and door manufacturers appealed in person on Capitol Hill for Congressional action in favor of home retrofitting incentives, against Democrats' health care proposals, and for permanent estate tax relief. Their visits followed a Louisiana Republican senator's warning that the Obama administration threatens small business and a political analyst's prediction that Democrats could lose up to 30 House seats and up to eight Senate seats in the November elections. More
