The ICE Board elected Michael Schmerbeck of Back Brook Masonry in Hillsbourgh, New Jersey to be the new President of the Board. He replaced Fred Kinateder who served ably in the position for many years. We fully expect Mike will continue the tradition of strong ICE leadership that began with Gene George and continued during Kinateder's term.

Schmerbeck has 30 years experience in the construction industry. He holds a B.S. Degree in Civil/Structural Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and is the current Past President of the Masonry Contractors of New Jersey, after serving as President for 11 years. He sits on the National Board of Directors of the International Masonry Institute and member of the Management Committee. He previously served as ICE Board Vice President.

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The ICE website has a brand new look! Check out the new design with easy to navigate features and helpful information at your fingertips. A mobile version will also be accessible soon.

We welcome your feedback. Please let us know what you think by emailing ICE staff member Maria Dorsett.

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Government relations can be a complicated and frustrating affair. The process often described as sausage making is filled with education and reeducation of legislators and staff, long time lines, compromises and apparent lack of progress. After all that work and time, successes are often met with a quick turn of our attention to the next issue instead of reflection, let alone celebration.

In advance of the April 27-29 annual Quality Construction Alliance (QCA) National Issues Conference, the main vehicle for ICE members to participate in the process, we thought it would be appropriate to reflect on some of the conference's successes:

• Funding of Helmets to Hardhats.
• The repeal of the mandatory three percent withholding on all federal, state and local government work that was set to go into effect in 2011.
• 2010 increase in the applicable exclusion amount for estate taxes to $5 million (up from $3.5 million) and reduction in the maximum tax rate for estates to 35 percent (down from 45 percent).
• Last month's passage of the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, making a great portion of the recommendations contained in Solutions Not Bailouts, which ICE helped craft, the law of the land.

The above are not a comprehensive reflection of the successes association advocacy has on legislation throughout the year. They are just examples of the issues that have been on the agenda of the National Issues Conference that demonstrate the importance and effectiveness of the conference. Many organizations worked on the above issues, but QCA has often provided the most meaningful advocacy and the premiere event for issues, as it did last year with its Conversation on Multi-Employer Pension Reform (click here for videos).

Now that the reflection is complete, it is time to turn our attention to the next set of issues and the best way ICE members can have an impact on the laws that can help or hurt their businesses, participation in the QCA National Issues Conference on April 27-29. Of particular importance this year is our determination to finish the job on pension reform and make alternate plan design more available to the industry's collective bargaining groups.

An impressive lineup of speakers is coming together for the conference, much of which will be held at the Newseum. The Newseum's dynamic, engaging and interactive museum allows visitors to experience the stories of yesterday and today through the eyes of the media while celebrating the freedoms guaranteed to all Americans by the First Amendment.

DC hotels tend to fill up quickly, so make your reservations today. Click here to download registration form. 

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As previously reported in the ICE Voice Special Bulletin, the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, part of the trillion-dollar government funding legislation (the so-called "CRomnibus" bill), was signed by President Obama on December 16, 2014. The legislation made significant changes to the law governing multiemployer pension plans. The new pension law was modeled substantially after recommendations of the National Coordinating Committee for Multi-Employer Plans' Retirement Security Review Commission, of which ICE was a member. ICE and its partners have been urging legislators to make the recommendations contained in the RSRC report, entitled "Solutions Not Bailouts," law since the report was released last year.

For more details, refer to original article here.

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Pictured from left:  AAF President Ron Bogle,  AAF Regent Diane Hoskins, IMI President Joan Calambokidis, BAC President James Boland and  AAF Center for Design & Cultural Heritage Director Thom Minner Photo by: Jocelyn Augustino

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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation released its Annual Report in November 2014, which showed that PBGC's deficit increased to about $62 billion in FY14, largely due to the declining condition of a few multiemployer plans.

The FY 2013 Projections Report found that the insolvencies of a minority of multiemployer plans have become both more likely and more imminent. PBGC's multiemployer insurance program's deficit rose to $42.4 billion in FY14, compared with $8.3 billion in FY13. The program's increased deficit is largely due to the fact that several additional large multiemployer plans are expected to become insolvent within the next decade.

The multiemployer program insures the benefits of more than 10 million workers and retirees in about 1,400 plans. When multiemployer plans fail, PBGC provides financial assistance so the plans can pay benefits at no more than PBGC's statutory multiemployer benefit guarantee level. While the multiemployer program's assets would meet the needs of the current inventory of insolvent plans, assets are insufficient to cover benefits for plans expected to run out of money in the near future. Read more.

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In October, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a directive for enforcing requirements of the Cranes and Derricks in Construction
standard. The new directive provides OSHA compliance personnel with direction on performing inspections where power-operated equipment, covered by Subpart CC - Cranes and Derricks in Construction, is present on a construction worksite.

OSHA published the construction crane and derrick rule on Aug. 9, 2010, and most of its provisions became effective Nov. 8, 2010. The rule was revised to replace decades-old standards and address the significant number of fatalities associated with the use of cranes and derricks.

OSHA's Cranes and Derricks Safety web page provides compliance assistance on equipment requirements for assembly and disassembly, qualified rigger, signal person qualifications and wire rope inspections; frequently asked questions; and PowerPoint presentations and videos explaining the revised rule and the hazards involved in crane operations.
 

For more information, click here.

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