Bill offering relief for large US yacht builders takes step forward
By IBI Magazine/Michael Verdon
The NMMA reported today that a bill that would amend the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA) has passed a major hurdle in the US House of Representatives. HR 940, sponsored by Ric Keller (R-Florida), seeks to exempt the recreational marine industry from worker's compensation provisions aimed at commercial boatbuilders. The House Education & Workforce Committee recommended that Keller's bill, called the Recreational Marine Employment Act (RMEA), be considered as possible legislation by the entire House of Representatives. The majority of Congressional bills die in their committees. "Today's markup shows that there is growing support and momentum for this commonsense bill," said Monita Fontaine, NMMA vice president of government relations, in a release. NMMA has been working for the past several years to amend the LHWCA. In 1984, Congress realized that LHWCA had unintended consequences for the recreational marine industry, exempting work on recreational boats under 65 feet in length. Since then, the release notes that "an increasingly important and vibrant segment of the recreational marine industry remains burdened by LHWCA." "The practical impact of these additional insurance requirements is a significant loss of American jobs because U.S. employers are put at a competitive disadvantage to overseas competition," said Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH). "Mr. Keller's bill changes that and promotes family-wage jobs here in the U.S."
(14 April 2005)
|
