Jay Short, owner of Short & Paulk Supply Company, recently visited Washington, D.C. to attend the Legislative Conference for the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association. Short holds a dealer representative seat on the NLBMDA board through his affiliation with the Construction Suppliers Association, a building material trade association with members in Alabama and Georgia. He also serves as vice-chair of the NLBMDA regulatory, codes and standards committee. 

During his visit, Short spoke with members of Congress about the NLBMDA's top legislative priorities: the preservation of the homeowner mortgage interest deduction; the Innocent Sellers Fairness Act (H.R.2746), a bill designed to shield dealers and other retail businesses from product liability lawsuits; and the Lead Exposure Reduction Amendments Act (H.R.2093 and S.484), a bill that would reform the EPA's Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting rule to make the regulation "more reasonable" for remodelers, contractors, and homeowners, while still protecting pregnant women and children younger than 6 years old from exposure to lead.

When asked what impression he wanted to leave with members of Congress, Short replied, "We need to restore confidence in the American dream of home ownership and we can only do that if Congress doesn't hurt housing efforts."

For more information, visit www.shortpaulk.com.