MCAA: Advancing The Industry Through Advocacy

The Mason Contractors Association of America was founded in 1950, and was formed to educate, train, and represent the mason contractor. In order to do all three effectively, MCAA has to keep up on all issues affecting contractors. We do our best to consider what is best for the industry as a whole, and mason contractors in general, when focusing our advocacy efforts. To give you a better idea of how we approach advocacy efforts and governmental regulations, here is a roundup of our position papers, MAC PAC, Letters to Congress, and the Legislative Fly-In.

MCAA Position Papers

The MCAA takes positions on important issues as they pertain to our industry. These positions are well-considered and researched, and are publicly available so that all members and the general public know where we stand. Recent position papers include support for H.R. 1740, introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019 by Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA). This bill followed the economic recovery our country started to make following the recession and shines an important spotlight on the need for workforce development and career and technical training (CTE) programs to resurrect and strengthen the American manufacturing sector.

Other issues that the MCAA strongly supports are programs to create temporary guest workers and levy massive fines and penalties rather than continuing a deliberately misleading practice by some employers that misclassify employees as independent contractors. Some construction contractors do this to avoid payroll taxes, insurance premiums, and other employment expenses in order to boost company profits.

You can read all of the MCAA's Position Papers for free on our website. 

MCAA Letters to Congress

The MCAA drafts letters to Congress when we as a group feel the need to communicate about a specific issue. Writing to state legislators and regulators is one way to directly reach and influence policymakers and educate them on our industry's issues and perspectives. As you might imagine, members of Congress receive a large number of letters. Once received, they are read and tallied. Usually, a legislative correspondent reads the messages and verifies if the sender is a constituent. Unique and moving messages might be shared among other members of Congress. If Congress receives a large number of letters from groups like ours, along with letters from individual constituents, it makes more of an impact. 

Our most recent letter to Congress was about estate tax reform. We as a group support the inclusion

of a full and permanent repeal of the federal estate tax as part of comprehensive tax reform. The reasons are that an estate tax, also known as a "death tax," contributes to a loss of capital in our country that could be used for job creation. 

You can read all of the MCAA's Letters to Congress for free on our website. So far, we have submitted 17 letters to Congress dating back to 2008.

MCAA’s Legislative Minute

Got only a minute or two but want to be kept up to date on a particular issue? Tune in to the MCAA Legislative Minute. These are brief videos of a minute or so in length that present brief discussions with members of Congress about current issues affecting the masonry industry. There are four videos so far. The most recent one features Congressman Trey Radel from Florida’s 19th congressional district, who discusses the Water Resources Development Act of 2013 and our nation’s infrastructure. 

Listen to all of the MCAA's Legislative Minutes for free on our website. 

MAC PAC

PAC stands for Political Action Committee. PACs were created in 1944 when Congress created one to raise money for the re-election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. At the time, the PAC's money came from voluntary contributions from union members. Today, unions and organizations can gather money to contribute to candidates because the money is kept separate from the organization's or union's general treasury. PACs can give $5,000 to a candidate committee per election (primary, general, or special). They can also give up to $15,000 annually to any national party committee, and $5,000 annually to any other PAC. PACs may receive up to $5,000 from any one individual, PAC, or party committee per calendar year.

We invite MCAA members to contribute to MAC PAC. Participation is completely voluntary. The purpose of MAC PAC is to help elect federal candidates to office who are pro-construction and who have a track record of working with views that support the MCAA's goals. By pooling your money with other members and PACs, you can have a greater impact than your donation would have alone. 

The most that an individual can contribute in a calendar year is $5,000. 

The MCAA has various levels at which individuals can contribute to MAC PAC that can fit into everyone's budget. 

The MCAA has won many legislative victories over the past few years with the help of many members including:

• Repeal of the 3% government withholding tax

• Permanently addressed the “patch” to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) by indexing the AMT to inflation

• A major step forward in permanently extending the estate tax exemption level at $5 million per spouse, indexing the exemption level for inflation, capping the tax rate at 40 percent, and allowing for spousal portability

• Including life-cycle costing (LCC) related to Military Construction projects

• Life-cycle costing as a part of OMB’s Circular A-94 (Guidelines and Discount Rates for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Federal Programs)

For more information visit the MCAA MAC PAC page.