Gregg RobertsonNov 3, 2023
On Dec. 21, not three months after the start of the federal fiscal year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it had reached…
Fulfilling his promise to give Americans “an incredible Christmas gift,” President Trump signed a $1.5 trillion tax bill on Dec. 22. What this tax…
As I am writing this blog, the U.S. Senate is debating its version of a tax bill that could dramatically change the country, from…
In September 2014, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) received a call from a company near Reading, Pa. Employees had found a strange bug at…
Last month, I spent two days in Washington D.C. with about a hundred green industry company owners and state and national association staffers to…
With all the talk in Washington about health care bills and the Russia investigation, it’s easy to lose sight of more mundane but nonetheless…
In late April, Congress passed an appropriations bill to fund the federal government through the federal fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. Contained in that…
A compromise bill to fund the federal government and avoid a government shutdown contains some relief for those companies that use the H-2B guest…
Like that macabre but disturbingly funny scene in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” the federal overtime rule is “not dead yet.” The new…
LM StaffAug 14, 2023
The 2017 Irrigation Association (IA) Fly-In is scheduled for March 7-8 in Washington, D.C. The event is open to IA members and is free. Attendees…
Gregg RobertsonNov 10, 2023
Congress has one last chance to extend the H-2B returning-worker provisions in the waning days of this session of Congress. The returning-worker provision that was…
H-2B Workforce Coalition and our national associations, AmericanHort and the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP), are calling for a fly-in to Washington D.C. May…
In March, both houses of the Maryland legislature passed a bill to ban consumer use of neonicotinoids (neonics). As of this writing, the bill sits…
LM StaffNov 10, 2023
The National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) hired Paul Mendelsohn as vice president of government relations. Mendelsohn will oversee the expansion of the government relations…
In my December blog, when I listed H-2B guest worker program reforms as one of Congress’ pieces of unfinished business for landscape contractors, I had…
This year was not a productive year for Congress dealing with issues important to landscape contractors. For that matter, 2015 was not a productive year…
New regulations proposed by the federal Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division could ratchet up your labor costs and make audits of your payroll records…
As the government relations consultant for the Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Association (PLNA), one of the most frequent calls I get is from members who…
The reaction to the recent announcement by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it would publish as final the controversial “Waters of the U.S.”…
On April 9 Lowe's said it's phasing out shelf products that contain neonicotinoid-containing pesticides (neonics) and will work with growers over the next four years…
State and local governments are beginning to outlaw bamboo as a nuisance or are regulating how and where it can be planted. Bamboo has often…
LM StaffNov 9, 2023
Hundreds of Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) members converged in Washington, D.C., July 29 for the organization's annual Legislative Day on the Hill, hosted by PLANET, the Accredited…
Marisa PalmieriFeb 27, 2023
Immigration reform is a perennial issue for the landscape industry. The promise of Congress passing a comprehensive bill to address the nation's broken immigration system…
A small window that’s closing fast is how Craig Regelbrugge, the American Nursery & Landscape Association’s (ANLA) vice president of government relations and research, describes…
