BAM NEWS
BAM Leader Appointed To State Construction Codes Advisory Task Force
BAM Past President Kathe Ostrom, of C.N. Ostrom & Son, was appointed by Governor Tim Pawlenty to sit on the state’s Construction Codes Advisory Council. The Council is a formal advisory board for the Construction Codes and Licensing Division (CCLD) of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI).
In June, the Council raised a number of residential construction issues that will be discussed further and may impact the 2010 legislative agenda.
1. Advisory Task Force on Employee Misclassification
The Department of Revenue and DOLI are looking to analyze why large numbers of sole proprietors decided to become LLC’s rather than file the sizeable amount of paperwork required to obtain the “independent contractor exemption certificate.” Because of the public policy failure, they now want to study the issue and bring recommendations to the legislature on what can be done. The department is seeking individuals who are willing to serve on a task force. If you are a BAM member and interested in serving on the Misclassification of Workers Task Force please contact Pam Perri Weaver, Executive Vice President of BAM, at pamw@bamn.org.
Membership of the Advisory Task Force on Employee Misclassification is outlined in Senate File 2081 proposed during the 2009 legislative session. It names the following members: the commissioner or designee from (1) DOLI; (2) the Department of Employment and Economic Development; (3) and the Department of Revenue, and (4) the attorney general or designee; (5) a representative appointed by the Minnesota County Attorneys Association; (6) two members who are members of a labor organization that represent members who perform public or private sector commercial or residential building construction or improvement services; (7) a commercial general contractor or representative of general contractors; (8) a residential general contractor or representative of general contractors; (9) a commercial subcontractor or representative of subcontractors; (10) a residential construction subcontractor or representative of subcontractors; and (11) up to three additional members who perform commercial or residential building and construction or improvement services including one member who is an independent contractor with a current independent contractor certificate; one member who is a limited liability corporation; and one member who is an employee.
The Task Force will be required to complete their work by this December and is expected to meet three or four times this summer and fall. The letter establishing the task force can be viewed online by visiting: http://www.bamn.org/Documents/DOLIAdvisoryTaskForceLetter6-29-09.pdf
2. Home Warranty Task Force
DOLI is going to try and come up with a solution to the “home warranty” issue. In one of the five veto messages delivered to the legislature regarding the home warranty bills, Governor Pawlenty told the legislature, “I support provisions in the bill that would bring interested parties together to develop a timely and prescriptive process for resolving homeowner warranty disputes without litigation. My administration will move forward with that process even though this legislation was vetoed.” You can see the veto message online at: http://www.governor.state.mn.us/stellent/groups/public/documents/web_content/prod009554.pdf
If you’re a BAM member and interested in participating in the home warranty task force please contact Pam Perri Weaver at pamw@bamn.org.