Of all the advocacy discussions and debates we weighed in on in 2022 that impacted our industry, legislation surrounding furniture tip-over and clothing storage units for children topped the list. Our industry has consistently pushed for a mandatory standard for clothing storage units for over a decade, with child safety
It has been a tumultuous year for home furnishings retailers and their consumers as we have navigated various macroeconomic issues. We have seen inflation with rising energy costs, supply chain disruptions, lingering COVID-19 impacts, and regulatory and legislative efforts on clothing storage unit tip-overs. In May of 2022, the Home
After months of stalled negotiations, congressional Democrats were able to move broad climate, clean energy, and health care legislation in the first two weeks of August. This bill, called the Inflation Reduction Act and signed into law by President Biden, is smaller than the original ‘Build Back Better’ proposal but
Nothing drives congressional activity like a deadline – in this case, the August recess and November midterm elections have created a unique environment spurring action on priority issues for both parties. Democrats have controlled the White House, House, and Senate since January 2021 but cannot advance large parts of their
Current events, some that have no direct relationship to the home furnishings industry, can sometimes disrupt our advocacy processes. We are experiencing this with the STURDY Act. We have been looking to wrap up this long-time legislative struggle relating to tip-over issues. It passed a key committee vote and awaits
It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since a series of tariffs were imposed on China by the Trump Administration. This so-called trade war was started primarily to address the trade imbalance between the U.S. and China. There were several tariffs imposed over the summer of 2018 in four
Often when we talk about our government relations action team (GRAT) and our advocacy efforts, it is always about works in progress. We focus on those issues that are at hand, and that need a resolution of some sort. Finally, we have the chance to discuss something we worked on
For the first time since 2019, many of our HFA members came together in Washington for what we affectionately refer to as our DC Fly-In. Each attendee is a member of our Government Relations Action Team (GRAT). This has always been an annual chance to get in front of key
Recently, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) denied an industry request, co-signed by HFA, to extend the comment period for their clothing storage unit tip-over safety standard. Public comments are due to the CPSC by April 19, 2022. It is critical that the furniture retail voice is represented as they
On January 19th, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted unanimously, 4-0, to advance its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) on a mandatory safety standard for Clothing Storage Unit tip-overs. The text in the CPSC proposal was initially published in July 2021, but the Commission did not receive a staff
Matt Pridemore’s Life-Changing “Call” Last week I found myself traveling to Valdosta, GA to present one of the Home Furnishings
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