On Thursday, the Congressional Boating Caucus and the Congressional Motorcycle Caucus hosted a panel discussion on why Congress needs to pass the Consumer Protection and Fuel Transparency Act of 2018 – bipartisan legislation that would more clearly label harmful and corrosive E15 ethanol blended gasoline at pumps across the country and better protect engines in […]

Last Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to prioritize and expand workforce development, which seeks to create and fill American jobs with American workers. The boating industry stands ready to hire a new generation of workers into stable, well-paying careers, and the recreation has worked closely with the administration and lawmakers to provide […]

Committee Agenda Will Help Achieve Expanded Recreation Access and Improved Infrastructure The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, of which MRAA is a founding member, welcomed key outcomes from the inaugural meeting of the Interior Department’s “Made in America” Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee. The committee discussed approaches that would allow more Americans to enjoy the nation’s great outdoors, […]

MRAA has joined on to the Boating and Fishing Aquatic Invasive Species Coalition, which is comprised of stakeholder organizations from around the country. The coalition was formed to present a united front on Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) policies at the federal level. During the first meeting on Monday, July 23rd, the coalition unanimously agreed to […]

On June 21st the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states are allowed collect sales tax on remote Internet sales. This decision represents a significant victory for brick and mortar marine retailers. Last year, the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled that a 2016 law requiring out-of-state internet retailers to collect sales tax violates a 1992 U.S. […]

Interior Secretary Zinke, Conservation & Recreation Groups Praise Bipartisan Consensus Legislation to Address $12 Billion National Park Service Backlog in Deferred and Overdue Maintenance WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Mark Warner (D-VA), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Angus King (I-ME) introduced the Restore Our Parks Act, bipartisan legislation that would address the nearly […]

Funding for the Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account Will Ensure Economic Impact of Outdoor Recreation Industry Continues to Be Recognized by the Federal Government Washington, D.C. – The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) applauded the Senate Appropriations Committee for including funding for the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account (ORSA) in […]

The marine industry is facing a massive workforce shortage and one reason behind it is the lack of quality education options. Apprenticeships help bridge that gap by allowing students to learn from experienced employees, in a real world environment. There’s a new apprenticeship bill moving in the Senate that needs your support. Last week, Senator Baldwin (D-WI) introduced the […]

Currently, U.S. marine industry is facing a triple threat when it comes to tariffs: Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese aluminum sheet, and 301 tariffs on nearly 300 marine related products. As a result, our industry is experiencing rising manufacturing costs, retaliatory tariffs, and order cancelations.   As […]

A workforce bill that would allocate $100,000 of funding to the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association to build and support workforce development programs has passed the Massachusetts state Senate. The recreational boating industry in Massachusetts has an economic impact of over $2 billion dollars and employs over 11,000 men and women, according to the MMTA. “This […]