December 17, 2021 

NATE Submits Public Comments on Federal Vaccine Mandate

After President Biden and OSHA announced a federal vaccine mandate for private sector employees, NATE conducted a survey to determine how this might impact NATE members and their workers.

NATE used this survey to develop public comments that the Association submitted to OSHA. You can read NATE’s comments that were submitted to OSHA here.

OSHA’s Top 10 Violations for FY 2021 & NATE Meets with New OSHA Leadership

Curious what the top 10 safety violations were in 2021? Read more in Safety and Health magazine.

Safety is NATE’s highest priority; it’s a primary reason NATE was founded more than 25 years ago. As NATE works to improve safety, we are also working to educate policy makers about NATE’s national safety programs. In fact,  NATE coordinated a meeting on December 13 with Doug Parker, the new Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, and his deputy, Jim Frederick.

Leading NATE officials participated in the meeting, which provided us the opportunity to introduce the Association to the top officials at OSHA. The most critical issue was OSHA’s proposed rule on tower climber safety and fall protection, which we continue to assert is not necessary because of the industry consensus standards already in place. We also discussed the NATE-OSHA-FCC Partnership, NATE’s workforce development initiatives and our use of drones for tower inspections, which will minimize risk to tower techs. 

NATE appreciates Mr. Parker’s engagement with our industry and his efforts to learn more about tower climber safety programs. Read NATE’s recent correspondence to Assistant Secretary Parker.

NATE Congratulates Alan Davidson After Senate Commerce Committee Hearing

On December 15, the Senate Commerce Committee voted to advance the nomination of Alan Davidson, President Biden’s nominee to lead the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

During his recent nomination hearing, NATE was pleased that Mr. Davidson committed to Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) that NTIA will be transparent and accountable as it distributes broadband funding. He also committed to Senator Todd Young (R-IN) that NTIA would ensure that broadband deployment would be technology neutral – meaning that both wireless and fiber would be utilized in closing the digital divide. This was a major issue for NATE as the Senate was debating this legislation, and NATE is pleased with Davidson’s promise.

NATE released a letter of endorsement shortly after the Commerce Committee’s nomination hearing with Mr. Davidson.

FCC Nominee Gigi Sohn Faces Challenging Path to Senate Confirmation

On December 1, the Senate Commerce Committee heard from Ms. Gigi Sohn, President Biden’s nominee to serve as the fifth FCC Commissioner. It is clear from the questions and comments from Senators that Ms. Sohn has some challenges that need to be addressed if she is to be confirmed by the Senate.

You can read more about Senators’ concerns with Ms. Sohn in Politico.

NATE Working to Build Tower Tech Programs in West Virginia

Following the success in building NATE’s Tower Tech Training programs in three community colleges and career centers in Ohio, NATE is now working with the community college system in West Virginia to develop similar programs in the Mountain State.

Loyd Linger, NATE WIN West Virginia Liaison, and NATE staff met with representatives from the West Virginia community college system to talk about implementing NATE’s tower tech programs and we are excited to continue moving forward with these essential programs.

NATE thanks our friend Congressman David McKinley (R-WV) for his assistance and support and for facilitating these relationships!

End of Year Tax Guidelines

The IRS published some tips and guidelines regarding property depreciation and tax deductions. Depreciation is an annual tax deduction that allows small businesses to recover the cost or other basis of certain property over the time they use the property. It is an allowance for the wear and tear, deterioration or obsolescence of the property.

Review this one pager for some tips that you might find helpful.

Recommended Reading

NATE’s friends at the American Enterprise Institute released a fairly detailed breakdown of the broadband funding included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the federal infrastructure package, that was recently signed into law.

NATE agrees that there needs to be significantly better coordination between federal, state, and local entities to ensure the $65 billion in broadband funding is deployed properly. NATE supported several amendments to the IIJA and additional legislative initiatives to ensure FCC maps are up to date and that there is close collaboration between public agencies charged with deploying this funding.

You can read this report by clicking here.