Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed by a voice vote HR 985, the Concrete Masonry Products Research Education and Promotion Act of 2015 introduced by Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY). The legislation would promote the concrete masonry industry by allowing the establishment of a commodity check-off initiative. The legislation requires the concrete masonry industry to then vote on whether to pursue a commodity check-off program which the Department of Commerce would oversee. Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) reintroduced the companion bill in the Senate (S 1524) on June 11, but there has been no further legislative activity in the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee since then.