Efficiency First

Today the HOME STAR Coalition published an open letter to President Obama and the United States Senate calling for HOME STAR legislation to be included in the Small Business Jobs Bill currently under development in the Senate:

An Open Letter to President Obama and the United States Senate:

On behalf of the HOME STAR Coalition and its now over 2,000 members, many of whom are small business owners, we write to you today with a sense of urgency regarding the inclusion of the bi-partisan HOME STAR legislation (S. 3434) in the pending Small Business Jobs legislation being considered in the Senate. HOME STAR is a triple-WIN – helping some of the hardest hit industries in our economy while simultaneously:

• Rapidly creating jobs
• Contributing to energy independence
• Lowering household energy bills

To date, the unemployment level in the contracting sector remains unacceptably high as one out of every four construction workers is out of work. Now is the time to help this important part of the economy.

In addition, HOME STAR is a market-driven, low-bureaucracy program that will create jobs fast by scaling the existing home energy efficiency improvement industry. HOME STAR will use rebates and tax incentives to catalyze more Americans to co-invest and begin making their homes more energy efficient. Consumers nationwide will embrace HOME STAR because it will be simple, accessible and helps them save money – and save energy.

The HOME STAR Coalition is a broad-based coalition that includes over a 2,000 small and medium sized businesses from every state in the country along with nationally recognized companies, labor and environmental organizations and associations. The HOME STAR legislation has bi-partisan support and 25 co-sponsors in the Senate. HOME STAR also has the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).

We urge the Senate to move swiftly to include HOME STAR as part of the Small Business Jobs bill.

The letter was written on behalf of the more than 2,000 businesses and organizations that have joined the coalition and registered their support for the proposed HOME STAR incentive program.

Coalition supporters are listed on the HOME STAR Coalition Web site at www.homestarcoalition.org.