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On Oct. 14, the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce reported H.R. 3441, the Save Local Business Act favorably out of committee with a final vote of 23-17. On Oct. 4, ABC sent a letter to Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx and Ranking Member Bobby Scott, thanking them for holding a markup of this legislation. Additionally, ABC sent a letter on Sept. 12 to Subcommittee Chairmen Bradley Byrne and Tim Walberg thanking them for introducing H.R. 3441. ABC joined the Coalition to Save Local Businesses in supporting the bill, which already has 95 bipartisan cosponsors.

H.R. 3441 will help restore the “joint employer” standard that has been in place for more than 30 years and bring stability back into the economy for contractors and subcontractors across the country. ABC will continue to track this important legislation as it awaits consideration on the House floor.

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ABC President and CEO Mike Bellaman hit the airwaves last week one day after congressional and administration leaders released a highly anticipated tax reform framework. “Our 21,000 members are applauding,” ABC CEO Mike Bellaman said in a live interview with Fox Business’s early-morning FBN:am show on Thursday, Sept. 28. “This helps our big companies, our small companies as well as our workers.”

Following up on a statement issued in reaction to the release of the Unified Framework for Fixing Our Broken Tax Code by ABC on Sept. 27, Bellaman explained the benefits of fair tax treatment for all companies regardless of size, structure or sector. “In our business, it’s all about cash flow. Every extra dollar of cash means an extra dollar they can invest in talent, technology and equipment so they can continue to grow their business, hire more people—it’s a beautiful flywheel effect.”

Bellaman also gave a live interview to RT’s Boom Bust Thursday afternoon highlighting tax changes needed by construction contractors, which face the highest effective tax rate of any industry.

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On Oct. 2, ABC President and CEO Mike Bellaman attended a White House event with roughly 300 representatives from industry groups and other private sector organizations where Vice President Pence spoke about the need for deregulation and rule-cutting.
  
Following the White House event, 10 federal agencies and departments hosted meetings to discuss their respective regulatory agendas, several of which ABC National staff attended. Bellaman also participated in the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Cut the Red Tape Summit: Eliminating Excessive Regulation To Create Jobs and Growth, which addressed DOL’s need for regulatory reform under executive orders 13771 and 13777. 

On Oct. 3, Bellaman participated in the Smart Sectors Program Launch, a reform effort that aims to promote industry outreach and a partnership between the private and public sectors, with the goal of streamlining the regulatory process and achieving better environmental outcomes. “The Smart Sectors Program shows it’s a new day at EPA—and that’s good news for the environment and the economy,” Bellaman said the EPA press release on the event. “The nation’s construction industry welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with regulators to ensure that environmental protection is streamlined and cost effective. That’s the way government can help industry be more productive, create more jobs and grow the economy.”

During the 115th Congress, ABC will continue to advocate for regulatory reform that focuses on improving the current broken federal regulatory process. 

Members that have specific regulatory concerns are encouraged to take advantage of the Small Business Administration’s regulatory reform input page. The page gives the business community and the public at large an opportunity to submit comments and specific feedback on their regulatory burdens.

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As part of the Trump administration’s effort to promote and execute a regulatory reform agenda (executive order 13777), ABC member federal contractors who perform work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) are encouraged to submit comments to the Corps and Department of Defense (DoD) in response to their request for “input on its existing regulations that may be appropriate for repeal, replacement or modification.” 

According to a proposed rule in the Federal Register, DoD is encouraging the public to comment and provide evaluation of the Corps’ existing regulations by the DoD Regulatory Reform Task Force’s U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers Subgroup.  The deadline to submit comments is Oct. 18, 2017.

ABC members can submit comments at regulations.gov or email them to CorpsRegulatoryReview@usace.army.mil and include docket number COE-2017-0004 in the subject line of the message. 

If there are any issues you would like ABC National to include in our response to the Corps, or if you have any questions about how to respond to the Corps’ request for input, contact ABC National’s Manager of Labor and Employment Policy, Kelly Tyroler.

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ABC’s General Counsel Littler Mendelsen P.C. produced a podcast that details anticipated changes to immigration policy under the Trump administration and discusses employer compliance. The podcast specifically addresses:

• I-9 and visa requirements
• Potential for an increase in ICE audits and worksite visits
• DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program
• TPS (temporary protected status) program

Additionally, the podcast offers employers tips on how to be proactive in light of expected changes in policy and enforcement priorities.

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CarolinaPower of Greer, S.C., a member of ABC’s Carolinas Chapter, has been awarded Accredited Quality Contractor (AQC) status by ABC.

The AQC program recognizes and honors construction firms that document their commitment to excellence in five key areas of corporate responsibility: quality, safety, employee benefits, training and community relations.  A company that meets the criteria set forth in the program and has earned Safety Training Evaluation Process (STEP) Gold, Platinum or Diamond status, is formally designated an “Accredited Quality Contractor.”      

Companies selected as an Accredited Quality Contractor receive:

• Wide recognition within the industry and business community and with the public 
• Authorization to use AQC language in bid documents
• Permission to use the AQC logo on letterhead, business cards and jobsite signs
• Access to AQC marketing materials such as hard hat stickers, membership plaques, etc. 
• Points on ABC National Excellence in Construction^® award submissions
• Mention in the December issue of ABC’s magazine, Construction Executive, as well as eligibility to purchase specially priced packages for half-page, full-page and two-page designs

For more information, visit abc.org/aqc or contact aqc@abc.org. 

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On Sept. 26, U.S. Senate leadership announced there will not be a vote on the latest version of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal bill. 

Named after its four sponsors, the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson (GCHJ) bill aimed to repeal parts of the ACA and change its federal funding system with annual block grants to states to help individuals pay for health care.

According to a press release from the office of Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the grant dollars would replace the federal money being spent on Medicaid expansion, ACA tax credits, cost-sharing reduction subsidies and basic health plan dollars. The GCHJ bill would also provide states with equitable block grant distribution, which aims to provide equal funding for all states by 2026. 

Sen. Cassidy also published a formula description, along with a list of frequently asked questions, with details on the bill’s funding plan.    

The decision not to vote on the legislation came one day after the Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing on the GCHJ bill, when Republican leadership reportedly lacked the votes needed for passage.  

The current draft of the bill shares several provisions with the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), some of which ABC supported, which include zeroing out the individual and employer mandates and repealing the ACA’s medical device tax. 

Under the current fiscal year’s rules of reconciliation, the Senate needed to vote on the bill by Sept. 30 in order to avoid the 60-vote requirement. 

On July 28, the Senate voted on passage of the BCRA, but the GOP’s effort was voted down 49-51, with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) casting the final “no” vote. 

ABC will continue to provide updates in Newsline on the status of the GCHJ bill and other health care issues that impact ABC members. 

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ABC is encouraging all members that have not done so already to take action and submit comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) on their proposal to rescind their 2015 final Clean Water Rule: Definition of “Waters of the United States,” also known as the WOTUS final rule, and re-codify the regulations that existed prior to the 2015 rule.

Had it gone into effect, the WOTUS final rule would have dramatically expanded the scope of federal authority over water and land uses across the country, triggering a substantial increase in permitting requirements and leading to project delays and cost increases for the construction industry.

The public has the opportunity to comment until Sept. 27 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Members can take action through the ABC Action Center or through the ABC Action app on either iPhone or Android devices.

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On Sept. 25, ABC submitted comments to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division on its Request for Information (RFI) on the 2016 overtime final rule, officially named the Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees. ABC also filed comments with a coalition of business groups and other stakeholders as a member of the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity. 

The final overtime rule, had it gone into effect,  would have changed the federal exemptions to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act for “white collar” workers by doubling the current minimum salary level for exemption from $23,660 to $47,476 per year and automatically increasing it every three years. 

On Aug. 31, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted a motion for summary judgment against the final overtime rule and converted its earlier preliminary injunction (issued Nov. 22, 2016) to a permanent injunction. ABC participated in the legal challenge that resulted in the court overturning the rule.

ABC has been a vocal opponent of the rule since it was first proposed. In its comment letter, ABC urged the DOL to comply with the district court’s decision and immediately rescind the unlawful 2016 rule. 

ABC will continue to provide status updates on the overtime final rule in Newsline.

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On Sept. 15, the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a notice in the Federal Register that the minimum wage for federal contractors will increase to $10.35 per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2018. The increase comes as result of the Obama DOL’s final rule implementing Executive Order 13658, Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors (Feb. 12, 2014), which raised the hourly minimum wage paid by contractors to workers performing work on covered Federal contracts to $10.10, and annually thereafter, an amount determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the methodology set forth in the Order.

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