Monday, May 16, 2022 10:55 AM
WASHINGTON, May 16—The flawed method used by the federal government to calculate “prevailing wages” under the 91-year-old Davis-Bacon Act adds at least 7.2% to the cost of federal and federally assisted construction projects and inflates wages by 20.2% compared to local market averages, according to a new report from the Beacon Hill Institute. Associated Builders and Contractors has called on the U.S. Department of Labor to modernize its wage determination process for decades, but a proposed rule the agency released on March 18 actually makes this archaic and unscientific process even more inaccurate, inflationary and biased.
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Tuesday, April 26, 2022 1:40 PM
WASHINGTON, April 26—Associated Builders and Contractors today applauded a letter sent to President Joe Biden by 16 Republican governors, led by Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas and Bill Lee of Tennessee, opposing the Biden administration’s policies promoting government-mandated project labor agreements on taxpayer-funded construction projects.
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Tuesday, April 19, 2022 8:54 AM
WASHINGTON, April 19—Associated Builders and Contractors Vice President of Regulatory, Labor and State Affairs Ben Brubeck today issued the following statement on the final National Environmental Policy Act rule.
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Wednesday, April 6, 2022 12:07 PM
WASHINGTON, April 6—Today, Associated Builders and Contractors sent the White House a letter with more than 1,200 signatures from member companies and chapters representing the construction industry strongly opposing President Biden’s executive order mandating project labor agreements on federal public works projects exceeding $35 million.
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Tuesday, March 15, 2022 3:04 PM
WASHINGTON, March 15—The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas today dealt a blow to the Biden administration’s efforts to delay and rescind the Trump administration’s 2021 independent contractor final rule in a decision applauded by Associated Builders and Contractors, which had sued to block those actions. Under the court’s decision, the ABC-supported rule went into effect as scheduled on March 8, 2021, and remains in effect today.
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Friday, March 11, 2022 11:58 AM
WASHINGTON, March 11—Associated Builders and Contractors today released the following statement from Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, in reaction to the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed rule, Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations. The 1931 Davis-Bacon Act and related regulations require contractors and subcontractors that perform work on federal and federally funded construction projects to pay a government-determined prevailing wage and benefit rate on an hourly basis to on-site construction workers. The Davis-Bacon Act and 71 active related acts collectively apply to an estimated $217 billion in federal and federally assisted construction spending per year and provide government-determined wage rates for an estimated 1.2 million U.S. construction workers.
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Tuesday, March 8, 2022 6:59 PM
WASHINGTON, March 8—Associated Builders and Contractors today released the following statement criticizing a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. departments of Labor and Transportation advancing workforce policy initiatives on DOT-funded infrastructure projects, including controversial project labor agreements.
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Tuesday, March 1, 2022 9:30 PM
WASHINGTON, March 1—Associated Builders and Contractors issued the following statement from Michael Bellaman, its president and CEO, in reaction to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
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Monday, February 28, 2022 9:47 AM
WASHINGTON, Feb. 28—Today, Associated Builders and Contractors and a coalition of 19 associations and organizations representing the construction industry and business community sent a letter to Congress expressing support for the Fair and Open Competition Act (S. 403/H.R. 1284), sponsored by Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C, and strong opposition to government-mandated project labor agreements.
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Wednesday, February 16, 2022 9:55 AM
WASHINGTON, Feb. 16—On Feb. 15, Associated Builders and Contractors and 15 associations and organizations representing tens of thousands of companies and millions of employees in the construction industry sent a letter to the White House highlighting concerns with President Joe Biden’s efforts to require controversial government-mandated project labor agreements on federal and federally assisted construction contracts.
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