WASHINGTON, Aug. 29—Associated Builders and Contractors today issued the following statement opposing the U.S. Department of Labor‘s proposed rulemaking that would alter overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The proposal increases the minimum salary level threshold to $55,068 annually for a full-year worker and automatically updates the threshold every three years.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29—Associated Builders and Contractors issued a statement from Vice President of Regulatory, Labor and State Affairs Ben Brubeck on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Aug. 29 final rule further revising the definition of “waters of the United States.”

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29—The U.S. Treasury Department’s Internal Revenue Service today released a proposed rule and FAQs on provisions of the ABC-opposed Inflation Reduction Act, which will affect the developers, contractors and workers that are building clean energy projects eligible for more than $270 billion in federal tax credits.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29—Associated Builders and Contractors released the following statement responding to guidance released today by the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service regarding tax credits for private clean energy projects funded by the Inflation Reduction Act conditioned on compliance with prevailing wage and government-registered apprenticeship requirements.

WASHINGTON, May 18—In a comment letter filed on May 17, Associated Builders and Contractors urged President Biden’s U.S. Department of Labor to withdraw an inflationary and flawed proposed rule revising Davis-Bacon Act and Related Acts regulations that apply to federal and federally assisted construction projects funded by taxpayers.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7—Associated Builders and Contractors today released the following statement in response to the Biden administration’s White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment report on how to boost union membership in the federal government and public and private sectors.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3—Associated Builders and Contractors today blasted President Biden’s executive order, which encourages the use of controversial project labor agreement mandates on federal construction projects that are funded by taxpayers.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13—Associated Builders and Contractors today applauded the U.S. Supreme Court for reinstating the stay on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard, which applies to employers with 100 or more employees. On behalf of the construction industry, ABC filed one of the emergency appeals to the Supreme Court leading to this successful outcome.

WASHINGTON, March 25—Associated Builders and Contractors lauded Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) today for signing into law the Fair and Open Competition Act (HB 135), which ensures all of Kentucky’s skilled construction workforce and qualified businesses can compete on a level playing field for contracts to build state and local public works projects.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28—Associated Builders and Contractors released its 2018 Merit Shop Scorecard today, an annual state ranking based on policies and programs that encourage open competition, education and job growth, and award construction contracts based solely on merit, regardless of labor affiliation.

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2018—Associated Builders and Contractors joined a coalition of construction and business associations urging President Trump to eliminate government-mandated project labor agreements and allow all qualified contractors to compete for federal and federally assisted taxpayer-funded construction projects.

WASHINGTON, July 17—Associated Builders and Contractors today issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s announcement that it is rescinding the final persuader rule.

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today released its annual update to “Building America: The Merit Shop Scorecard,” which takes stock of state policies that influence the success or failure of a free enterprise-based environment for construction companies.  

WASHINGTON, May 30—Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today applauded Gov. Eric Greitens (R-Mo.) for signing legislation into law that will promote fair and open competition on contracts for construction services funded by Missouri taxpayers. SB 182 ensures controversial project labor agreements (PLAs) cannot be mandated by the government on state, state-assisted and local construction projects, guaranteeing that the almost three out of four members of Missouri’s private construction workforce who have chosen not to join a labor union can fairly compete to work on projects funded by their own tax dollars.

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today applauded Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) for signing legislation into law that will promote fair and open competition on contracts for construction services funded by Wisconsin taxpayers. The bill, SB 3, will ensure that the government cannot mandate controversial project labor agreements (PLAs) on state, state-assisted and local construction projects, guaranteeing that the almost three out of four members of Wisconsin’s private construction workforce who have chosen not to join a labor union can work on projects funded by their own tax dollars.

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 13—Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today applauded Gov. Terry Branstad (R-Iowa) for signing legislation into law that will promote fair and open competition on contracts for construction services funded by Iowa taxpayers. The bill, SF 438, will ensure that the government cannot mandate controversial project labor agreements (PLAs) on state, state-assisted and local construction projects, guaranteeing that the 85 percent of Iowa’s private construction workforce that has chosen not to join a labor union can work on projects funded by their own tax dollars.

Washington, D.C., March 28—Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today applauded the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s favorable reporting of the Fair and Open Competition Act (H.R. 1552) out of committee. The bill, introduced by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.), will boost competition on government construction projects and reduce building costs to taxpayers by preventing federal agencies from forcing contractors to sign controversial project labor agreements (PLAs) in order to compete to build federal and federally assisted construction contracts.

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 27– Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today commended President Trump for signing a resolution into law effectively eliminating the Obama administration’s illegal “blacklisting” rule (formally known as the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces final rule). Implementation of most of the rule’s onerous and duplicative reporting and disclosure requirements were temporarily blocked on Oct. 24 when a U.S. District Court judge ruled in favor of ABC’s lawsuit and granted a preliminary injunction.

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 16— Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today welcomed the introduction of the Fair and Open Competition Act (H.R. 1552) in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.). ABC Vice President of Labor, Regulatory and State Affairs Ben Brubeck issued the following statement in support of the bill (S. 622), which was introduced in the U.S. Senate on March 14 by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and would ensure controversial project labor agreements (PLAs) cannot be mandated on taxpayer-funded construction projects. 

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 14 – Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today voiced its strong support for the Fair and Open Competition Act (S. 622). The bill, introduced by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), will reduce costs for taxpayers by encouraging all qualified construction companies to compete for federal and federally funded construction projects. S. 622 prevents federal agencies and recipients of federal funding from requiring contractors to sign controversial project labor agreements (PLAs) as a condition of winning federal or federally assisted construction contracts.