Newsline

On Aug. 12, the National Labor Relations Board’s new general counsel, Jennifer A. Abruzzo, issued Memorandum GC 21-04 to all NLRB regional offices, which outlines the priorities of the Office of the General Counsel.

The Protecting the Right to Organize Act would produce significant economic costs for the nation’s 27 right-to-work states in an effort to increase union power at the expense of worker freedom and small businesses, according to a report issued by the American Action Forum on Aug. 13.

On Aug. 11, The U.S. Senate passed a Budget Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2022 before leaving for its August recess in a 50-49 vote that will set the stage for a proposed $3.5 trillion partisan spending bill through the budget reconciliation process. Prior to the final vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also released reconciliation instructions for Senate committees

On Aug. 10, the U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act with bipartisan support in a 69-30 vote, with 19 Republicans joining all 50 senators in the Democratic caucus to approve the legislation.

Beginning Aug. 4, the U.S. Small Business Administration is launching a portal that will allow borrowers of certain Paycheck Protection Program loans to streamline the process of loan forgiveness by applying for forgiveness directly through the SBA.

On July 29, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a final rule to rescind the 2020 Joint Employer Status under the Fair Labor Standards Act rule, which goes into effect on Sept. 28, 2021.  

On July 28, U.S. senators voted to advance a bipartisan infrastructure bill, which will set up a final vote on the measure in the coming days. The procedural motion was approved 67-32, with 17 Republicans joining all Democrats to begin legislative action.

On July 21, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a proposed rule that would require federal contractors to pay a $15 minimum wage to workers  on or in connection with a federal government contract. The public has until Aug. 23 to comment on the proposal.  

On July 15, ABC submitted comments in response to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s interim final rule encouraging project labor agreements and other anti-competitive and costly labor policies

On July 9, President Biden issued a far-reaching, unprecedented Executive Order on Promoting Competition in America. The executive order covers a wide variety of issues, including lowering prescription drug prices, allowing hearing aids to be sold over the counter at drug stores, banning excessive early termination fees regarding