Newsline

On July 1, a diverse group of lawmakers from around the country sent letters to President Donald Trump urging him to rescind the Biden-era rule requiring project labor agreements on federal construction projects of $35 million or more. 95 members of the U.S. House and 21 members of the U.S. Senate signed the letters expressing serious concerns over the administration’s decision to double down on a policy that is inherently exclusionary, anti-competitive and costly for American taxpayers.

ABC is also live with an Action Alert urging President Trump to rescind the PLA mandate immediately. Members who take action will also have their company added to an ABC letter to the president denouncing his decision to proceed with the Biden-era mandate.

Take action now!

Nearly 500 national construction and business leaders performing work in every state in the country met in Washington, D.C., June 24-25 for ABC’s Legislative Conference 2025.

A highlight of the event was the Legislative Update Breakfast featuring U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., and Scott Jennings, CNN political commentator, followed by hundreds of meetings on Capitol Hill with lawmakers such as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., House Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Tim Walberg, R-Mich., and Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

ABC contractor members—the vast majority of which are small business owners—will advocate for the Fair and Open Competition Act, which counters government-mandated project labor agreements and protects the rights of all qualified contractors—regardless of union affiliation—to compete on a level playing field for federal construction projects.

ABC members will also urge support for the One, Big, Beautiful Bill that provides critical tax relief to small contractors as well as all-of-the-above workforce development strategies and a new market-driven visa program that addresses our broken immigration system.

They will also brief lawmakers on the negative impacts the Faster Labor Contracts Act, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and other burdensome regulations that will exacerbate the construction industry’s skilled labor shortage of 439,000 in 2025.

ABC honored two longtime members with life membership on June 24 at ABC’s National Board of Directors meeting in Washington, D.C., during ABC’s annual Legislative Conference. Former ABC National chairs David R. Meyer, the Meyer Cos., Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and Greg Hoberock, hth cos. inc., Union, Missouri, were recognized for their extensive service to ABC at the national level.

Meyer has decades of involvement with ABC, serving as president of ABC’s Heart of America chapter in 1999, Region 2 vice chair from 2002 to 2005 and the 2007 ABC National chair. He also served on ABC’s National Board of Directors and as chair of the Free Enterprise Alliance.

The Meyer Cos. is a design/build construction firm offering services to commercial, industrial and institutional users in and around Kansas City, Missouri. David and Roger Meyer founded the company in 1977, and it continues to be a family-owned and -operated business.

Hoberock joined ABC in 1986 and served as Heart of America chapter chair in 1991 and chapter vice chair in 1990. After serving on the ABC National Board of Directors, he was elected the 2013 ABC national chair. He also chaired ABC’s Construction Legal Rights Foundation, which supports precedent-setting legal issues or legal issues in defense of contractors and the principles of merit shop construction.

In 1984, hth cos. was founded by Hoberock as a family-owned mechanical contracting firm. In its more than 40-year history, hth cos. has expanded its service offerings to include mechanical insulation, scaffold erection, industrial cleaning and maintenance, welding, pipefitting and confined space rescue. Today, Hoberock’s son and daughter run the company.

Joe Xavier, ABC senior director of health and safety, testified on Wednesday, June 18 before the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration in a public hearing on OSHA's Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings Proposed Rule.

In his testimony, Xavier reiterated ABC’s recommendation of more flexibility on jobsites—that OSHA allow supervisors and employees to work together and coordinate safe approaches for rest breaks, focusing on the individual employee’s needs, the nature of work and the specific workplace conditions.

ABC urges OSHA to focus on heat hazard awareness training and allow employers to develop acclimatization protocols tailored to their worksite.

Finally, ABC urged OSHA to develop a separate regulatory approach for the construction industry.

Overall, Xavier emphasized ABC’s commitment to protecting workers from recognized hazards, including heat injury and illness.

The hearings are scheduled through July 2. At the close of the hearings, there will be a post-hearing comment period. OSHA expects the post-hearing comment period to last for 90 days, until Sept. 30.

ABC will continue to monitor this rulemaking and provide updates in Newsline.

Background

On Jan. 14, 2025, ABC submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration on its Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings proposed rule, urging the agency to withdraw the current rule as proposed and revise it to allow greater flexibility for affected industries, and at a minimum develop a separate standard for the construction industry. OSHA’s proposed rule would apply to all employers conducting outdoor and indoor work in all general industry, construction, maritime and agriculture sectors where OSHA has jurisdiction and require employers to develop programs and implement controls to protect employees from heat hazards. In addition, as a steering committee member, ABC joined the Construction Industry Safety Coalition and the Coalition for Workplace Safety comment letters.

Learn more about ABC’s position on the proposed rule in its comment letter.

On Oct. 27, 2021, OSHA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings, which requested information on how to implement regulations to protect workers from hazardous heat. ABC, as a steering committee member of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, submitted comments in response to the ANPRM on Jan. 26, 2022.

On April 12, 2022, OSHA announced a National Emphasis Program on Outdoor and Indoor Heat-Related Hazards, which sets out a targeted enforcement effort and reiterates OSHA’s compliance assistance and outreach efforts.

On July 27, 2023, OSHA issued a heat hazard alert to remind employers of their obligation to protect workers against heat illness or injury in outdoor and indoor workplaces. The department also announced that OSHA will intensify its enforcement where workers are exposed to heat hazards, with increased inspections in high-risk industries like construction and agriculture. These actions will fully implement the agency’s National Emphasis Program on heat, announced in April 2022, to focus enforcement efforts in geographic areas and industries with the most vulnerable workers. On Sept. 29, OSHA issued new resources to protect workers from the effects of heat.

In December 2023, ABC submitted comments as a steering committee member of the CISC and the CWS in response to OSHA’s potential standard for Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings following its review of the Small Business Advocacy Review Panel materials and the SBAR Panel’s final report. In September, the SBAR Panel hosted six video conferences to gather input from small entity representatives. An ABC member participated as a SER during one of the video conferences. The panel’s final report was issued on Nov. 3.

OSHA published its Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings proposed rule on Aug. 30, 2024. Read ABC’s release on the proposed rule.

On June 12, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget issued new guidance to federal agencies regarding implementation of project labor agreement mandates, saying the administration will continue to enforce former President Joe Biden’s anti-competitive policy mandating project labor agreements on federal construction projects of $35 million or more.

Unfortunately, as ABC said in a statement, this memorandum doubles down on an anti-competitive, Biden-era policy that inflates costs and delays critical construction projects.

“This decision cannot be reconciled with the president’s philosophies of merit, fairness and nondiscrimination because it inhibits fair and open competition and prioritizes special interests over taxpayers and workers,” said Michael Bellaman, ABC president and CEO. “Today’s memorandum doubles down on an unfair, wasteful, anti-competitive, Biden-era policy that inflates costs and delays critical construction projects, including those important to the defense of our country.

“It is unfortunate that this guidance states that maintaining Biden’s PLA mandate final rule is necessary because the Trump administration ‘supports the use of PLAs when those agreements are practicable and cost-effective,’” said Bellaman. “To be clear, this policy is not needed to allow the use of PLAs on federal construction. At no point, under any administration, have federal contractors ever been prevented from voluntarily entering into a PLA when such an agreement makes sense for their workforce. Fair and open competition works because it not only preserves worker choice but also gives contractors the freedom to choose to enter or not enter into a PLA. At the end of the day, it is based on merit and nondiscrimination. Every qualified contractor should have the opportunity to build America.

“ABC will continue to fight the Biden-era illegal and anti-competitive PLA mandate in court and support our federal contractor members in opposing PLA mandates on any project where they are implemented,” said Bellaman. “The administration should rescind this PLA mandate executive order immediately.”

Bid protests through the U.S. Court of Federal Claims are currently the best strategy for overturning PLA mandates on individual projects. ABC National can help connect members with experienced attorneys if they are interested in filing bid protests. If members need financial assistance with their challenge, the Construction Legal Rights Foundation will consider applications as quickly as possible.

Further, members should reach out to ABC National if they need assistance completing PLA market research surveys, which may help agencies avoid PLA requirements. Under the guidance, limited exceptions to the PLA mandate may be possible if contracting officers can demonstrate expected price increases of more than 10%.

ABC hosted a members-only webinar on Wednesday, June 18, with more information on OMB guidance, ABC’s strategy and how federal contractors can seek to prevent and overturn PLA mandates through PLA survey responses and bid protests. The webinar recording will be available soon for ABC members on ABC’s Academy.

ABC recommends every contractor take all precautions in the hiring process to verify each potential employee is eligible to work legally in the United States, including using the E-Verify system. ABC’s goal is to work with the administration and Congress to create a market-based merit visa system that allows people who want to contribute to society and work legally in the construction industry to do so. There is no place in our country for lawbreakers here to cause harm, and ABC opposes violence, coercion and intimidation of every kind. ABC supports the portion of the administration’s immigration strategy that focuses on lawbreakers.

Following the laws of supply and demand, mass deportations could constrain the availability of labor, which could stifle the ability of the industry to build the construction projects demanded by the marketplace. In other words, the supply of labor may not meet the demand, which could drive up costs, or consumer demand would adjust. And if the worker supply is constrained, employers would most likely adjust their employee value proposition to enhance their position in the marketplace. This is an important reason why we need a market-based merit visa system.

Refer to the following resources from ABC and ABC general counsel Littler Mendelson for more information on immigration policy and enforcement actions.

• Littler Lounge: Raids, Records and Red Flags—Inside Immigration Enforcement
• An ICE Q&A With Answers to Your Top 25 Questions
• An Immigration Compliance and Enforcement Checklist That Outlines Key Areas That May Require Your Attention and Action
• PowerPoint Presentation: Learn About President Trump’s Actions on Immigration and DEI and How To Be Proactive in Compliance Efforts
• Trump Administration Day 1 Immigration Agenda: How Are Employers Impacted?
• The First 100 Days: Increased Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (Podcast)

Temporary Protected Status

ABC believes in protections for TPS recipients, many of whom have been members of the U.S. construction industry workforce for years. Currently, it is estimated that between 70,000 and 100,000 individuals work in the construction industry through both TPS and DACA.

Maintaining TPS

Once an immigrant is granted TPS, they must re-register during each re-registration period to maintain TPS benefits. This applies to all TPS beneficiaries, including those who were initially granted by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals. Follow the instructions here to apply for re-registration.

Venezuela

The following alert has been posted on the TPS website: On May 19, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a convincing 8-1 decision, granted the government’s emergency stay of Judge Edward Chen’s order. See National TPS Alliance, et al., v. Kristi Noem et al., No. 3:25-cv-01766 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 31, 2025). Previously, on Feb. 3, 2025, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s vacatur of the Jan. 17, 2025, notice that extended a TPS designation for Venezuela was published in the Federal Register, and on Feb. 5, 2025, the secretary’s decision to terminate TPS under the 2023 designation for Venezuela was published. Based on the Supreme Court’s May 19 order, the erroneous March 31, 2025, district court order in case No. 3:25-cv-1766 is stayed pending the disposition of the government’s appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Further updates regarding TPS Venezuela will be posted on the TPS website. Separately, TPS under the 2021 designation for Venezuela remains in effect through Sept. 10, 2025. Learn more.

To learn more, read an analysis provided by Littler, US Supreme Court Allows Recission of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans.

Haiti

On Feb. 20, Secretary Noem partially vacated the July 1, 2024, notice that extended and redesignated Haiti for TPS. The announcement amends the period of extension and redesignation of Haiti for TPS from 18 months to 12 months, with a new end date of Aug. 3, 2025, and makes a corresponding change to the initial registration period for new applicants under the redesignation, which will now remain in effect through Aug. 3, 2025. For additional information, please see the Federal Register Notice.

TPS has also issued alerts for Afghanistan and South Sudan.

 Visit the TPS webpage for status alerts. 

ABC members are encouraged to reach out to counsel with any questions regarding the recent immigration actions.

In a significant victory for permitting reform, the U.S. Supreme Court on May 29 issued an opinion in the case Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, establishing that federal environmental reviews must be reasonable in scope.

This decision will help ensure that federal agencies properly consider important environmental protections without causing unnecessary delays and increased costs for critical infrastructure projects.

ABC played an important role in this outcome by joining industry partners in filing a Sept. 4, 2024, amicus brief in support of properly focused environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act.

In the case, the court considered whether NEPA requires that agencies consider environmental impacts beyond the immediate effects of their regulatory decision.

The Supreme Court’s opinion, in alignment with ABC’s amicus brief, ruled that, under NEPA, the Surface Transportation Board was not required to consider distant environmental effects in approving construction of a new rail line.

The decision directed courts to give “substantial deference” to federal agency determinations regarding which information must be included in environmental reviews and stated that NEPA does not require agencies to consider the impact of activities and projects “separate in time or place” from the project before the agency.

On May 22, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its budget reconciliation bill, H.R. 1, the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” in a 215-214-1 vote.

Ahead of the vote, ABC sent a Key Vote letter expressing strong support for the bill that provides critical tax relief to contractors. Among the many essential reforms in the package, ABC particularly supports:

• Making the Small Business Deduction Permanent and Stronger: The bill provides the pass-through sector crucial relief via introduction of a boosted 23% deduction for qualified business income. Locking in the higher deduction under Section 199A will not only prevent a significant tax hike in 2026, but it will also ensure that ABC members—most of whom are pass-through businesses—can reinvest in their companies, expand their workforce and take on new projects without fear of future tax hikes.

• Permanent Estate Tax Relief: The bill preserves and protects family businesses from destructive estate taxes and keeps jobs, skills and ownership here at home, allowing contractors to pass on the businesses they built to the next generation.

• Restoration of 100% Bonus Depreciation: Renewing previously expired immediate expensing via 100% bonus depreciation is a powerful incentive for businesses to invest in new equipment and technologies. This policy was based on the understanding that allowing immediate expensing of capital investments would encourage businesses to modernize their operations, increase productivity and, ultimately, drive economic growth. It was particularly aimed at capital-intensive industries like construction, where equipment investments can be substantial.

• Revived Expensing of R&D Costs: This provision permanently allows taxpayers to immediately deduct domestic research or experimental expenditures paid or incurred in taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 2024. Additionally, small business taxpayers with average annual gross receipts of $31 million or less will generally be permitted to apply this change retroactively to taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 2021. Furthermore, all taxpayers that made domestic research or experimental expenditures after Dec. 31, 2021, and before Jan. 1, 2025, will be permitted to elect to accelerate the remaining deductions for such expenditures over a one- or two-year period.

• Continuation of Simplified Tax Code: The bill permanently extends the larger standard deduction and the alternative minimum tax threshold that were set to expire. These two provisions have greatly simplified the tax code for millions of taxpayers, including construction workers and job creators.

• No Tax on Overtime for American Workers: By exempting overtime pay from federal income tax, the bill delivers direct, meaningful tax relief to the hardworking men and women in the merit shop construction trades—rewarding those who put in the extra hours to get the job done, support their families and keep America building.

• Expanded 529 Accounts for Skilled Trades Training: By expanding 529 savings accounts to cover training programs and credentials in the skilled trades, the bill supports the next generation of craft professionals—ensuring more young Americans can pursue rewarding careers in construction without crushing debt.

• Relief From Overregulation and Red Tape: From the inclusion of the ABC-supported REINS Act to reducing 1099 reporting burdens to improving Opportunity Zones, this bill cuts unnecessary red tape and unlocks new growth in communities that need it most.

• Expedited Environmental Reviews: By paying 125% of the estimated cost to prepare or supervise the preparation of an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement, a project sponsor would receive a deadline of six months for completing an EA and 12 months for completing an EIS along with protection from judicial and administrative reviews.

The House leadership’s Managers Amendment added last-minute changes to the legislation ahead of floor consideration, including:

• Lifting of the state and local tax deduction cap to $40,000 for individuals making under $500,000.
• The accelerated phasing out of certain IRA clean energy credits by 2028.

The House-passed bill now heads to the U.S. Senate, where it is likely to be amended. Given the bill’s privilege under reconciliation rules, the Senate will only need a simple majority to approve their version bill. Both chambers will have to pass the same bill in order to send it to the president’s desk.

On May 20, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission began accepting 2024 EEO-1 Component 1 reports. The deadline to submit is Tuesday, June 24. EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas issued this bulletin about the opening of the 2024 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection process.

According to the EEOC, after June 24 (the “Published Due Date”), no additional 2024 EEO-1 Component 1 reports will be accepted, and eligible employers will be out of compliance with their mandatory 2024 EEO-1 Component 1 filing obligations.

Under current EEOC regulations, private employers with 100 or more employees and federal contractors with 50 or more employees, who also meet certain criteria, are required to report annually the number of individuals they employ by job category and by sex and race or ethnicity.

The mandatory annual data collection is conducted through the EEO-1 Component 1 Online Filing System.

To ensure compliance with the EEOC’s substantive filing requirements, the EEOC advises filers to read the 2024 EEO-1 Component 1 Instruction Booklet. Additional EEOC resources include:

• Fact Sheets
• FAQs
• Data File Specs
• Job Classifications
• OFS Users Guide
• OFS

All updates about the 2024 EEO-1 Component 1 data collection, including supplementary resource materials, will be posted to www.eeocdata.org/eeo1 as they become available.

Contact the EEO-1 Component 1 online Filer Support Message Center (i.e., filer help desk) with any questions regarding the 2024 collection.

On May 19, ABC participated in a listening session focused on the impact on small businesses of revising the definition of “waters of the United States” subject to Clean Water Act regulation and permitting.

The listening session was jointly hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy to help them understand the real-world impacts of WOTUS and CWA as the EPA and USACE consider how to provide clear and consistent rules for the regulated community.

During the session, ABC shared with agency leadership the unnecessary cost increases and delays imposed on small businesses in the construction industry by unclear WOTUS regulations, emphasizing the following points:

• Sensible environmental rules to protect water quality are important, but confusing and constantly changing rules make compliance unnecessarily difficult.
• ABC’s small business members have seen projects significantly delayed by CWA permitting processes.
• Small businesses lack the resources of larger contractors to absorb increased compliance costs.
• Unnecessary permitting delays mean less opportunity for the small businesses and construction workers that rely on these projects for their livelihood.

Previously, ABC joined the Waters Advocacy Coalition in submitting written comments to the EPA and USACE expressing support for a clear and consistent definition of “waters of the United States” that fully complies with the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency.