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Politics & Policy
ABC’s September Regulatory Roundup—Learn About the Latest Developments Affecting the Construction Industry
ABC Disappointed in NLRB’s Cemex Decision
NLRB Revives Controversial 2014 ‘Ambush’ Election Rule; ABC Opposes Again
Safety
Build Health and Safety Engagement Through Leadership Commitment and Metrics Tied to Leading Indicators
Is Your PPE and Mobile Equipment as Safe as You Think It Is?
President Biden Announces Heat Safety Actions, Including DOL Hazard Alert
Events/Products/Programs
Nearly 350 ABC Leaders Gather in Washington for Annual Legislative Conference
ABC Members Rank Among ENR’s Top 400 Contractors
Trades Day: Industry Outreach Opportunity With Meaning
State/Local News
Ed Capodanno Honored by Delaware State Legislature
Election Update: ABC Staff and Members Elected in 2022
California Targets Workplace Cannabis Testing
Awards
Graham Roofing Earns the AQC Credential in September
ABC's Construction Executive Magazine Wins Silver in Publishing Competition
Legislation
ABC-Supported Legislation To Overturn the Northern Long-Eared Bat’s Endangered Species Listing Heads to President Biden’s Desk
ABC Advocates for Solutions to Workforce Shortage at U.S. House Committee Roundtable
Smucker Introduces the ABC-Supported Main Street Tax Certainty Act
Regulations
OSHA Announces Silica-Focused Inspection Initiative in the Engineered Stone Fabrication and Installation Industries
Take the Survey: Input Needed by Oct. 2 on President Biden’s IRA Mandates
Take the Survey: ABC Needs Your Input on President Biden’s IRA Mandates by Oct. 2
Workforce Development
Register Now for ABC’s Construction Inclusion Week Webinar Series
DOL High Road Workforce Development Program Map Snubs Nonunion Programs
LISTEN: How to Design an Effective Technology Adoption Strategy
On Oct. 1, Congress passed a 30-day extension of the highway funding bill, just hours before surface transportation authorization lapsed. The extension came at the end of a weekslong negotiation and interparty disagreement on a trillion-dollar-plus budget reconciliation package and the bipartisan Senate-passed infrastructure bill, H.R.3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
After initially seeking to hold votes on both measures, the House was forced to postpone consideration on the IIJA after progressive Democrats refused to back it without an accompanying deal on a partisan budget reconciliation proposal. President Biden met with House Democrats last week, making it clear that the IIJA will not pass until there is a bicameral deal on reconciliation, essentially backing progressive’s stance against the vote and again tying the success of the two packages together for the time being.
Consideration of the packages could now be pushed to the end of October, as Democrats now work to craft a scaled back reconciliation package in attempts to persuade moderate senators, including key Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin, W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, Ariz., to back the proposal. President Biden stated that he expects an agreement on $1.9 trillion to $2.3 trillion, while Sen. Joe Manchin has proposed a $1.5 trillion top line for the reconciliation package, which includes a corporate tax rate of 25%, top income tax rate of 39.6% and a capital gains tax rate of 28%.
Republicans, concerned with Democrats’ go-it-alone approach on reconciliation’s tax hikes and spending, are also withholding votes to raise the nation’s debt limit and could force Democrats to include the debt limit increase in a separate reconciliation bill. In a letter to President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., reiterated the Republicans’ position that Democrats have the tools necessary through reconciliation to raise the debt ceiling before the U.S. Treasury-announced deadline of Oct. 18, and called on Democrats to formulate a plan and for Biden to engage with congressional Democrats to address the “avoidable catastrophe.”
In a recent Construction Dive article, Kristen Swearingen, ABC’s vice president of legislative & political affairs, said "ABC continues to monitor any new developments on the bipartisan infrastructure deal and update members accordingly, and we do remain concerned with the president's insistence on tying the bipartisan negotiated bill to the partisan reconciliation package. ABC is continuing to meet with members of Congress and urge them to oppose dangerous tax hikes and costly labor policies that have been proposed for inclusion in reconciliation."
ABC strongly urges its members to reach out to their members of Congress to voice their concerns with the partisan budget reconciliation package by using the ABC Action Center.