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ABC Newsline
On July 3, ABC sent a letter in support of H.R.3898, the Promoting Efficient Review for Modern Infrastructure Today Act. The letter urges the U.S. House of Representatives to advance the legislation, providing much-needed, commonsense reforms to the Clean Water Act.
Among the many essential provisions in the PERMIT Act, ABC particularly supports:
ABC also signed onto the Waters Advocacy Coalition’s letter to the House Rules Committee, urging the committee and House to advance the legislation, delivering clarity and certainty for landowners and the regulated community.
Since Inauguration Day, when President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders related to immigration, consequential changes to the nation’s immigration landscape have continued to emerge from the White House.
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 U.S. 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.
Read additional resources on recent immigration actions provided by ABC general counsel Littler Mendelson:
Temporary Protected Status
ABC believes in protections for TPS recipients, who have been members of the 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.
Afghanistan
Please visit the TPS website to read the status alert.
Haiti
Honduras
Nicaragua
Venezuela
Please visit the TPS website to read the status alert. To learn more, read an analysis provided by ABC general counsel Littler Mendelson, US Supreme Court Allows Recission of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans.
ABC members can visit the TPS webpage for status alerts.
CHNV Parole Program
On June 12, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began sending termination notices, by email, to approximately 530,000 individuals who entered the United States under a recent parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. These parolees are being informed that their parole status and work authorization is being revoked immediately. To learn more, read an analysis provided by ABC general counsel Littler Mendelson, DHS Issues Notices of Termination for the CHNV Parole Program.
For further information, visit DHS’s website.
ABC members are encouraged to reach out to counsel with any questions regarding the recent immigration actions.
Please continue to monitor new developments on ABC’s Immigration Update and Employer Resources webpage
On July 1, U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced deregulatory efforts aimed at reversing costly and burdensome rules and spurring job creation and economic opportunity for American workers and businesses.
“The Department of Labor’s actions are unprecedented, slashing more than 60 obsolete and burdensome regulations impacting American workers,” said Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling. “While the previous administration prioritized expanding the size of government over job and wage growth, President Trump is focused on unleashing the greatest economic comeback in American history. We are proud to stand with this Administration to deliver economic security for working families by eliminating job-killing and inflation-driving red tape.”
President Donald Trump’s executive order, Unleashing Prosperity through Deregulation, directed federal agencies to eliminate 10 existing regulations for every new rule.
ABC is currently reviewing the below DOL deregulatory actions and will provide more details in ABC’s Regulatory Roundup:
Office of the Secretary
Employment and Training Administration
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Proposed Rules:
Withdrawal of Proposed Rule:
Office of Labor-Management Standards
Proposed Rule:
Please continue to monitor Newsline and ABC’s Regulatory Roundup for future updates on regulatory actions.
ABC has added Alabama chapter member Ed Hauser of Brasfield & Gorrie LLC to the Beam Club Presidential Level. The Beam Club was established in 1966 to recognize ABC’s top membership recruiters for their commitment to growing the association. By recruiting five new members, ABC members are automatically enrolled in the Beam Club by their chapter. Members receive one point for each new member recruited. Beam Club activity is ongoing from year to year, with members’ point totals continually accruing and advancing members to the next Beam Club award level.
To reach the Presidential Level of the Beam Club, ABC members must recruit 25 new members.
For more information on the Beam Club, contact Kayli Lewis at [email protected].
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. Ninety-five members of the U.S. House of Representatives 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.
Refer to the following resources from ABC and ABC general counsel Littler Mendelson for more information on immigration policy and enforcement actions.
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.
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.
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.