Newsline

ABC Blasts Unprecedented Change to Senate Rules and Procedures

ABC Nov. 21 expressed concern over a controversial change in U.S. Senate rules and procedures that will allow the majority party to skirt a filibuster to confirm certain presidential appointments.  Traditionally, 60 votes have been needed to confirm nominees and pass legislation, but by invoking this unprecedented rule change along partisan lines, the majority has lowered that threshold to a simple majority of 51 votes.
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Business Groups Urge Congress to Delay Health Insurance Tax

The Affordable Coverage Coalition, of which ABC is a member, Nov. 21 sent a letter urging members of congress to support H.R. 3367, the Small Business and Family Relief Act, bipartisan legislation that would delay the health insurance tax for two years.
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ABC Members Top the List of ENR’s Top 400 Contractors

ABC member companies took the top 10 spots on Engineering News-Record’s 2013 Top 400 Contractors list.  Those firms included: 
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ABC and Synergis Launch BIM Training for Contractors

ABC has teamed up with Synergis Engineering Design Solutions, a Platinum provider of Autodesk products, to bring customized BIM training and design exclusively to ABC contractor members to make them more productive, efficient and profitable. The training is part of a larger effort known as Project Virtual. 
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BLS Report Shows Slight Decline in Injury and Illness Numbers for 2012

The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released a report Nov. 7 showing a decrease in on-the-job injury and illness rates for the construction industry in 2012. The total number of recordable cases declined to 3.6 incidents for every 100 full time employees (FTEs), down from 3.8 in 2011. 
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MTech and Shaw Construction Earn AQC Designation

MTech Mechanical Technologies Group, Westminster, Colo., and Shaw Construction, Grand Junction, Colo., both members of the ABC Rocky Mountain Chapter, have been awarded Accredited Quality Contractor (AQC) status by ABC.
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ABC Members Receive CURT Awards in Safety and Workforce Development

ABC congratulated its member companies that were awarded top honors for the Construction Users Roundtable’s (CURT) Construction Industry Safety Excellence (CISE) Awards and Workforce Development Awards at CURT’s Nov. 12 national conference in Tucson, Ariz. 
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ABC Files Suit Against OFCCP Rule

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Nov. 19 filed a request for an injunction in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against an Aug. 27 rule from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) that drastically alters federal contractors’ existing affirmative action and nondiscrimination obligations for individuals with disabilities. The rule is schedule to go into effect March 24, 2014.
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E-Flex Coalition Comments on Information Reporting Under Health Care Law

As part of the Employers for Flexibility in Health Care (E-FLEX) Coalition, ABC Nov. 7 submitted comments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in response to Sept. 9 proposed rules on information reporting by applicable large employers on health insurance coverage offered under employer-sponsored plans and information reporting of minimum essential coverage.
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OSHA Proposes New Rule on Tracking Injury and Illness Data

On Nov.8, OSHA proposed a rule that would require employers to submit specific injury and illness data electronically to OSHA on a quarterly or annual basis. 
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