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.

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. 

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.

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

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. 

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. 

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.

ABC, as part of the Waters Advocacy Coalition, responded to a draft scientific report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the connectivity of water, which the EPA said is intended to guide a forthcoming proposed rule that would expand its jurisdiction under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). The proposed rule has not been released publically, but is under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

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.

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. 

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.

A study completed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) found that corporate-only tax reform might cause many small businesses that file as pass-through entities to suffer the consequences of this one-sided solution. 

Employers have until Dec. 1 to train their employees on the changes made to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Global Harmonization Standard (GHS) including the new “Safety Data Sheets” (SDS).  

To ensure eligibility, ABC member companies and chapters should verify that their trainees meet certain requirements in order to send them to compete in the 2014 National Craft Championships.

According to a recent study by the Lansing, Mich.-based Anderson Economic Group (AEG), Michigan’s prevailing wage law costs taxpayers and the state’s public schools millions each year in higher construction costs—adding up to more than 315 elementary school buildings that could have been built in the past decade with the money lost to prevailing wages.

ABC, as part of the Health Choices Coalition, sent a letter to Sens. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.), supporting the Restoring Access to Medication Act, an effort to avert the unintended consequences resulting from the restrictions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) placed on tax-preferred accounts that prohibit their use for purchasing over-the-counter (“OTC”) medications without a prescription.

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ABC is offering its members a series of Green Building Toolbox Talks, which are designed to help members drive green education to the craftworker level. The talks are also available in Spanish.

Join ABC and a growing list of industry peers, Feb. 24-25, 2014, in Dallas for the annual Public-Private Partnership Conference. Hundreds of developers, public-planners and A/C/E experts from across the country will be in attendance to discover opportunities to partner with cities, states and local agencies. 

The U.S. Supreme Court has set a date of Jan. 13, 2014, to review a lower court ruling that President Obama’s early 2012 “recess” appointments of three members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) were unconstitutional.

For the first time, ABC brought together construction users and contractors to discuss industry safety, quality and workforce during the ABC Industrial Users Summit, Oct. 22-23 in San Antonio.