The U.S. Supreme Court announced on June 24 that it will be reviewing a lower court ruling that President Obama’s early 2012 “recess” appointments of three members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) were unconstitutional. The court likely will hear the case this fall.

ABC June 26 offered its support for the Secret Ballot Protection Act (H.R. 2346) in response to a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hearing meant to explore legislative opportunities to strengthen the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), including H.R. 2346. 

On June 4, OSHA released a directive from Assistant Secretary David Michaels changing how the agency should proceed when there is a fatality investigation at a Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) site. 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s changes to the drivers’ Hours of Service rule, which changes the total hours a week a truck driver can work from 82 to 70 and implements a “34 hour restart” requirement, goes into effect July 1. The rule also requires a driver to take a 30-minute break for every eight hours of consecutive driving.

ABC, as part of the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition (FBETC), June 19 supported the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2013 (S. 1183/H.R. 2429) that would permanently repeal the estate tax.

The ABC Business Partner AIA Contract Documents released seven new documents on June 20, including new BIM and Digital Documents, a new document family called Program Management, and three free guides.  

The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Construction and Facilities Management (CFM) is requesting comments on the use of a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for a project in Biloxi, Miss. The project will include the renovation of two buildings at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

In testimony June 18 before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, ABC General Counsel and shareholder with Littler Mendelson, P.C., Maurice Baskin said the Department of Labor’s (DOL) administration of the Davis-Bacon Act has, “hindered economic growth, increased the federal deficit and imposed an enormous paperwork burden on both contractors and the federal government.”

Economists from ABC, American Institute of Architects and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) gave their perspectives June 17 about where the construction economy is headed during an online news conference. As a whole, things are improving, but recovery will continue to be slow unless more jobs are created.

The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) August 2011 “Notification of Employee Rights” rule was struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on June 14, making it the second appellate court to invalidate the rule this year. 

To help members get a greater understanding of their obligations under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), or health care law, ABC Merit Choice Insurance is offering a “Health Care Reform Overview for Contractors.” 

ABC Business Partner General Motors is offering special Fleet Out-of-Stock Bonus Cash now through July 1. 

More than 350 ABC members and chapters traveled to Washington D.C., June 12 to meet their members of Congress. They also heard from Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) during the ABC Legislative Conference breakfast.

ABC celebrated a victory June 10 after South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) signed a bill (S.438) into law that will prohibit state government entities from requiring contractors to sign a project labor agreement (PLA) with labor unions as a condition of performing work on public construction projects.

ABC submitted comments June 9 opposing an interim final rule on how wages for temporary, non-agricultural H-2B workers should be calculated. The “emergency” interim final rule, issued April 24 by the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Labor (DOL), was effective immediately. 

ABC awarded former National Chairman James (Jim) W. Elmer, founder and president of James W. Elmer Construction Co., Spokane, Wash., a Life Membership award. He was presented this honor June 11 at ABC’s National Board of Directors meeting in Washington, D.C.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is hosting two webinars for small businesses on how to avoid the top tax mistakes and how to maximize tax benefits.

The National Institute of Building Sciences has opened the ballot submission period for the National BIM Standard – United States™ Version 3 (NBIMS-US V3) for all building professionals to offer their ideas to influence the future use of building information modeling (BIM) in the United States. 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a survey requesting feedback from the construction industry about including a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) in a solicitation for a federal contract to build a new air traffic control tower exceeding $25 million in Tucson, Ariz.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) will join Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) June 12 as speakers during the ABC Legislative Conference breakfast.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) June 4 released a final rule that delays for one year implementation of a provision related to health insurance exchanges that would allow small businesses to let their employees choose coverage from a number of plans.

ABC Oct. 4 filed comments as part of the Small Business Coalition for Affordable Healthcare regarding the exchange-related provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

OSHA May 29 issued a final rule that that broadens the current exemption for digger derricks used in the electric-utility industry to also include telecommunications work.

An Idaho appeals court May 22 sent a lawsuit related to project labor agreements (PLAs) and job targeting back to a district court in order to allow the union groups who filed the lawsuit to add defendants and to give both sides a chance to revise arguments.

Complete the Construction Management Financial Management Association’s 2013 Construction Industry Annual Financial Survey Online Questionnaire by June 30 and get two free Benchmarker reports. For more information, visit CFMA’s website.