Newsline

On Nov. 17, the ABC National Tax Advisory Group (TAG) gathered in Washington, D.C., to advocate for the tax priorities of merit shop contractors and the broader construction industry. TAG members from the Eastern Pennsylvania, Florida East Coast, Central Florida, and Georgia chapters were in attendance as the group met with senior staff representing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate Finance Committee, and key members of the House Committee on Ways and Means.

The ABC Florida Gulf Coast Chapter and Rep. David Jolly (R-Fla.) have partnered on an effort to bring nine Little Free Libraries to Pinellas County in Florida. Little Free Libraries are “take a book, leave a book” libraries designed to encourage kids to read by making books easily accessible at no cost.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its latest regulatory agenda on Nov. 20. The agenda lists the priorities of the administration and the rulemakings they expect to release in 2016, their final year. An update on rulemakings affecting the construction industry is below.

Registration is now open for all 2016 sessions of ABC's Project Management Institute, held at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

Do your apprentices and craft trainees have what it takes to win the national title of ABC Craft Champion? The 2016 National Craft Championships (NCC) intent-to-compete deadline is around the corner; get your forms in before Dec. 1 to participate in the 2016 NCC in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., March 1-4.

The ABC Student Chapter of Montgomery College will be competing in the 2015 Canstruction competition in Washington, D.C., which is transportation themed. ABC members can help the Montgomery College team and help fight hunger  by “voting” for their project before Nov. 30. Votes are tallied based on contributions made during the event and on the donation page.

Soltek Pacific Construction Company of Clovis, Calif., and a member of the ABC Northern California Chapter has been awarded Accredited Quality Contractor (AQC) status by ABC. 

ABC members can now register for the 2016 Workforce Week, to be held March 1-4, at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention Center, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

During its Nov. 10 meeting in San Diego, Calif., the ABC Board of Directors elected David Chapin, president of Willmar Electric Service, Lincoln, Neb., to serve as the association's 2016 national chair. Chuck Goodrich of Gaylor Electric, Inc. in Noblesville, Ind., was elected to serve as ABC’s 2016 chair-elect.

Are you in compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting requirements? To learn about the reporting requirements and important upcoming deadlines, a webinar presented by ABC’s general counsel, Littler Mendelson is available for ABC members to view, which can be found. A login is required to view the webinar titled “Compliance Alert—Learn About the Affordable Care Act’s New Reporting Requirements for 2015” and a PowerPoint is also available.  

Shon Smith, prefabrication manager with ACI Mechanical from ABC’s Iowa Chapter, won ABC’s first Young Professional of the Year Award, and the University of Cincinnati won both the 2015 Construction Management Competition and the 2015 ABC Student Chapter of the Year Award. The awards were presented at the Future Leaders Awards Luncheon during ABC’s Leadership Week in San Diego Nov. 11.

ABC member companies were honored by the Construction Users Roundtable (CURT) as they accepted eight of nine Construction Industry Safety Excellence (CISE) awards at the Nov. 10 CURT National Awards gala in Houston, Texas.

On Nov. 5, Gov. Tom Wolf (D-Pa.) signed Act 59 of 2015 into law, officially eliminating exemptions for offenses of stalking, harassment, and threats of weapons of mass destruction from the Pennsylvania Crimes Code. Under previous law, individuals could not be charged with these offenses if it was found they were associated with a labor dispute.

Presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) Nov. 3 addressed and responded to questions from members of a coalition of major nationwide business groups in a TeleForum. Rubio answered questions from members of ABC, Associated General Contractors, Business-Industry Political Action Committee, National Association of Manufacturers, National Federation of Independent Business and National Retail Federation.

Nevada Gypsum Floors, Inc. is a locally owned and operated ABC member company that specializes in floor underlayment, floor leveling, floor toppings, concrete repair, resurfacing and sealing, sound control floor systems, and leveling new and old concrete, hard rock concrete, waterproofing deck systems, cellular lightweight concrete, roof insulating concrete, geo-technical engineered fills (geo-fill), and mortar beds.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Oct. 30 issued a proposed rule under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) that would authorize employers who offer wellness programs to provide inducements for an employee’s spouse, who is also a participant in the employer’s health plan, to disclose their current or past health information. Under the proposal, total incentives provided to an employee and his or her spouse for participating in a wellness program that is a part of a group health program that collects this information may not exceed 30 percent of the total cost of the health plan in which they are enrolled.

A bipartisan group of legislators in the United States Senate voted 55-43 to pass a resolution (S.J.Res. 22) that nullifies the controversial “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) rule. The resolution was introduced by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Ia.) following a procedural vote on the ABC-supported Federal Water Quality Protection Act (S. 1140), which was blocked by Senate Democrats in a 57-41 vote (short of the 60 votes needed to advance). The resolution also prevents the agencies from issuing a similar version of the regulation in the future.

President Obama Nov. 2 signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (H.R. 1314), which suspended the application of the debt limit until March 2017 and ensured that the United States would meet its financial obligations. The deal was approved by a bi-partisan group of legislators the Unites States Senate Oct. 30 and the House of Representatives on Oct. 28.

On Oct. 27, the ABC-led Coalition for Workplace Safety (CWS) submitted comments urging the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to withdraw its proposed rule clarifying an employer’s continuing obligation to make and maintain accurate records of reportable injuries.