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Nearly 800 members attended ABC’s 2017 Legislative Week in Washington, D.C., last week. See highlights of all the events on ABC’s Flickr account, including speakers Vice President of the United States Mike Pence, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, Sen. Todd Young (R-Inc.) and more.

On June 27, President Trump nominated William Emanuel, a shareholder with ABC’s general counsel, Littler Mendelson P.C., to fill the remaining seat on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Emanuel is a member of Littler’s Traditional Labor Practice Group and has extensive experience representing trade associations, hospitals, school districts, manufacturing companies and others in a wide range of labor matters.

ABC recently launched a new workforce development website, workforce.abc.org. The site features information on training and education, career paths, safety and diversity programs and workforce development programs ABC manages around the country. Our flexible, affordable craft and safety training leads to industry-recognized, national credentials for today’s leading construction positions. Together, we help individuals train, transform and triumph as they pursue meaningful careers that advance their potential and build strong communities.

It is with great sadness that ABC announces the death of Rosita Howell on June 23. Known to many ABC’ers as “Z,” Rosita  served as executive assistant to ABC national presidents Kirk Pickerel and Dan Bennet.  She started her career at ABC in the 1970s and worked for the association for all but a few on the intervening years, when she worked for past National Chair Gary Hess at Hess Mechanical, and retired from ABC in 2011. 

On June 22, the U.S. Senate issued the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, a substitute to the House-passed American Health Care Act (AHCA), which would repeal and replace several provisions of the Affordable Care Act. The Senate bill was slated for a vote this week; however, on June 27 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) delayed the vote until after the July 4 recess due to a lack of support for passage. 

ABC and the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (USPAACC) signed a memorandum of understanding calling for the two organizations to work jointly to ensure that all contractors have a fair and equal opportunity to compete for and win contracts to build federal, state and locally funded construction projects. The agreement was signed by Chuck Goodrich, ABC 2017 chair, and CEOs Mike Bellaman and Susan Au Allen, respectively, during ABC’s board of directors meeting on June 21.

Speaking to a sell-out crowd, Vice President of the United States Mike Pence thanked the “Marine Corps of American politics—the first on the beach for freedom in the workplace—the Associated Builders and Contractors of America” for their service to the nation and the communities where they live and work. Pence headlined the association’s annual Legislative Day in Washington, D.C., June 22, addressing more than 400 members before they swarmed Capitol Hill to tell members of Congress the merit shop story.

On May 24, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released an interpretation letter in response to a question on whether a supervisor’s advice to continue participating in daily stretching exercises constitutes medical treatment for recordkeeping purposes.

On June 27, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it was proposing to delay the electronic reporting portion of the final rule, “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses,” from July 1, 2017 to Dec. 1, 2017. 

Industry executives, suppliers and stakeholders joined ABC members for the third annual ABC Diversity & Inclusion Summit in Washington, D.C., on June 19-20. The program was headlined by Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson and included sessions on diversity and inclusion success stories, the Tuskegee University architecture and construction science program and the impact of ABC’s Safety Training Evaluation Process (STEP) on MBE companies.

On June 20, President Trump nominated Marvin Kaplan to fill one of two vacant seats on the five member National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Kaplan serves as counsel to the commissioner of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, an independent organization designed to decide workplace safety and health disputes between the Department of Labor and employers. 

ABC applauded President Trump’s executive action on apprenticeships, which is an important step toward building new career opportunities for all Americans. If fully implemented, the order will allow industries to build innovative workforce development systems that address glaring skills gaps in our workforce.  With the construction industry currently facing a workforce shortage of as many as 500,000 jobs, this order is an important first step to allow more entryways into becoming a construction professional.     

In the waning days of the Obama administration, the Treasury Department released proposed regulations under Section 2704 that could have a profound impact on the valuation and therefore taxation of family businesses. The regulations as written would institute back-door “family attribution,” a standard that has been rejected by the courts for decades, and that would jeopardize traditional discounts for minority ownership stakes, inflating tax bases by as much as 40 percent.  As the regulations were not finalized by the time President Obama left office, there is no effective date, but the rule remains pending.

On June 9, ABC joined more than 50 organizations to send a letter to the U.S. Senate in support of maintaining a stable employer-sponsored health care system as the body works on legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  “Chief among the threats to employer-sponsored coverage are proposals to tax workers’ health coverage, whether by preserving the ACA’s 40 percent ‘Cadillac’ tax or imposing new taxes on employee health care benefits,” according to the letter.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has begun to take action on two Obama-era regulations that were consistently opposed by ABC. In a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta announced he will issue a Request for Information (RFI) in order to collect information from the public on the overtime rule. The RFI will likely act as the first step in issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, a process that would change or rescind the rule permanently. 

To celebrate Workforce Development Week, June 12-16, the Trump administration planned a full schedule of events as a backdrop to discuss the growing demand for skilled labor, address the need to fill six million jobs and expand apprenticeship programs across the country. On June 12, U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta released a memorandum asking other agencies to support President Trump’s apprenticeship initiative by reducing regulations on these programs.

Last week, President Trump, along with Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, launched the White House’s Infrastructure Week and revealed several high-level details on the administration’s forthcoming infrastructure package. 

In the lead-up to Legislative Week, ABC is working with Washington, D.C.-based news radio powerhouse WTOP to help tell the organization's story to Congress, the administration and federal agencies.  The Building America thought leadership series includes a mix of radio commercials, website ads, video features and digital content that highlight ABC’s commitment to workforce development, safety and the merit shop philosophy.

On June 7, Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta announced the withdrawal of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) 2015 and 2016 joint employment and independent contractor informal guidance. According to a DOL press release, “removal of the administrator interpretations does not change the legal responsibilities of employers under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, as reflected in the department’s long-standing regulations and case law.”  

ABC today announced that Vice President Mike Pence will deliver the keynote address at its Legislative Day on June 22 at 9:30 a.m. He will speak to member construction contractors gathered for ABC Legislative Week 2017 before they head to Capitol Hill for meetings with lawmakers.

Crossland Construction Co. of Columbus, Kan., a member of ABC’s Heart of America Chapter, has been awarded Accredited Quality Contractor (AQC) status by ABC. The AQC program recognizes and honors construction firms that document their commitment to excellence in five key areas of corporate responsibility: quality, safety, employee benefits, training and community relations.

A study released today by the Beacon Hill Institute found that Ohio schools built under government-mandated project labor agreements (PLAs) cost 13.12 percent more than schools that were bid and constructed through fair and open competition, free from PLA requirements. The study looked at 88 schools built in Ohio since 2000 and found that those built under a PLA mandate cost $23.12 more per square foot than projects built without PLA mandates.