Newsline

Following the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) and President Trump signing it into law, ABC has gathered some additional information on the bill’s small business and tax provisions.

Following last week’s passage of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020 (FFCRA) and President Trump signing it into law, the U.S. Department of Labor has requested ideas and input on the paid leave provisions of the new law as it issues implementing regulations and guidance. 

On March 24, ABC, as a member of the Construction Industry Safety Coalition Steering Committee, wrote to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration regarding recordkeeping and respirator enforcement during the COVID-19 outbreak. CISC is comprised of a number of trade associations that represent every aspect of the construction industry.

In the wake of coronavirus-related business shutdowns impacting the construction industry in Boston, Pennsylvania and other localities, ABC is urging President Trump to recognize construction as an essential service and keep workers employeto preserve the industry’s current and future ability to build and maintain health care facilities, respond to critical infrastructure requirements and aid in recovery efforts after natural disasters.  

With a shortage of N-95 face masks used by health care and first responders, the White House has called for donations to local hospitals from construction contractors and other industries that have supplies on hand.

ABC and its chapters are reaching out to state and local lawmakers and asking them to treat construction activities conducted in a safe and responsible manner as essential services in order to permit critical infrastructure services to continue as states and localities draft stay-at-home orders and other policies allowing only movement of workers involved in essential businesses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate arrived at a deal to provide approximately $2 trillion in federal funding and programs to address the ongoing health crisis. The legislation would send checks to many Americans under a certain income threshold, create a $350 billion loan program for small businesses and establish a $500 billion lending fund for industries, cities and states.

ABC has assembled Emergency Preparedness and Response Resources to help our chapters and members quickly access the latest information and guidance regarding the coronavirus. Resources such as COVID-19 Toolbox Talks, both in English and Spanish, are now available. Other resources, including sample continuity plans and project shutdown and startup procedures are also available.

Many employers are now asking whether they must record cases of COVID-19 on their Occupational Safety and Health Administration 300 Logs or report the cases to OSHA.

On March 16, ABC submitted comments to the Office of Management and Budget on its Request for Information on Improving and Reforming Regulatory Enforcement and Adjudication.

ABC issued a key vote to the Senate on an amendment submitted by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.). The amendment would have replaced the mandated paid leave requirements of the House-passed Families First Coronavirus Response Act that affect employers with fewer than 500 employees with unemployment insurance capped at $1000 per week.   

From March 1-7, ABC celebrated Women in Construction Week, a week that raises awareness and emphasizes the growing role of women in the construction industry.

Information about coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to be issued at a rapid pace. In order to keep ABC chapters and members up to date and provide access to acc

On March 6, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill that, among many o

Construction Spending Source: Census Bureau Value of Construction Put in Place Survey Annual Historical Data and “Annual Total Table”

On March 10, ABC joined several other organizations in submitting comments to the Council on Environmental Quality in support of proposed revisions to its regulations implementing the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, which has not been updated for more than four decades.

On March 11, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a final rule , officially titled Apprenticeship Programs, Labor Standards for Registration, Amendment of Regulations, which establishes a process for creating high-quality, industry-recognized apprenticeship programs by organizations that apply to become DOL recognized Standards Recognition Entities. The rule prohibits SREs from recognizing IRAPs in the construction sector. DOL’s press release on the proposal is available&nb

Applications for ABC's Accredited Quality Contractor Program are being accepted now through Oct. 30.

On March 9, ABC joined the H-2B Workforce Coalition in a letter to the acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to raise concerns over the release of a temporary final rule to implement supplemental H-2B visas.

On March 4, the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment held a hearing entitled “Reauthorizing the National Apprenticeship Act: Strengthening and Growing Apprenticeships for the 21st Century.” The National Apprenticeship Act, also known as the Fitzgerald Act, has not been reauthorized since its enactment in 1937 and the Subcommittee released a discussion draft bill to reauthorize the act ahead of Wednesday’s hearing.  

Ben Brubeck, ABC’s vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, conducted 11 radio and TV interviews during the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 27 in Washington, D.C. Brubeck discussed the outlook for construction spending and infrastructure investment, highlighted the industry’s response to its current skilled labor shortage and promoted the benefits of fair and open competition on taxpayer-funded construction contracts.

Multiple federal agencies recently published searchable databases of all respective guidance documents currently in effect in an effort by the Trump administration to promote transparency and make these documents readily available to the public.

On Feb. 26, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs released its Contract Compliance Institute to assist federal contractors and subcontractors in complying with the agency’s Equal Employment Opportunity regulations.

On Feb. 26, ABC sent a letter calling on Congress to consider how its infrastructure investment agenda could impact merit shop contractors and the small business community during a hearing titled Moving America’s Infrastructure Forward. Convened by U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business’ Contracting and Infrastructure Subcommittee, the hearing was timed to coordinate with the recent release of Democrats’ $760 billion infrastructure investm

Information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to be issued at a rapid pace.  In order to stay up to date and access accurate information, employers are encouraged to utilize the below links.