On Dec. 10, the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship held a hearing titled, “Running Government Like a Small Business: Cut Waste, Crush Fraud.” Ahead of the hearing, ABC sent a letter to the committee urging lawmakers to roll back federal policies that undermine small construction firms, particularly the White House’s continued enforcement of mandated PLAs on major federal projects. ABC emphasized that small firms make up the overwhelming majority of the industry and cannot absorb the cost or complexity of these mandates.

“No small business would survive if it limited itself to hiring from a pool of just 10% of the workforce, yet the federal government is attempting to do exactly that,” the letter stated. ABC urged Congress to adopt business-minded, competitive practices that empower all qualified contractors and protect taxpayers.

On Nov. 19, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship held a hearing titled, “Trump’s Regulatory Rollback: Saving Americans $907 Billion and Counting,” with Casey Mulligan, chief counsel for advocacy for the U.S. Small Business Administration.” Ahead of the hearing, ABC sent a letter to the committee supporting deregulation by the Trump administration, including their commitment to institute a new independent contractor rule and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s interim final rule on beneficial ownership reporting requirements.

During the hearing, Committee Chair Joni Ernst, R-Iowa., expressed support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Waters of the United States rule. “This proposed rule… will help end this government overreach for our farmers, landowners and small business owners,” she noted.

While ABC expressed support for part of the administration’s reg rollback, it also called out the administration for failing to repeal Biden’s executive order and subsequent final rule mandating project labor agreements on federal construction projects of $35 million or more.

On Sept. 10, the House Committee on Small Business's Subcommittee on Contracting and Infrastructure held the hearing, Leveling the Playing Field: Fostering Opportunities for Small Business Contractors. Ahead of the hearing, ABC sent a letter to the committee, noting the construction industry's high concentration of small businesses and role in building America's infrastructure. The letter expressed concern with President Donald Trump's decision to continue the Biden administration's project labor agreement mandate and urged the President to reverse course, end government-mandated PLAs and implement a policy that supports fair and open competition in the federal procurement process.

On July 23, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing titled, “The Road Ahead: Proposals to Improve America’s Transportation Infrastructure.” Ahead of the hearing, ABC sent a letter to the committee calling on them to prioritize fair and open competition and an all-of-the-above approach to workforce development as it crafts the Surface Transportation Act reauthorization.

On July 1, a diverse group of lawmakers from around the country sent letters to President Trump urging him to rescind the Biden-era rule requiring PLAs on federal construction projects of $35 million or more. 95 members of the U.S. House and 21 members of the U.S. Senate signed the letters, expressing serious concerns over the administration’s decision to double down on a policy that is inherently exclusionary, anti-competitive and costly for American taxpayers.

On June 11, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's Subcommittee on Military and Foreign Affairs held the hearing: Clearing the Path: Reforming Procurement to Accelerate Defense Innovation. Ahead of the hearing, ABC sent a letter to the committee, noting projects where PLAs had limited innovation at the U.S. Department of Defense. During the hearing, Representative Andy Biggs, R-Az., expressed concern that the Biden administration's PLA mandate kills competition, inflates prices and blocks nonunion companies from fair opportunities. He said the mandate is sidelining the best contractors and rigging the system. On the other side of the aisle, Representative Stephen Lynch, D-Ma., stated that very few projects at DOD that require a PLA. He said a PLA may exist to build a warehouse. He stated that he does not know of any DOD PLA requirement in place in the entire United States. In addition, Lynch said PLAs ensure workers are highly skilled and able to perform work at levels that meet DOD standards.

On May 20, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management held the hearing, "Federal Courthouse Design and Construction: Examining the Costs to the Taxpayer." Ahead of the hearing, ABC sent a letter to the subcommittee, highlighting how the Biden administration's project labor agreement mandate increases federal courthouse construction costs. ABC noted several courthouse construction and improvement projects, totaling several hundred million dollars, that require a PLA as a result of the mandate. In his opening statement, Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa., entered ABC's letter into the hearing record. 

On March 6, Sen. Sanders, D-Vt., and Rep. Scott, D-Va., reintroduced the ABC-opposed PRO Act in the 119th Congress.

On March 4, the ABC-led Coalition for a Democratic Workplace sent a letter to the Hill urging Congress to oppose the bill.

This radical legislation includes dozens of provisions that would violate workers’ free choice and privacy rights, force unions on employees who have voted against such representation, cost millions of American jobs, threaten vital supply chains and greatly hinder our economy. The bill boosts union membership at the expense of American workers and small businesses.

Of the many radical provisions in the PRO Act, the bill includes provisions that:

• Strip away workers’ privacy rights and key protections guaranteeing workers’ free choice through secret ballots in union representation elections
• Curb opportunities for people to work independently through independent contractor roles
• Revoke independently enacted state right-to-work protections and require workers to pay union dues as a condition of employment
• Change the legal standard for joint-employer liability, reducing opportunities for our country’s small and local businesses through subcontracts, licensing and franchising
• Violate employers’ right to attorney-client confidentiality on complex labor law issues, making it harder for businesses, particularly small businesses, to secure legal advice
• Impose government control over private contracts
• Infringe on the due process rights of employers
• Remove secondary boycott protections

The reintroduction of this legislation represents the latest attempt to implement labor law policies that have previously been rejected by the judicial system, opposed on a bipartisan basis in Congress and/or withdrawn by the agencies that prior administrations tried to use to implement the policies unilaterally. All of these entities realized those policies violated the law, exceeded the authority granted to the implementing agencies or would cause serious damage to the American workplace.

On Feb. 26, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing, “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Implementation and Case Studies.” Ahead of the hearing, ABC sent a letter expressing concern that the Biden administration’s pro-project labor agreement policies were limiting opportunities for all Americans to participate on federal and federally assisted construction projects, raising costs for taxpayers.

On Feb. 5, the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing, Rightsizing Government. The hearing focused on eliminating waste, fraud and abuse by the federal government. Ahead of the hearing, ABC sent a letter to the Committee highlighting how the Biden administration’s Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects final rule eliminated merit-based federal contracting and increased taxpayer costs by 12-20%. The letter urged Congress and the Trump administration to Congress and the Trump administration have the opportunity to restore merit to federal contracting by advancing fair and open competition. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., who serves on the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs, entered ABC’s letter into the hearing record. The Congressman's remarks may be seen here.