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 Dec. 3, the U.S. House passed the Destroying Unnecessary, Misaligned, and Prohibitive Red Tape Act (H.R. 4305) in a 269-146 vote. Introduced by Rep. Tony Wied, R-Wis., the DUMP Red Tape Act codifies the Small Business Administration’s “Red Tape Hotline,” accessible by email, web form, or phone, where small businesses can report burdensome regulations to the SBA’s chief counsel for advocacy.

ABC sent a letter to the House Small Business Committee ahead of its Nov. 18 markup in support of the bill, which cleared the committee hurdle in a 18-9 vote.

The bill will now head to the U.S. Senate, where a vote has yet to be scheduled.

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 Nov. 18, the U.S. House Committee on Small Business held a markup of several pieces of legislation, including the Destroying Unnecessary, Misaligned, and Prohibitive Red Tape Act (H.R. 4305), introduced by Rep. Tony Wied, R-Wis. Ahead of the hearing, ABC sent a letter to the committee in support of H.R. 4305 and urged the committee to advance the bill for a full House vote. The DUMP Red Tape Act codifies the Small Business Administration’s “Red Tape Hotline,” accessible by email, web form, or phone, where small businesses can report burdensome regulations to the SBA’s chief counsel for advocacy.

During the markup, Rep. Wied noted that the Red Tape Hotline gives small businesses “a seat at the table to highlight the prohibitive red tape regulations from across federal agencies that hurt their ability to grow and compete.” He added that his bill, “is a commonsense way to gather input directly from the people most harmed by overregulation.”

The bill was reported favorably for a full House vote in an 18-9 vote.

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.

ABC Supports One, Big, Beautiful Bill as Senate Kicks off Vote-a-Rama:

On June 30, the U.S. Senate began deliberations on their version of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act after passing a key procedural vote this past weekend. On June 27, ABC sent a Key Vote letter to the U.S. House and Senate, urging members of Congress to support the bill which includes key tax relief for contractors. ABC also joined a group of organizations representing millions of Main Street businesses in a June 28 letter expressing strong support of the package. ABC supported provisions of the OBBB would:

• Make the Small Business Deduction Permanent
• Provide Permanent Estate Tax Relief
• Restore 100% Bonus Depreciation
• Revive Expensing of R&D Costs
• Eliminate tax on Overtime for American Workers
• Expand 529 Accounts for Skilled Trades Training

The Motion to Proceed to debate the bill on the Senate floor passed in a 51-49 vote, with Senators Thom Tillis, R-N.C. and Rand Paul, R-Ky., voting against the measure. The bill is now in its early stages of a series of votes nicknamed “vote-a-rama,” where the Senate will consider any number of amendments to the package, a process expected to take several hours. Keep in mind, under Senate rules, reconciliation bills can pass the Senate with a simple majority, overriding Senate filibuster rules that typically require a 60-vote supermajority. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, but Tillis and Paul are both unlikely to change their minds on Trump’s key agenda item, leaving Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., with a slim margin to pass the package. A third GOP defector would force Vice President JD Vance to break the tie, while a fourth would kill the bill all together.

If the Senate approves the package, it will head back to the House where Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will face yet another challenge in corralling his Conference. Notably, the House passed their version of the OBBB at the end of May in a slim 215-214-1 vote. The Senate’s version now includes steeper cuts to Medicaid and a phase out of the $40,000 state and local tax deduction cap, not to mention an $800 billion increase to the deficit. These present a clear and present threat to Johnson’s hopes of getting the package through the Chamber and to the president’s desk ahead of their July 4 deadline.

On June 25, ABC joined other business groups and trade associations in a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, supporting making permanent and expanding the Section 199A deduction from 20 to 23 percent. While ABC supports the Senate’s provision of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill that would make permanent the 199A deduction, it also would cut in half their ability to deduct State and Local Taxes (SALT) as a business expense. The net result will be a tax hike on millions of pass-through businesses relative to what they currently pay.

Locking in the higher deduction under Section 199A will prevent a significant tax hike in 2026 and ensure that ABC members—most of whom are passthrough businesses—can reinvest in their companies, expand their workforce and take on new projects without fear of future tax hikes.

On June 4, the U.S. House Committee on Small Business held a hearing titled, “Budgeting for Growth: Testimony from SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler.” Ahead of the hearing, ABC sent a letter to the committee stressing the need for deregulation. Specifically, ABC expressed its support for the Prove It Act (H.R. 1163) and denounced former President Biden’s executive order and subsequent final rule mandating controversial project labor agreements on federal construction projects of $35 million or more. The letter added that the Biden final rule unfairly limits opportunities for small firms that may be unable or unwilling to operate under the terms of a PLA.  

On June 3, the U.S. House passed two ABC-supported small business bills that will satisfy educational needs and offer clarity to help strengthen small businesses across the country. The Connecting Small Businesses with Career and Technical Education Graduates Act of 2025 (H.R. 1642) requires Small Business Development Centers and Women’s Business Centers to provide information to small businesses about hiring career and technical education graduates, providing critical education to small businesses so they can hire the next generation of skilled workers. The bill passed the House overwhelmingly in 396-5 vote.

The Plain Language in Contracting Act (H.R. 787) aims to ensure that federal contracting opportunities are written in plain language, making it easier for small businesses to secure government contracts, putting Main Street on a level playing field with large businesses so they can more fairly compete to win work. 

On May 21, the House Judiciary Committee held a legislative markup on several pieces of legislation, including the ABC-supported Prove It Act (H.R. 1163). Ahead of the hearing, ABC sent a letter in support of the bill, urging members of the Committee to report it favorably for a full House vote. The Committee passed H.R. 1163 in a 14-12 vote and, following passage in the House Small Business committee on April 30, will now be reported for a vote by the full U.S. House.

The Prove It Act strengthens the Regulatory Flexibility Act by allowing small businesses, and groups like ABC, to petition the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy to examine agency rules and requires that agencies evaluate both the direct and indirect costs of proposed rules on small businesses. What’s more, the bill exempts small businesses from regulatory action when agency’s do not comply with the RFA.

On April 30, the U.S. House Committee on Small Business held a full committee markup on several pieces of legislation, including the ABC-supported Prove It Act (H.R. 1163). Ahead of the markup, ABC sent a letter to the committee urging members to report the bill for a full House vote. The Prove It Act strengthens the Regulatory Flexibility Act by allowing small businesses, and groups like ABC, to petition the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy to examine agency rules and requires that agencies evaluate both the direct and indirect costs of proposed rules on small businesses. What’s more, the bill exempts small businesses from regulatory action when agency’s do not comply with the RFA.

The Prove It Act was favorably reported for a full House vote in a 15-11 vote.