President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office on January 20, 2017, to formally become the 45th President of the United States. The 58th presidential inauguration involves a swearing-in ceremony at the United States Capitol, followed by a luncheon, and then a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue. For updates on the Inauguration Day festivities, visit the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies’ website.  

More than a dozen ABC members took advantage of the inaugural ABC at AU program in Las Vegas Nov.14-16. Autodesk University (AU) draws hundreds of construction professionals from all size businesses to see, touch, and try the latest industry technology and attend any of the 180 construction related classes.

On Nov. 18, 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued the Walking-Working Surfaces and Personal Protective Equipment (Fall Protection Systems) final rule. This is an update for general industry and does not change the construction standard. This update could impact maintenance activities being completed on a facility. OSHA indicated that under the final rule they have worked to align the general industry standard with the construction standard. 

On Dec. 1, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a document entitled recommended practices for safety and health programs in construction.  This document is meant to help small and medium contractors who may not have safety and health specialists on staff to create proactive programs to keep their workplace safe. The recommendations do not change any existing obligations from OSHA standards or create new legal obligations, rather is meant only as advisory. 

The new site allows members and staff to search for ABC members across the country by name, chapter, location, sales volume or type of construction. Plus, you can search for members that participate in STEP, have signed the Drug- and Alcohol-Free Workplace Pledge and those who have federal designations. Members can also manage their membership information, including verifying company name, chapter, CSI and NAICS codes and designations.

The U.S. Congress passed the Continuing Resolution, Stopgap Funding Bill (CR), Dec. 9 to prevent a government shutdown and continue funding for federal programs and services until April 28, 2017. The short-term spending bill maintains the current budget cap level of $1.07 trillion put into place under the Budget Control Act of 2011 and continues funding provisions included in currently enacted fiscal year 2016 Appropriations legislation. 

The 2016 CFMA Financial Benchmarker Report presents a detailed analysis of key operating data from the construction industry. The report, based on confidential surveys completed by 869 companies in early 2016, showed an increase in return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), average days in accounts receivable, gross profits and net income and a decline in average days in accounts payable.

On Dec. 5, ABC, along with a broad coalition of 380 stakeholders, sent a letter to Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) urging him to make the Regulatory Accountability Act (RAA) an early priority for the 115th Congress.  The bill seeks to improve the transparency of regulations by requiring agencies to invest more effort earlier in the rulemaking process to gather data, evaluate alternatives, and receive public input about the costs and benefits of its rules.

Section 179 of the U.S. tax code presents a welcome opportunity for small business owners to save money at tax time. An economic incentive designed to encourage the purchase of business-related equipment, Section 179 lets taxpayers deduct the full cost (within limits) of certain types of property from their federal taxes for the year the property was purchased and put into service.

On Nov. 14, the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a revised I-9 Form. Employers can begin to use the newly revised I-9 Form or continue to use the current version, which is dated 3/8/2013. However, beginning Jan. 22, 2017, all employers must use the revised I-9 Form (edition date 11/14/2016 noted at the bottom of the form) for all new hires to verify their employment eligibility, including U.S. citizens and non-citizens. Employers who fail to use the new form on or after Jan. 22 may be subject to penalties.