The Dec. 9 spending bill released by the House omitted the controversial and ABC-opposed language supported by members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus that would have increased costs to taxpayers by reducing competition from qualified federal contractors. If it had passed as a part of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 83), also known as the CRomnibus, the language would have prohibited any funds from being used to enter into a contract with any company that discloses a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) within the last five years through the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS).

In addition to the OSHA and federal contracting regulations, the latest regulatory agenda, released Nov. 21, outlines the Department of Labor’s (DOL) plan to move forward with the controversial persuader rule and overtime requirements among other important rules affecting the construction industry.

Federal Contractors should be on the lookout for a number of items listed in the latest regulatory agenda, released Nov. 21, which lists the priorities of the administration and the rulemakings they expect to release this year. 

Join ABC and a growing list of industry professionals in Dallas, Texas, Feb. 23-25, for the annual Public-Private Partnership Conference (P3C), one of the largest gatherings of government and industry development professionals in the country.  The conference will host more than 750 owners, industry executives, key decision-makers, and more than 100 speakers for three days of in-depth learning, business development, and networking opportunities to address the critical principles behind successful public-private partnerships (P3).  

In his 2015 economic forecast released Dec. 9, ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu relayed his forecast for a steady recovery among the U.S. commercial and industrial construction industries in 2015, continuing the momentum built in 2014.

Important Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation and enforcement deadlines—such as for the employer mandate ("pay or play") and information reporting requirements—are approaching quickly. Make sure you are prepared by taking advantage of the resources ABC is offering, including a recent webinar on how these complex ACA requirements could impact your company in 2015.  

OSHA’s latest semiannual regulatory agenda was released on Nov. 2. It lists the priorities of the administration and the rulemakings they expect to release this year.

Safety Training and Evaluation Process (STEP) applications for 2014 may still be submitted, but time is running out as ABC will cease processing applications on Dec. 15 in order to close out the year and begin the annual STEP data analysis. This analysis, completed using data submitted by STEP participants, provides ABC members who apply for STEP a benchmarking tool for their companies compared to other STEP participants of similar work type/size and the rest of the construction industry. 

As a part of The Partnership for a Better Energy Future (the Partnership), ABC and other business organizations representing more than 80% of the U.S. economy, submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) arguing that itsproposed power plant rule, also known as the Clean Power Plan (CPP), is not compatible with numerous practical and technical aspects of America’s electricity system.