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. 

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.

ABC General Counsel Maury Baskin and ABC National Director of Legislative & Political Affairs Liam Donovan will hold important webinars that will breakdown the post-election political and regulatory landscape Nov. 9 and Nov. 10 respectively.

The U.S. House of Representatives September 13 unanimously passed a key piece of workforce development legislation. The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 5587), sponsored by Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.)  reauthorizes and reforms the Carl D Perkins Career and Technical Education Act to better align America’s workforce development programs with industry demand. ABC is supportive of Rep. Thompson’s legislation and has worked with Congressional leaders to shape policy that will equip our nation’s students with the tools and experience needed to succeed in the21st-century workforce.

On July 22, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed a bill that would have significantly changed the prevailing wage calculation process by tying wage rates to union collective bargaining agreements. In vetoing the bill, Gov. Rauner said Senate Bill 2964 would effectively discount the wage rates of those who have chosen not to join a union and who make up a majority of the construction workforce. 

The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2017 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act Jul 14 in a 31-19 vote. 

On June 15, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued a final rule on Discrimination on the Basis of Sex.  The final rule applies to federal contractors (including subcontractors) and is effective on Aug. 15, 2016. 

On June 27, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a nationwide injunction that will block the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) from implementing the persuader rule, officially titled the Interpretation of the ‘Advice’ Exemption in Section 203(c) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), which was scheduled to go into effect on July 1.  

The U.S. Department of Labor announced that the new annual hiring benchmark under the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) is 6.9 percent, down slightly from 7 percent in 2015. The act requires federal contractors to take affirmative action to recruit, hire, promote and retain veterans.

On June 10, 2016, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision rejecting ABC’s challenge to the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) controversial “ambush” election final rule.  ABC General Counsel Maury Baskin of Littler Mendelson P.C., Washington, D.C., argued the case on behalf of ABC of Texas, the Central Texas Chapter of ABC and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Texas on March 3 in New Orleans.