ABC celebrated a victory June 10 after South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) signed a bill (S.438) into law that will prohibit state government entities from requiring contractors to sign a project labor agreement (PLA) with labor unions as a condition of performing work on public construction projects.

An Idaho appeals court May 22 sent a lawsuit related to project labor agreements (PLAs) and job targeting back to a district court in order to allow the union groups who filed the lawsuit to add defendants and to give both sides a chance to revise arguments.

The ABC Inland Pacific Chapter and the State of Idaho May 6 made oral arguments in an appeal of a December 2011 ruling that struck down two statutes of importance to merit shop contractors.  

The ABC Georgia Chapter celebrated a victory May 6 when Gov. Nathan Deal (R) signed into law S.B. 179, which prohibits government entities from mandating project labor agreements (PLAs) on state-funded construction projects. 

Effective May 7, all employers are required to use the revised I-9 Form. Employers who fail to use the new form (revision date 03/08/13) after that date may be subject to penalties. 

As part of ABC’s partnership with the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships (NCPPP) to educate lawmakers and the construction industry about the benefits of public-private partnerships (P3s), ABC is sponsoring a conference June 27 at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport Hilton that will address Maryland’s recently enacted law and other state and local laws enabling P3s. Register now and view the agenda featuring Md. Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D) here: http://www.ncppp.org/events/ncppp-events/building-maryland-through-ppps/

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is requesting comments about the potential use of a government-mandated project labor agreement (PLA) on a large-scale federal project constructing dormitories and a conference center for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Harpers Ferry, W.Va. 

In a victory for merit shop construction and free enterprise, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) April 30 signed into law a bill (S.B. 1209) that repeals prevailing wage requirements on all vertical construction projects in the state. 

In the wake of the Boston marathon bombings, The ABC Massachusetts Chapter has made a contribution to the One Fund Boston, Inc., the charity set up by Gov. Deval Patrick and Mayor Thomas Menino to provide support to those affected by this tragic event.

ABC celebrated another victory in the fight against government-mandated PLAs after the DOL awarded ABC New Hampshire/Vermont Chapter member Eckman Construction Company a $31.6 million contract to build a DOL Job Corps Center in Manchester, N.H., after removing a controversial PLA mandate from the federal project’s solicitation for construction services. Eckman Construction Company, Bedford N.H., submitted a bid that was more than $6 million below the lowest offer when the project was subjected to a PLA.