On Feb. 18, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced new procedures  that give a charging party access to a respondent’s position statement and supporting documents in the course of an employment discrimination investigation.  Under these procedures, the charging party or the party’s representative may request to view the respondent’s position statement and its supporting attachments if they were filed in response to an EEOC demand made on or after Jan. 1, 2016.  Once the EEOC releases the statement, the charging party will have twenty days to file a response; however, this response will not be available to the

On Feb. 17, ABC sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) expressing concern over several regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). 

On Feb. 12, the West Virginia legislature voted 18-16 to override Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s vetoes of  a prevailing wage repeal bill and the West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act, making West Virginia the 26th Right to Work state in the country and the fourth state to pass Right to Work since 2012. 

Last week, the New Hampshire House rejected a bill (House Bill 1641) that would have required prevailing wage be paid on all state construction projects. Citing a union-backed study, proponents of the bill argued the legislation would create jobs, spur economic activity, and raise workers’ wages without increasing the cost of projects. Opponents rejected those assertions and insisted the state would pay more for construction projects under the provisions of the bill. 

The U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate have reached a deal on both the Omnibus spending package and extending certain expired tax provisions commonly referred to as “extenders.”

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released its latest regulatory agenda on Nov. 20. The agenda lists the priorities of the administration and the rulemakings they expect to release in 2016, their final year. An update on rulemakings affecting the construction industry is below.

On Nov. 17, the ABC National Tax Advisory Group (TAG) gathered in Washington, D.C., to advocate for the tax priorities of merit shop contractors and the broader construction industry. TAG members from the Eastern Pennsylvania, Florida East Coast, Central Florida, and Georgia chapters were in attendance as the group met with senior staff representing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate Finance Committee, and key members of the House Committee on Ways and Means.

ABC is encouraging all members to call on their Senators and Representatives to co-sponsor and support the “Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act” (S. 2015/ H.R. 3459). This important legislation will help provide additional stability for contractors, subcontractors and their employees by restoring the 30 year old “joint employer” standard, encouraging local business ownership and employee opportunity.

ABC continued its longstanding opposition to the Obama administration’s blacklisting proposal by submitting a letter for the record in support of the Sept. 29 Committee on Small Business Subcommittees on Contracting and the Workforce and Investigations, Oversight and Regulations hearing titled The Blacklist: Are Small Businesses Guilty Until Proven Innocent?

In a bipartisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the ABC-supported Responsibility and Professionally Invigorating Development (RAPID) Act of 2015 (H.R. 348). The bill was sponsored by Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law Chairman Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) and had 21 co-sponsors.