On June 10, Annie Mecias-Murphy, co-owner and president of Associated Builders and Contractors member JA&M Developing Corp., headquartered in Pembroke Pines, Florida, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Small Business Committee Subcommittee on Contracting and Infrastructure on the negative impacts that the Biden administration’s infrastructure plan would have on small business contractors.

On June 9, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Army announced their intent to revise the definition of “waters of the United States” that are federally regulated under the Clean Water Act and replace the definition under the Trump administration’s 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which provided four clear categories of waters under the CWA that businesses and landowners could easily understand.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the long-awaited COVID-19 Healthcare Emergency Temporary Standard on June 10. The Construction Industry Safety Coalition, which ABC is a steering committee member, said that it is pleased that the Biden administration and OSHA listened to the concerns and recommendations of the construction industry in formulating the ETS.

On June 11, the Biden administration released its Spring 2021 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.  The agenda lists upcoming rulemakings and other regulatory actions from each agency that the administration expects to publish through the end of the year and into 2022. ABC has prepared a summary of the actions of interest to ABC members by agency.   

The Biden administration and U.S. Department of Treasury have taken another unfortunate step promoting controversial, anti-competitive and costly government-mandated project labor agreements, local hire and Davis-Bacon/prevailing wage policies on federally assisted taxpayer-funded construction projects.

On May 14, the Coalition for Workforce Innovation, ABC, ABC Southeast Texas Chapter and the Financial Services Institute filed an amended complaint challenging the U.S. Department of Labor’s unlawful withdrawal of the independent contractor rule. The Department’s hasty and unjustified action violates the Administrative Procedure Act, compounding a violation that began when the department improperly delayed the effective date of the rule in March.

On May 5, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the withdrawal—effective May 6—of the Trump-era independent contractor final rule. While expected, this action is extremely disappointing. ABC strongly supported the Trump DOL final rule, which would have clarified the department’s interpretation of independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act and promoted certainty for employers, independent contractors and employees.

On April 27, President Joe Biden issued an executive order increasing the minimum wage for federal contractors, which would require federal contractors to pay a $15 minimum wage to workers working on or in connection with a federal government contract.

On April 14, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Rep. Garrett Graves (R-La.), reintroduced the Building U.S. Infrastructure Through Limited Delays & Efficient Reviews (BUILDER) Act, which would modernize the outdated National Environmental Policy Act) to make infrastructure project reviews more efficient, reduce project costs, spur economic recovery and rebuild America. The BUILDER Act has been r

On April 12, ABC submitted comments in opposition to proposals from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division to rescind the Trump-era independent contractor and joint employer final rules.