On Sept. 3, Associated Builders and Contractors joined 150 members of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council in a letter of support for H.R.9278, introduced by Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa. This legislation would provide small businesses with an additional year to file the beneficial ownership information required by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s Corporate Transparency Act implementing regulation.

On Sept. 6, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14126 on Investing in America and Investing in American Workers, a new effort by the Biden-Harris administration to utilize federal policy to favor unions that is likely to undermine competition to build taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects.

In a win for ABC members, on Aug. 20, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas blocked the Federal Trade Commission from implementing its rule to ban noncompete agreements. The court found that the FTC lacked statutory authority to promulgate the rule and that the rule is arbitrary and capricious. This means the rule will not be enforced or otherwise take effect on Sept. 4, 2024. According to media reports, the FTC is considering appealing the decision. To learn more about the decision, read ABC’s general counsel Littler Mendelson’s analysis.

On Aug. 15, the U.S. Department of Defense issued a proposed rule, Assessing Contractor Implementation of Cybersecurity Requirements, which seeks to implement contractual requirements for DOD contracts related to the recently proposed Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification 2.0 Program. Comments on the proposed rule are due Oct. 15.

On Aug. 1, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee voted to advance two nominees to the National Labor Relations Board. Democrat Lauren McFerran’s nomination to serve another term as chair passed in a party-line vote, 11-10. The nomination of Republican Josh Ditelberg passed with a bipartisan vote of 18-3. A full Senate vote on these two nominations is not yet scheduled.

Effective Jan. 1, 2024, the Corporate Transparency Act requires certain entities, including many small businesses, to report information about the individuals who ultimately own or control them (also known as their “beneficial owners”) to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

On July 26, the National Labor Relations Board issued its misnamed Fair Choice-Employee Voice final rule, which rescinds the ABC-supported 2020 Election Protection final rule, jeopardizing employees’ right of free choice in representational matters and disrupting the Board’s current representation processes. The 2020 final rule was intended to “better protect employees’ statutory right of free choice on questions concerning representation.”

The Biden administration continues to roll back Trump-era initiatives and institute new, pro-union policies that challenge ABC members’ ability to win work. ABC is fighting against these proposed rules and regulations affecting merit shop contractors and advocating for open competition and free enterprise.

On July 3, ABC submitted comments in response to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency proposed rule on Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act Reporting Requirements. The rule imposes new cyberincident and ransom payment reporting requirements for companies deemed to have responsibility for critical infrastructure.

This year’s Camp NAIWC, sponsored by the National Association of Women in Construction’s Greater Washington, D.C., chapter, was held in June. The camp is a four-day, all-girls camp offering students in grades 7 through 12 experience in trades such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical and more.