The U.S. House of Representatives took steps to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act by passing H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act (AHCA) on May 4. H.R. 1628 repeals several of the most harmful and burdensome provisions of the ACA, including the employer mandate penalty, costly tax increases and limitations on contributions to and restrictions on the use of flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts. ABC sent a letter in support of H.R. 1628 to the U.S. House of Representatives, which passed the House by a vote of 217-213. The bill now awaits action in the U.S. Senate.

On April 25, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a memorandum withdrawing a letter of interpretation that stated nonunion employees can authorize an individual “affiliated with a union or a community organization” to act as their representative during agency-sanctioned inspections and other enforcement situations.

In his first 100 days in office, President Trump took a variety of actions that impact ABC members culminating in the swearing in of U.S. Department of Labor Secretary R. Alexander Acosta on April 28. Read a statement by ABC President and CEO Michael Bellaman praising President Trump for taking important steps to create a pro-growth business environment and a summary of those actions.

U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary R. Alexander Acosta was sworn in on April 28, giving President Trump a full cabinet just ahead of his 100th day in office. ABC President and CEO Michael Bellaman congratulated Secretary Acosta in a statement released shortly after he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and committed to working with DOL to address the needs of the construction industry. 

Since taking office President Trump has made reforming our broken regulatory system a top priority. Through the use of executive orders, he has asked federal agencies to review and evaluate existing regulations and make recommendations on which regulations to repeal, replace or modify. The agencies will be putting out requests for comment from the public on certain federal regulations. ABC needs input from members on which regulations they would like to see repealed, replaced or modified. 

On April 6, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced they were delaying enforcement of the silica standard as it applies to the construction industry to September 23, 2017. The standard was set to go into effect June 23, 2017. On March 10, 2017, the ABC-led Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC) sent a letter to the acting secretary of Labor requesting that the department delay enforcement of OSHA’s final silica rule by one year. 

ABC commended President Trump for signing a resolution into law eliminating the Obama administration’s controversial “Volks rule” (formally known as Clarification of an Employer’s Continuing Obligation to Make and Maintain an Accurate Record of Each Recordable Injury and Illness final rule). The rule imposed a massive paperwork burden on contractors without improving jobsite safety. Congress passed the resolution through the Congressional Review Act (CRA). 

On Jan. 9, 2017, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a final rule on beryllium exposure. In the final rule, OSHA includes the construction industry; this was expanded from the proposed stage which focused on general industry. Beryllium is a lightweight but strong metal used in a number of industries. 

On March 31, 2017, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) updated its Annual Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act Benchmark Database to reflect a new hiring benchmark of 6.7 percent.  The new benchmark is slightly lower than the previous year’s benchmark of 6.9 percent. 

On March 24, the U.S. Department of State signed a permit approving the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline, which would ship crude from Canada's western oil-sands region to refineries on the Gulf Coast. The memorandum invited TransCanada to re-submit its application for a presidential permit for the construction of the 1,600-mile pipeline and requested that the State Department reach