On June 17, the U.S. Department of Labor sent its controversial National Apprenticeship System Enhancements final rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget for final review, the last step in the regulatory process before implementation. The proposed rule made significant and costly changes to government-registered apprenticeship programs that are likely to undermine the construction industry’s skilled labor shortage an existing workforce development programs. ABC will be meeting with the OIRA to express its serious concerns about the rule.

On Friday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore issued revisions to his previous executive order (01.01.2023.19) regarding project labor agreement usage on large-scale state construction of $20 million or more in total project cost. These changes center around the use of PLAs on design-build and progressive design-build public works, the presence of federal assistance in project finances and the requirements around notification of decisions on PLA use in project solicitation documents.

ABC Greater Baltimore chapter member Kate Lawrence of Lawrence Law LLC is the newest member of the Beam Club Presidential Level. To reach this level, ABC members must recruit 25 new members.

On June 3, Reps. Clay Higgins, R-La., and Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., hosted a briefing on the use of project labor agreements and the effects on the American construction workforce. Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, joined other state and industry stakeholders to discuss the Biden administration’s final rule mandating PLAs on federal construction projects of $35 million or more that went into effect on Jan. 22.

ABC has sent 67 ABC chapter staff and members through the "VitalCog: Suicide Prevention in the Construction Industry’s Train the Trainer" program to become an instructor. Over that time, ABC instructors have provided 95 trainings and 1,617 ABC members and chapter staff have received this vital education.

ABC members made up 15 of the top 20 ranked by revenue on Engineering News-Record’s 2024 Top 400 Contractors list. ABC member Turner Construction Co. nabbed the top spot, while, overall, ABC members made up 59 of the top 100.

On May 24, ABC joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and more than 200 national associations and state and local chambers in urging the Federal Trade Commission to stay the effective date of its final rule to ban noncompete clauses in order to allow for judicial review. The effective date of the rule is Sept. 4.

On May 22, ABC joined a coalition of business groups in filing a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, challenging the U.S. Department of Labor’s controversial final rule, Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees, which will change overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Read ABC’s news release announcing the lawsuit.

Lane Grigsby, chair emeritus of Cajun Industries, headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was recently awarded ABC’s inaugural Legacy Medallion for Advocacy for his contributions to the merit shop construction industry over more than 50 years.

On May 17, ABC joined an industry coalition in submitting comments to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget in response to the OMB’s request for information on public participation in federal agency policymaking. The OMB issued the request ahead of plans to develop a governmentwide framework, common guidelines and leading practices for public participation and community engagement.