While a handful of U.S. Senate, House and state legislative races from the 2020 elections remain uncalled, voters in a handful of states made some significant policy changes on Tuesday, Nov. 3, through the ballot initiative and referendum processes. Many of these affect the construction industry, including changing the minimum wage, legalizing and decriminalizing marijuana, paid family and medical leave and more.  

On this week’s episode of “The Bottom Line With ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu,” get insights on the Construction Backlog Indicator, which rebounded to 7.7 months in October, an increase of 0.2 months from September’s reading, according to an ABC member survey conducted from Oct. 20 to Nov. 5. Backlog is 1.2 months lower than in October 2019.

The big story of the night is that we do not have a winner in the presidential election yet with Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania and too close or too early to call at this time, while projected contests in Wisconsin and Arizona seem to favor Vice President Joe Biden, which would give him a 248-214 lead in the race towards the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency.

On Oct. 29, the Construction Industry Safety Coalition released an updated COVID-19 Prevention, Preparedness and Response Plan for Construction. The plan outlines the steps that construction employers and employees can take to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19. The new revision to the plan relates to the section on “Employee Has Close Contact With a Tested Positive COVID-19 Individual” and new guidance from the CDC on “close contact.&rd

On Nov. 3, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued two opinion letters addressing specific compliance issues related to compensability of time under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The DOL encourages the public to submit requests for opinion letters to WHD to obtain an opinion or to determine whether existing guidance already addresses their questions.

On this week’s episode of “The Bottom Line With ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu,” get insights on the latest GPD growth and nonresidential construction spending.

On Oct. 26, ABC submitted comments on the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed rule revising its interpretation of independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

On Oct. 27, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan attended the grand opening of ABC Greater Baltimore Chapter’s new Construction Education Academy, located at a Project C.O.R.E site in East Baltimore. This new state-of-the-art facility will house the largest concentration of building trade apprenticeship programs in the state, enabling ABC Greater Baltimore to train up to 5,000 skilled workers each year, doubling their current capacity.

On Oct. 26,the Senate confirmed Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States by a 52-48 vote, with all Senate Democrats and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) voting no. After the confirmation vote, Judge Barrett was sworn in at a ceremony on the White House lawn by Justice Clarence Thomas.

The ABC Pelican Chapter recently held a fundraiser to help staff affected by Hurricanes Laura and Delta. Through the sales of “Louisiana Strong” shirts and cash donations from members, families and other nearby ABC chapters, the ABC Pelican chapter raised nearly $10,000.