On Feb. 4, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration released a revised National Emphasis Program aimed at identifying and reducing or eliminating worker exposures to respirable crystalline silica in general industry, maritime and construction.

A bill introduced in the Baltimore City Council by Councilmember Shannon Sneed and Council President Brandon Scott would make sweeping changes to the City of Baltimore&

On Feb. 6, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the disingenuously named Protecting the Right to Organize Act by a vote of 224 to 194.  Five Republicans voted for the bill: Reps. Don Young (Alaska), John Katko (N.Y.) and co-sponsors Jeff Van Drew (N.J.), Chris Smith (N.J.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.). Seven Democrats opposed the bill, along with Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.): Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Joe Cunningham (S.C.), Kendra Horn (Okla.), Ben McAdams (Utah), Lucy McBath (Ga.), Stephanie Murphy (Fla.) and Kurt Schrader (Ore.). ABC urged members of Congress to oppose the PRO Act, considering the vote a “KEY VOTE” for the ABC Legislative Scorecard on the 116th Congress.

Thad Claggett, president of Claggett & Sons Inc., has thrown his hat into the Republican primary for Ohio House District 71. Claggett is a civil engineer and a fourth-generation commercial and industrial construction contractor based in Newark, Ohio.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Veterans Employment and Training Service is accepting employer applications for the 2020 HIRE Vets Medallion Program Award, which recognizes employers for their efforts to recruit, employ and retain our nation’s veterans. In 2019, the program recognized 427 employers for their dedicated efforts to hire American veterans, including ABC member United Rentals. The deadline to apply is April 30.

In control for the first time since 1993, Democratic leadership in Virginia’s General Assembly is poised to pass legislation at the expense of Commonwealth taxpayers who finance the construction and maintenance of schools, affordable housing roads, bridges, transportation projects and other infrastructure projects in disrepair.  

A study released in January 2020 by the Beacon Hill Institute found that Connecticut schools built under controversial government-mandated project labor agreements cost 19.8% more than schools that were bid and constructed through fair and open competition, free from PLA requirements.

On Jan. 29, ABC President and CEO Michael Bellaman joined President Trump as he signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement at a ceremony on the White House South Lawn.

On Jan. 23, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed a final rule revising the definition of “waters of the United States,” which are federally regulated under the Clean Water Act. The final rule will go into effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Construction industry employment grew by 192,000 wage and salary workers to 8.35 million in 2019, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.