On Feb. 11, ABC, as a member of the Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage (P4ESC) sent letters to President Joe Biden and Congress outlining policy principles and priorities important to ensuring employment-based health coverage continues to thrive for millions of hardworking Americans and their families.

On Feb. 4, ABC submitted a letter for the record to the U.S. House Committee on Small Business for its hearing, “State of the Small Business Economy in the Era of COVID-19,” to provides insight on the state of small construction businesses and the construction industry as a whole, nearly a year into the COVID-19 pa

On Feb. 4, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reintroduced the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act in the U.S. House of Representatives.

On Feb 2, the U.S. Senate confirmed Pete Buttigieg to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation by a vote of 86-13.  Secretary Buttigieg will be tasked with advancing President Joe Biden’s agenda in the Transportation Department, where he will oversee 55,000 employees. Secretary Buttigieg is expected to play an important role in promoting Biden’s sweeping environmental initiatives, and support the president’s push for an infrastructure plan.

Following the inaugural ceremonies for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the president is set to implement 17 executive actions through executive orders, presidential memos and agency directives, affecting a range of federal policies, including immigration, economic relief, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Jan. 13, one day after the U.S. House approved a largely symbolic resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump following last week's deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, the president was impeached for a second time by a vote of 232-197 (5 not voting), a first in the country’s 244-year history.

On Dec. 31, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued additional guidance to address whether workers who did not use their leave entitlement under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in 2020 may use such leave after Dec. 31, 2020. The FFCRA’s paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave requirements expired on Dec. 31. 

On Dec. 9, the Small Business Administration published FAQ Number 53, addressing why certain borrowers will receive Paycheck Protection Program Loan Necessity Questionnaires. The SBA also publicly released for-profit and nonprofit qu

ABC has been working with Congress, administration officials and business coalitions to support critical priorities in any relief deals that will ensure the construction industry is able to survive, thrive and recover from this pandemic.

On Sept. 22, U.S. Rep. Garrett Graves (R-La.) introduced H.R. 8333, the Building U.S. Infrastructure Through Limited Delays & Efficient Reviews (BUILDER) Act. The legislation would codify much of the Council on Environmental Quality’s National Environmental Policy Act rulemaking, which ABC supports. Developed with input from the House Transportation and Infrastructure, Energy and Commerce and Judiciary committees, the bill includes important provisions to create a more efficient NEPA review process and clarifies which projects require NEPA review. This will promote better agency coordination and set reasonable time limits for preparing environmental documents.