President Obama’s Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order 13673, known as the “blacklisting” EO, was signed July 31, 2014. A proposed rulemaking issued May 28, by the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council and proposed guidance by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) implementing the blacklisting EO is open for public comment until July 27.

ABC has serious concerns with the proposal, which, as written, creates a sweeping regulatory scheme on federal contractors that will disrupt the federal procurement process, significantly increase red tape and costs for both government and industry, and serve as a barrier to federal contracting for many businesses. It may result in quality ABC contractors being arbitrarily and unfairly blacklisted from future federal contracts by newly created bureaucrats.

Last week, ABC National sent a survey to determine the impact of the proposal on ABC member federal contractors in order to build a robust regulatory and legal case against the rulemaking. The survey closes at the end of the day on Friday, July 10.  If you would like to participate in this survey, please email [email protected].

Next week, ABC National will send an action alert through the ABC Action grassroots system requesting members to submit formal comments into the official rulemaking record. For more information about ABC’s fight against the blacklisting proposal, please visit www.abc.org/blacklisting.