On June 12, the U.S. House Committee on Education & the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing titled “NLRB Overreach: Trampling on Workers’ Rights and Fostering Unfairness.” The hearing focused on the National Labor Relations Board’s bad decisions and degradation of rights and protections under Chair Lauren McFerran’s failed leadership. Specifically, members noted that the NLRB has restricted employee free choice through decisions that impact the right to free and fair representation elections, the definition of an independent contractor under the NLRA, a dangerous expansion of the definition of Joint Employer, and the ability to register a decertification election.

Ahead of the hearing, the ABC-led Coalition for a Democratic Workplace sent a letter to the committee regarding concerns over McFerran’s renomination to serve as chair of the Board.

On May 22, the U.S. House Committee on Small Business held a hearing titled, “Burdensome Regulations: Examining the Biden Administration’s Failure to Consider Small Businesses.” Prior to the hearing, ABC sent a letter detailing concerns with the Biden administration’s rulemakings that disregard small businesses, diminish their ability to compete and undermine their integral role in building America’s infrastructure. The letter specifically highlighted the U.S. Department of Labor’s final rules on overtime and Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council’s final rule on the Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects.

You can watch the full hearing on the committee’s YouTube channel.

On May 13, ABC sent a letter to Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., and the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee, urging the committee to oppose the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s authorization of new California regulations on locomotive emissions.

The regulations, implemented by the California Air Resources Board, state that all locomotives in California must be zero-emission models by 2030. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA must approve CARB’s regulations before they can be finalized, but the agency has yet to issue a final decision.

ABC’s letter, submitted in advance of a May 15 subcommittee hearing on the EPA’s budget with Administrator Michael Regan, outlines the enormous cost of compliance with this regulation and the potential for wide-ranging impacts on key aspects of the construction materials supply chain. The letter requested that the subcommittee strongly question Administrator Regan regarding the agency’s position on the ban.

ABC previously joined a coalition of industry stakeholders in comments to the EPA asking the agency to deny authorization of the ban.

On May 8, the U.S. House Committee on Small Business held a hearing titled, “Stifling Innovation: Examining the Impacts of Regulatory Burdens on Small Businesses in Healthcare.” Prior to the hearing, ABC sent a letter calling on Congress to provide compliance relief for employers by streamlining reporting requirements brought on by the Affordable Care Act.

ABC also highlighted its work with the Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage that has laid out principles and priorities that are critical to ensuring employment-based health insurance thrives.

You can watch the full committee meeting here.

On March 21, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce passed the ABC-supported H.J. Res. 116, the Congressional Review Act resolution to nullify the U.S. Department of Labor’s independent contractor final rule, in a 21-13 vote with all Republicans present voting in support. Ahead of the markup, ABC sent a letter in support of the resolution and urged committee members to report it for a full House vote.

Learn more about the 2024 final rule. Also, watch the ABC-members only archived webinar in the Academy, "Learn What the DOL's Final Independent Contractor Rule Means for ABC Members."

On March 6, ABC sent a key vote letter to the U.S. Senate urging Senators to support the U.S. House of Representatives-passed H.J. Res. 98, Joint Employer CRA resolution of disapproval. If enacted, H.J. Res. 98 would not only prevent the rule from going into effect but would also prohibit a similar rule from being issued in the future.

In October 2023, the National Labor Relations Board released their ABC-opposed joint employer final rule. The final rule rescinds and replaces the ABC-supported 2020 NLRB joint employer final rule, which provided clear criteria for companies to apply when determining their joint employer status. ABC believes the new joint employer final rule will drastically alter existing contractor and subcontractor relationships in the construction industry, implementing a harsh new standard that will complicate this long-standing business arrangement and hit many smaller contractors with unsustainable legal and compliance costs.

On Jan. 12, the House passed H.J. Res 98 in a 206-177 vote, with 8 Democrats supporting. The resolution faces a more uncertain path in the Senate where a simple majority is needed to pass. Although President Biden has vowed to veto the resolution, passage in the House and Senate would send a strong message to the administration as they continue to implement harmful labor policies.

On March 6, Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., introduced a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn the DOL’s new Independent Contractor final rule.

ABC sent a letter to members of the House and Senate expressing support for the CRA resolution. ABC also joined with a coalition of business organizations drafting a letter of support for the CRA resolution.

The resolution faces an uphill battle to passage in both chambers and a likely veto from the President, however, ABC remains committed to ensuring that this issue remains a priority for Congress this session.

Learn more about this issue, including ABC’s lawsuit, above and in Newsline here.

On Feb. 15, the U.S. House Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and Infrastructure held a hearing titled “Leveling the Playing Field: Challenges Facing Small Business Contracting.” ABC sent a letter detailing the significant hurdles small businesses face while competing for federal construction projects, specifically through the Biden administration’s implementation of government mandated project labor agreements and a new Independent Contractor Classification standard. Cited in the letter was ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator that declined to 8.4 months in January, according to an ABC member survey conducted from Jan. 22 to Feb. In addition, the National Federation of Independent Business’ recent study showed that owners who expect higher real sales volumes fell 12% last month and a larger share of small business owners reported lower earnings over the last three months.

You can view the full hearing here.

On Feb. 15, the U.S. House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit held a hearing on the Implementation of Buy America Provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In a letter to the Subcommittee, ABC expressed concern over the immediate implementation of the guidance’s domestic content requirements. In 2023, ABC commented on the proposed guidance to urge OMB to balance Buy America requirements with safeguards against increased costs and delays of infrastructure projects funded by taxpayers.

You can view the full hearing here.

On Feb. 1, ABC joined a letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committees on Small Business and of the Judiciary supporting reform in implementation of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. You can find a link to the coalition letter here. The letter urges legislative action to strengthen the meaningful input of small businesses in federal regulatory processes and ensure that the intent of the Regulatory Flexibility Act is fulfilled. The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) encourages federal regulatory agencies to consider negative impacts of new mandates in an effort to prevent excessive red tape on small businesses.

Loopholes in the RFA allow federal regulators to bypass the law's requirements and misrepresent costs of new mandates.