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 April 8, ABC sent a letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of H.R. 6655, A Stronger Workforce for America Act. This bipartisan legislation reauthorizes the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act for the first time in nearly a decade and promotes America’s economic competitiveness. Most critically for ABC, H.R. 6655 supports an all-of-the-above approach to work-based learning and seeks true modernization and bipartisan input to support WIOA’s success.

On March 25, ABC sent a letter to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in support of H.R. 7784, the Start Applying Labor Transparency Act, introduced by Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah. The SALT Act would require labor organizations and their consultants to report when they engage in a coercive tactic known as “salting”— a process where unions send professionally trained organizers into merit shop workplaces under the guise of seeking employment. Once hired, these “salts” often try to create a toxic work environment, mislead co-workers and destroy their employers or deliberately increase costs through various actions, all while concealing that their purpose in the workplace is to serve the interests of organized labor.

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 19, ABC sent a letter in support of H.R. 7023, “Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act,” sponsored by Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C. H.R. 7023 includes provisions from five standalone, ABC-supported bills that passed out of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Jan. 31, including the Nationwide Permitting Improvement Act, the Reducing Permitting Uncertainty Act, the Judicial Review Timeline Clarity Act, the Water Quality Criteria Development and Transparency Act, and the Confidence in Clean Water Permits Act. ABC believes that this bill represents the best and most comprehensive federal regulatory permitting and project review reform legislation on the table this Congress and will go a long way toward eliminating unnecessary delays that cause budget overruns in construction.

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. 14, the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries held a hearing on several bills, including the ABC-supported ESA Flexibility Act.

Ahead of the hearing, ABC sent a letter in support of H.R. 6784 recognizing the Endangered Species Act’s purpose of protecting species threatened with extinction and the need for science-based, data-driven actions that conserve those species and the habitats on which they depend. The ESA Flexibility Act gives the U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service additional leeway when dealing with species listed as endangered under the ESA. While these agencies are already granted flexibility with species deemed “threatened,” this bill would allow for fit-for-purpose protections of “endangered” species while reducing undue regulatory burdens on development. The ESA Flexibility Act will allow for better management of species listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, such as the ABC-supported delisting of the northern long-eared bat.

You can view a recording the Subcommittee 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.