On Dec. 13, ABC sent a letter to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce prior to its markup of key bills impacting the construction industry.

The letter highlights ABC’s support for H.R. 6655, the bipartisan A Stronger Workforce for America Act, which would reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act for the first time since 2014 and includes several ABC-backed provisions that support an all-of-the-above approach to workforce development, ensures more dollars for tangible worker programs, better aligns programs with in-demand jobs, and allows for better evaluation of WIOA programs. ABC also supported the committee’s markup of H.J. Res. 98, a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn the Biden administrations harmful joint employer final rule, and H.R. 3400, the Small Business Before Bureaucrats Act, to modernize the National Labor Relations Board’s decades old jurisdictional standards to exempt more small businesses from their regulatory overreach. ABC’s letter also expresses concerns with H.R. 6585, the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act, which, while seeking to expand Pell Grants to high-quality, short-term workforce programs, could exclude some vital construction workforce education and upskilling programs.

ABC also joined with the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace to comment on the Subcommittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing. The hearing examined the ABC-supported Employee Rights Act (H.R. 2700), Modern Worker Empowerment Act (H.R. 5513), and Save Local Business Act (H.R. 2826), which are designed to protect workers, entrepreneurs, small businesses, and the economy from a rogue National Labor Relations Board.

On Dec. 13, ABC submitted comments to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee as they conduct oversight on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

ABC’s letter to the Highways and Transit Subcommittee criticized the modal administrators for their deviations from the bipartisan agreement reached during the IIJA's negotiation, and efforts to incorporate partisan language rejected by the House and Senate that would hinder the success of the IIJA. ABC has previously expressed concerns about these administrative actions, including the DOT’s efforts to impose unlawful and overly burdensome policies and restrictive labor requirements on key federal infrastructure funds and projects.

On Dec. 5, ABC sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson highlighting the critical provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act set to expire in 2024. ABC specifically called for extending or making permanent the 20 percent qualified business income deduction for pass through businesses, individual rates, and estate tax exemption provisions included in the TCJA. ABC’s letter also backs efforts of U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., and a call from nearly 150 House Republicans to strike a deal on critical tax extenders for U.S. businesses and employers.

With only two years left until key provisions of the TCJA sunset, ABC is working to preserve these provisions and ensure that lower tax rates and parity for main street businesses with larger corporations allow the economy to thrive, businesses to grow, and provide more Americans with job opportunities. ABC also continues to push for an end of year tax extenders deal, particularly the extension of the R&D tax credit.

The House Education and the Workforce Committee Subcommittee on Workforce Protection’s held a hearing titled “Bad for Business: DOL’s Proposed Overtime Rule.” The subcommittee heard testimony from witnesses highlighting the dangers of the newly proposed overtime rule that could jeopardize businesses at a critical time when they are facing high inflation and significant workforce shortages.

ABC submitted a letter with comments for the committee record.

ABC and a coalition of construction organizations have been working to oppose a planned proposal by Sens. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., and Alex Padilla, D-Calif., dubbed the Seasonal Employer Protection Act. This new legislation is a reiteration of previously shot-down proposals that would impose harmful and unjustified restrictions on the access of the construction industry to the H-2B seasonal guest worker program.

Included in the legislation is a new requirement for employers in the construction industry to enter into a collective bargaining agreement with a labor organization as a condition of receiving an H-2B temporary labor certification. This new requirement would harm the more than 88% of the construction industry that has chosen not to join a union and establish labor organizations as the gatekeepers of H-2B for construction.

ABC also issued an action alert and urges members to contact their U.S. Senators and Representatives to oppose this harmful legislation.

Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., was joined by 22 of his colleagues in the House in the introduction of a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn the Biden administration inflationary Davis Bacon rule. ABC led a coalition of construction organizations in support for the CRA and continues to urge members to cosponsor the CRA. Last week, ABC also announced the filing of a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, challenging the U.S. Department of Labor’s controversial final rule, and you can read more in ABC’s press release on the challenge.

On Oct. 25, the Senate voted 51-46 to confirm Jessica Looman as the administration of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Ahead of the vote, ABC joined the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity (PPWO) in a letter to Senators, expressing concerns with WHD’s recent policy and procedural decisions under Looman’s leadership as Principal Deputy Administrator and urging them to discuss with Principal Deputy Administrator Looman and the Department of Labor the overtime proposal as part of their consideration of her nomination.

Earlier this year in a letter to the Senate HELP committee, ABC highlighted concerns from the construction industry on rulemakings, such as independent contractor, overtime and radical reforms to Davis-Bacon regulations that will increase the cost of taxpayer-funded construction projects and discourage small businesses from rebuilding America.

On Sept. 20, ABC submitted comments to the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development hearing titled, “Strengthening WIOA: Improving Outcomes for Jobseekers, Employers, and Taxpayers.” ABC’s letter calls on the committee to pursue policies that recognize the unique challenges facing the construction industry and provide employers with the tools they need to access a well-educated and dedicated workforce.

On Sept. 20, ABC submitted comments to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearing titled, “Oversight of the Department of Transportation’s Policies and Programs.” The hearing featured testimony and questions with DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg. ABC commented on specific DOT policies that the department is pursuing outside of congressional authorization/intent such as the significant number of Biden administration federal agency grants – totaling more than $230 billion for infrastructure projects procured by state and local governments – subject to language and policies promoting PLA mandates and preferences that will increase costs and reduce competition on federally assisted construction projects. ABC also provided comments on the ABC-opposed union labor requirements on the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program. The DOT NEVI Formula Program will implement provisions of the IIJA that includes $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging stations (including $5 billion over five years to install EV chargers mostly along interstate highways).

On Sept. 20, ABC also submitted comments to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’s markup of S. 2840, the Bipartisan Primary Care and Health Workforce Act, in support of an amendment offered by Ranking Member Bill Cassidy, R-La., that would ensure funds for construction and renovation of community health centers and other health care facilities are not subject to Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements. The amendment faced defeat in the Democrat-controlled committee and was offered and withdrawn.

On September 13, ABC submitted comments to the House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services hearing titled, “The Inflation Reduction Act: A Year in Review.” ABC’s letter expressed our concerns about anti-competitive and inflationary policy in the IRA that grants developers of clean energy construction projects a bonus tax credit 500% greater than a baseline tax credit of 6% conditioned on satisfying controversial prevailing wage and government-registered apprenticeship requirements.

With the Corporate Transparency Act’s new reporting requirements set to take effect beginning January 1, ABC joined a letter signed by more than 80 trade associations calling on Congress to enact the Protecting Small Business Information Act of 2023 (H.R. 4035). Authored by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, the legislation would delay implementation of the CTA until Treasury finishes the necessary rulemaking process, giving affected businesses much-needed relief from the poorly conceived and drafted rules.

The CTA will subject tens of millions of small businesses and other entities to increased paperwork, compliance costs, privacy risks, substantial fines, and even jail.