Congressman Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., introduced the Main Street Tax Certainty Act, H.R. 4721, legislation which would permanently extend Section 199A of the Internal Revenue Code, which is slated to expire in 2025. Smucker’s bipartisan legislation is cosponsored by 99 Members, including two Democrats, and is supported by all Republican Members of the Ways & Means Committee.

Section 199A, which was adopted as part of the landmark 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, allows for a 20 percent deduction of qualified income for pass-through businesses. Most small business are structured as a pass-through and this section was included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to promote equity in America’s tax code between small businesses on main street with larger corporations.

ABC joined over 160 organizations in support of the legislation, and also supported mirror legislation in the Senate introduced by Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont. Earlier this year.

On June 26, ABC submitted comments to the House Education and the Workforce Committee following the committee’s hearing titled: “Competencies Over Degrees: Transitioning to a Skills-Based Economy.” ABC’s letter offers recommendations as the committee considers the reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act in the 118th Congress and encourages the committee to enact policies that would provide further opportunities for all of America’s workers as we face a critical workforce shortage in the construction industry.

The hearing focused on key issues impacting today’s workforce, including the value of registered and industry recognized apprenticeships, Pell Grants, skills assessments and credentials. You may view the full committee hearing here.

On June 20, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a markup of ABC-opposed legislation including the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, Paycheck Fairness Act, and Healthy Families Act. Ahead of the hearing, ABC sent a letter to the committee highlighting concerns with the bills marked up in committee and urging members of the committee to oppose the partisan proposals being considered. ABC also joined with the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace to oppose the proposals.

The markup also considered several ABC-backed and Republican led amendments that would limit the damage of these anti-business, anti-worker legislative proposals, including amendments that would address the PRO Act’s provisions on employee privacy, independent contractors, secondary boycotts, and joint employer. Ranking Member Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., also spoke about the ABC-supporting and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., sponsored Employee Rights Act, which would allow workers the freedom and protection they need to decide how they make a living for themselves and their families. You can view the full committee markup here.

On June 20, ABC joined two letters from coalitions of business organizations in supporting the Custom Health Option and Individual Care Expense (CHOICE) Arrangement Act. The legislation would codify two of the Trump administration’s major achievements in health-care policy: a 2018 rule that permits businesses to join together to provide association health plans, and a 2019 rule that allows employers to provide tax-free contributions to employees to pay for Affordable Care Act plans in the individual market through individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements (ICHRAs).

You can view the first letter here and the second from ABC’s Partnership for Employer Sponsored Coverage coalition here.

On June 13, ABC sent a letter to the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee for its markup of H.R. 3938, the Build It in America Act. ABC support this legislation, which would extend key provisions of the ABC-supported Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and provide additional certainty to the construction industry, including the deduction for research and development and the extension of the 100% bonus depreciation.

On May 30, ABC announced its support for the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the bipartisan negotiated deal to raise the debt limit, reduce the federal deficit, cut federal spending, and streamline permitting for critical infrastructure projects. In a letter to Congress, ABC highlighted the bill’s significant permitting reforms, including key provisions from the ABC-supported the BUILDER Act (H.R. 1577) that will modernize the National Environmental Policy Act requirements for the first time in decades, and expanding the FAST-41 program to expedite the construction of more energy storage infrastructure projects. Additionally, the bill codifies key elements of the ABC-supported One Federal Decision framework, which will establish lead agency authority, set reasonable time limits for environmental reviews and apply page limits for permitting documents.

On May 23, ABC submitted comments to the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions ahead of the subcommittee’s hearing entitled, “Protecting Employees’ Rights: Ensuring Fair Elections at the NLRB.” ABC’s letter highlighted the value of secret ballot elections to ensure that workers have a privacy protected vote that reflects their true preference for unionization in their workplace, criticized the NLRB for recent rulings, and expressed support for the Employee Rights Act that ensures the freedoms, rights, and choices of all America’s workers. You can view the full letter that was submitted for the record here.

On May 18, the Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing on “Tax Incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act.” ABC submitted a statement for the record to the committee highlighting concerns with the burdensome and discriminatory prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements that will limit opportunities for many construction apprentices in nonregistered programs and place a strain on developers and contractors grappling with a shortage of more than 500,000 workers in the construction industry. You can read the full letter here.

On May 12, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service also released additional guidance on the IRA’s domestic content bonus tax credits. The May 12 guidance states that taxpayers may receive another 10% tax credit increase for meeting domestic content requirements. All steel and iron on a project must be 100% produced in the United States to meet this requirement. Additionally, between 40% to 55%, depending on project type and the year construction begins, of the total cost of other components and subcomponents used on the project must be attributable to components that are mined, produced or manufactured in the United States in order to receive this bonus. The IRS previously requested comments on these requirements, and ABC provided feedback regarding industry concerns about supply chain issues and cost increases that may be caused by these domestic content requirements in comments to Treasury and the IRS.

On May 18, Senator Steve Daines, R-Mont. introduced the Main Street Tax Certainty Act. The bill would prevent rate hikes on America’s individually and family-owned businesses by making permanent the Section 199A 20-percent deduction. This deduction was created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act but is scheduled to sunset at the end of 2025.

The introduction of this legislation was widely anticipated in the business community, and ABC joined with more than 140 trade associations representing millions of Main Street businesses in a strong letter of support for the legislation.

ABC joined more than 30 organizations in a letter opposing the nomination of Julie Su to serve as the next U.S. Secretary of Labor. ABC previously sent a letter opposing Su’s nomination and raising her questionable record over the past years as Deputy Secretary and her previous role in California.

Su’s nomination is currently stalled in the Senate as Republicans are united in opposition and moderate Democrats remain hesitant to support her while the White House is attempting a last-ditch effort to get her across the finish line.