Author: agcnews

On February 5, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Apprenticeship Act of 2021, a bill that would provide nearly $4 billion to expand registered apprenticeships through grants and modify the approval process for apprenticeship programs. Importantly, the bill elevates the role of registered apprenticeship, makes it a national priority, and aligns workforce programs across multiple federal agencies. However, the bill includes language that would bar access to the new grant opportunities to programs that do not partner with a labor union. AGC supports all bona fide and high-quality apprenticeship programs that are registered with the U.S. Department of Labor and…

The COVID-relief bill moving through Congress does not include a federal paid leave mandate. However, it does include an extension of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) refundable tax credits from March 31, 2021 through September 30, 2021 for those employers that follow those expired mandates. Additional information and guidance on FFCRA and the tax credits can be found on the Department of Labor website and Internal Revenue Service website. However, the tax credits included in the COVID-relief bill would also increase the amount of wages for which an employer may claim the paid family credit in a year from $10,000 to $12,000 per…

On February 10, the House Ways and Means Committee approved legislation, as part of the broader Biden Administration COVID-relief legislation, that would extend the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) through December 31, 2021. Previously, AGC supported the expansion and extension of the ERTC in the end-of-year (2020) COVID relief bill, which boosted the credit for eligible employers from $5,000 per year to $7,000 per quarter and extended its availability through June 31, 2021. The Biden Administration and Democrats in Congress have made it a priority to pass further COVID relief before enhanced unemployment benefits expire on March 14. AGC anticipates this…

On February 10, the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved its portion of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-relief bill. The legislation would provide $30 billion to public transit programs, $8 billion to airports and $1.5 billion to Amtrak. The vast majority of those funds would go to maintaining existing operations. However, the Federal Transit Administration’s capital investment grants programs would receive $1.25 billion ($1 billion for New Starts and Core Capacity program and 250 million for Small Starts program) and $608 million would be allocated to airport development projects. While some have pointed to the $350 billion allotted for state and…

Webinar Playback and Q&A Document Now Available In response to the present situation regarding the Coronavirus pandemic and the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, AGC of America (AGC) has recently produced several resources to assist construction employers as they consider any vaccine policies. The following resources were developed by AGC and Fisher Phillips, one of the country’s largest labor and employment law firms dedicated to representing employers, and are FREE to AGC members: These resources are provided to inform AGC members about their rights and obligations under federal law so that they can make well-informed decisions when adopting employment policies and practices related…

Construction employment stagnated in January, ending eight months of recovery from the pandemic-related losses of early 2020, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data released today. Association officials added that new measures being considered in Congress, including the PRO Act and the National Apprenticeship Act, threaten to undermine the sector’s recovery by disrupting ongoing projects and hampering employers’ ability to train workers. “The stagnation in construction employment in January may foreshadow further deterioration in the industry as projects that had started before the pandemic finish up and owners hold off on awarding new…

On Feb. 3, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing for Michael Regan on his nomination for Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  During the hearing, Regan pledged to work with the Committee on constituent concerns surrounding air, water, chemicals, fuel, and climate issues.  AGC sent a letter to the Committee on the advent of the hearing to acknowledge Regan’s qualifications but also to express our concerns about job losses and industry being shut out from the conversation.  Regan listened to the need to sustain energy jobs and energy security in the short-term and long-term.  He maintained that replacement…

On February 2, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm the nomination of Pete Buttigieg to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) by an 86-13 vote. Buttigieg officially took the helm of the Department upon his swearing in by Vice President Kamala Harris on February 3. During his January 21 hearing, he affirmed his commitment to the Biden Administration’s plans to prioritize rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure. Ahead of the hearing, AGC stated its support for Buttigieg’s confirmation and called on the committee to expeditiously advance his nomination. AGC looks forward to working with Secretary Buttigieg to address the vital…

President Biden’s “Modernizing Regulatory Review” memorandum may end up being one of the most consequential and yet underreported changes to the regulatory process. However—as AGC has reported throughout the Biden Administration—many of these orders by and large do not have immediate practical impacts and will take many months and even years before many of these orders become more detailed, final regulations. The Biden memorandum attempts to modify the regulatory cost-benefit analysis, where significant regulations must demonstrate that the benefits justify the costs. On its face the memo recommends that certain, hard to quantify, benefits begin to factor into the regulatory review process.…

The Associated General Contractors of America’s chief executive officer, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued the following statement in reaction to the introduction in Congress today of the so-called “PRO Act”: “The PRO Act is anti-worker, anti-privacy and anti-recovery. The measure threatens workers’ absolute right to a free, fair and secret union ballot. There is something fundamentally un-American about subjecting workers to intimidation and coercion when it comes to deciding whether and how to organize and seek representation at the workplace. “By allowing secondary boycotts and other actions against firms that are not directly involved in labor disputes, the measure means many…