Author: agcnews
As of October 15, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin continue talks on finding a compromise on additional COVID-relief legislation but appear to be at yet another impasse. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Republicans will take up their own relief legislation the week of Oct. 19, which will be similar, if not identical, to legislation voted on in the Senate on September 10 that failed along party lines. If this package fails again, then the Senate is expected to take up legislation similar to S. 4773, the “Continuing the Paycheck Protection Program Act”…
AGC of America, jointly with nine other associations that are members of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (“CDW”), submitted an amicus brief to the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) in a case reviewing the contract bar doctrine on October 8. The contract bar doctrine precludes a union representation or decertification election during the term of a legitimate collective bargaining agreement, up to a three-year term. The NLRB invited amicus briefs in the Mountaire Farms case to provide input as to whether the Board should rescind the contract bar doctrine, retain it as it currently exists, or retain it with modifications. The…
The 2021 competition is now open for one of the country’s most rigorous business safety competitions – AGC’s Construction Safety Excellence Awards (CSEA), sponsored by Willis Towers Watson. This episode highlights AGC-member Faith Technologies – the 2020 Grand Award Winner. Faith’s CEO Mike Jansen and their VP of Safety Rocky Rowlett talk about their safety program, their video series called Charged! and share some of their very own best safety practices. Also hear WTW’s Construction Safety and Risk Control Leader Mike Fredebeil discuss an incredible additional benefit of the safety excellence awards: the annual publication of a free document that…
As employers face unimaginable disruptions during the pandemic, they are still bound by compliance and reporting health care requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Despite relief provided to employers to date, there remains a need for greater regulatory compliance relief. Health care requirements and compliance rules prior to the coronavirus were complex and that complexity has grown. In response to this growing complexity, the Partnership for Employer-Sponsored Coverage—of which AGC is a member—called on the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department to provide compliance safe harbors under the ACA on the affordability test along with increased time and flexibility to…
On Oct. 5, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a draft National Recycling Strategy for public input. The strategy organizes high-level actions around three strategic objectives to improve the U.S. recycling system: 1) reduce contamination, 2) increase processing efficiency, and 3) improve markets. The draft strategy is available for public comment through December 4, 2020. The draft strategy takes a look at what factors are stressing the recycling system in the United States today from confusion about which materials can be recycled to reduced markets for those products. To read the National Recycling Strategy and provide comments visit: https://www.epa.gov/americarecycles/national-recycling-strategy-and-framework-advancing-us-recycling-system.…
On September 22, President Trump issued an “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping.” While the EO does not establish a blanket prohibition on diversity and inclusion (D&I) training of employees by government contractors, it does set forth restrictions on the content of such training. The U.S. Department of Labor must undertake a rulemaking to implement the terms of the EO and that rulemaking could put forth a better understanding of the restrictions required under the EO before it can take effect. AGC continues to review the EO and will provide additional information. For more information, please Jimmy Christianson…
On September 29, the Department of Defense (DOD) released the interim rule that will amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) marking a key milestone that will eventually require a Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) in all defense contracts phased in completely by 2026. For defense contractors CMMC certification is a “go/no go” requirement. The rule was originally slated to be released in the spring but was delayed. Disappointingly, the interim rule will take immediate effect at the end of the 60-day comment period giving regulators little time to make any adjustments. The rule comes on the heels of the CMMC Accreditation Body announcing that it…
On September 24, AGC, along with a coalition of associations, sent Congress a list of over 130 priorities as the House and Senate conference to reconcile the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2021 (NDAA). Both defense bills authorize roughly $8 billion for military construction and contain a host of procurement and environment provisions. Some noteworthy provisions would have particular impact on federal construction contractors: 1) the House version includes an AGC supported requirement for federal agencies to initially pay at least 50 percent of the actual (incurred or committed) cost of the unilateral change order, 2) the House version would dramatically alter how military construction is procured, which AGC…
On October 1, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin remained far apart from reaching an agreement on additional COVID-relief funding legislation before Congress adjourns for the November 3 election. Among the areas where agreement remains elusive include the amount of additional funding for state and local governments, businesses and schools. Consequently, House Democrats are expected to pass their own $2.2 trillion COVID-relief bill largely along party lines with little to no prospects for passage by the GOP-controlled Senate. For the construction industry, many COVID-relief priorities too will likely wait until after the election, if not 2021,…
On October 1, the president signed into law legislation that averts a shutdown of federal government agencies and programs, including the federal-aid highway and transit programs. The legislation—known as a continuing resolution (CR)—funds the federal government through December 11. Thanks to AGC and a unified stakeholder community effort, a one-year extension of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act – the current highway and transit law – was included in the CR. The extension generally provides current levels of funding for federal highway and transit programs through September 30, 2021. In addition, the CR provides $13.6 billion to shore up…