AGC of America submitted a letter to the U.S. Department of Labor on August 10 in support of the Department’s proposed rule to rescind the controversial “persuader rule” issued during the Obama Administration.
The “persuader rule” expands the reporting obligations of labor relations “consultants” – which is broadly defined – who conduct activities to persuade employees about their rights to join a union or bargain collectively, as well as the reporting obligations of employers who receive assistance from such consultants. By narrowing the “advice” exemption to the reporting obligations, the rule requires reporting even when the consultant communicates only to the employer and has no direct contact with employees, if an object of the communications is to “persuade” employees. The rule was issued last year but was enjoined by a federal district court on a nationwide basis prior to implementation.
AGC’s comment letter reiterates the concerns that AGC raised during the original rulemaking. These concerns include various legal and practical problems, as well as the anticipated damaging impact in the construction industry. The letter asserts that the Department should promulgate rules that encourage employers to seek expert advice rather than rules, like the “persuader rule,” that hinder them from doing so.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Marvin Kaplan along a party-line vote to be a board member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Despite the administration change in January, the NLRB has been operating under Obama appointees because of two vacancies. AGC welcomes the addition of Kaplan to the board given his extensive labor policy background as a previous administration and congressional staff member. The addition of Kaplan moves the NLRB one step closer to changing the five-member board from majority Democrat to majority Republican.
Management attorney William Emanuel (R) has been nominated for the final board slot and is expected to be confirmed soon by the Senate. Upon his confirmation, the NLRB will operate under a majority of Republican nominees for the first time since 2009.
For more information, contact Jim Young at [email protected] or (202) 547-0133.

Senate Leaders Finalize Deal that Significantly Increases Number of Trump Appointees Approved by the Senate
AGC signed onto a letter this week with more than 90 groups that said that “the  slow pace of confirmations is depriving agencies across the government of critical leadership and in the case of independent agencies, the quorum necessary to conduct critical business.” It noted that there were numerous nominees ready to be confirmed (“over 80 nominees to administration positions have been reported favorably by the committee of jurisdiction but were awaiting Senate confirmation”) and, it is estimated that at the current rate, “it will take 11 years to confirm all of the president’s nominees to executive branch positions.”
The Senate has now moved from health care to nominations and Senate leaders reached agreement on a package of nominations that gets President Trump closer to his predecessors in the number of nominees confirmed in the first six months of their administrations.  At the start of this week, only 49 key positions in the administration were filled by Trump appointees. Since then, more than 60 more nominees have been confirmed by the Senate.
AGC is meeting with agency personnel to work on rolling back regulations as soon as the nominees are confirmed by the Senate. But, most agencies had few political appointees confirmed before this week (Dept. of Labor and the EPA each had 1 political appointee through the confirmation process at the beginning of this week). We hope for more action on nominees before the Senate adjourns for their August break.
For more information, contact Jeff Shoaf at [email protected] or (202) 547-3350.

On Aug. 1, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched the Injury Tracking Application (ITA). The web-based form allows employers to electronically submit required injury and illness data from their completed 2016 OSHA Form 300A. The application is accessible from the ITA webpage.
Last month, OSHA published a notice of proposed rulemaking to extend the deadline for submitting 2016 Form 300A to Dec. 1 to allow affected entities sufficient time to familiarize themselves with the electronic reporting system, and to provide the new administration an opportunity to review the new electronic reporting requirements prior to their implementation.
The data submission process involves four steps: (1) Creating an establishment; (2) adding 300A summary data; (3) submitting data to OSHA; and (4) reviewing the confirmation email. The secure website offers three options for data submission. One option will enable users to manually enter data into a web form. Another option will give users the ability to upload a CSV file to process single or multiple establishments at the same time. A third option will allow users of automated recordkeeping systems to transmit data electronically via an application programming interface.
The ITA webpage also includes information on reporting requirements, a list of frequently asked questions and a link to request assistance with completing the form.
For more information contact Kevin Cannon at (703)837-5410 or [email protected].

AGC of America joined 113 other national trade associations on a letter urging members of the US House of Representatives to support H.R. 2101 - the Prior Approval Reform Act. You can help our efforts by contacting your representative to urge him or her to cosponsor H.R. 2101 - the Prior Approval Reform Act.
This bill, introduced by Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), would repeal the Federal Election Campaign Act’s “prior approval” requirement for corporate member trade association political action committees (PACs). In summary, this requirement discriminates against these associations by making their PACs the only political committees that must first obtain exclusive permission from member corporations before soliciting eligible employees for support. The Act’s onerous prior approval requirement is a relic from the past that is discriminatory, restricts First Amendment rights, and creates burdensome compliance costs and confusion.
For more information, contact David Ashinoff at [email protected] or (202) 547-5013.

Dec. 18 is the deadline for motor carriers to comply with a U.S. Department of Transportation mandate to install and use electronic logging devices on trucks to record drivers’ hours of service. The Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA) issued the mandate for all motor carriers required to maintain Records of Duty Status (RODS) for Hours of Service (HOS) compliance. AGC has sought an exemption from this requirement for construction industry truck drivers but that request has not been accepted.
Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has introduced legislation to delay the mandate for two years. AGC is supporting this legislation in the hope that the delay will allow the necessary time to make the case with FMCSA that this requirement is unnecessary for construction. Contact your representative and ask them to cosponsor H.R. 3282 and delay this mandate.
For more information, contact Brian Deery at [email protected] or (703) 837-5319.

This week President Trump announced his support for a major shift in national immigration policy. Trump teamed with Senators David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) in support of legislation – the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act – that would impose a merit-based immigration system and would curtail the family- and humanitarian-based options for entry into the country. The goal of the proposal would be to limit legal immigration, which hovers around 1 million entrants every year by half, and it would also rescind the diversity lottery as well as cap annual refugee admittances.
The legislation is a stark contrast to the bipartisan legislative attempt in 2013 by the “Gang of Eight,” which AGC largely supported. The RAISE Act is expected to face fierce opposition in Congress as it fails to address the undocumented individuals already in the country, a sticking point for any democrat support.
While AGC supports a merit-based immigration system, AGC is concerned that the legislation could fail to deliver the type and number of workers needed for industries like construction, which is currently facing a widespread domestic worker shortage. AGC is also concerned that the legislation fails to address the undocumented individuals already in the country.
AGC looks forward to working with Congress on an immigration package that fully addresses the broken immigration system by strengthening national security, functions efficiently and fairly, and addresses future workforce needs. AGC also looks forward to continuing to work with Congress and the administration on job training and education proposals that will ensure Americans have the skills necessary for careers in the construction industry.
For more information, contact Jim Young at [email protected] or (202) 547-0133.

This week, AGC submitted comments in response to a letter sent by Senator Orrin Hatch, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, soliciting input from stakeholders on tax reform.  The deadline for submissions was Monday, July 17. AGC’s comments called for tax reform that lowers the rates for all businesses, corporate and pass-through alike. The comments also called for repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), increasing the threshold at which the percentage-of-completion method of accounting is required and raising the exemption level for long-term contracting rules.  AGC also called on Congress to use the opportunity presented by comprehensive tax reform to invest in the nation’s infrastructure and shore up the Highway Trust Fund.
According to Capitol Hill publications, the email inbox set up by the Finance Committee to receive comments was flooded with “hundreds of thousands of submissions.”  While most of these submissions were form letters generated by a group called Americans for Tax Fairness, opposing lower taxes on “millionaires and wealthy corporations,” many other submissions were from traditional stakeholders, like AGC. According the Senate Finance Committee “each submission will be considered as the committee moves forward with its current tax reform efforts.” AGC will continue to monitor the committee’s progress on tax reform.
For more information, contact Matt Turkstra at [email protected] or (202) 547-4733.