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On March 6, ABC submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) saying that association health plans (AHPs) provide a common-sense solution to increasing access to health care for individuals and reduce the burden on small businesses that have been affected by the Affordable Care Act. ABC’s comments on a DOL proposed rule—Definition of ‘‘Employer’’ Under Section 3(5) of ERISA—Association Health Plans—also cited the benefits of allowing ABC’s small contractor members to offer the same high-quality benefits and health plans available to large employer and union plans.

According to the DOL, the proposed rule would increase access for small businesses to offer employment-based health insurance through AHPs and give access to 11 million small business employees/sole proprietors and their families who do not have employer-sponsored insurance. 

The proposal stems from President Trump’s Executive Order 13813, “Promoting Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States,” which directed the secretary of labor to consider proposing regulations to expand AHPs. On Jan. 5, 2018, the DOL’s EBSA issued a proposed rule.

ABC has consistently supported AHPs, including efforts in Congress that will allow small businesses greater access to AHPs. ABC sent a key vote letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of H.R. 1101, the Small Business Health Fairness Act, which passed the House in March 2017. The U.S. Senate has not taken any action on H.R. 1101 at the time of writing. 

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On March 1, ABC President and CEO Mike Bellaman joined members of Congress, senior committee staff, key industry stakeholders and top administration officials for discussions on the challenges of writing and passing a package to revitalize America’s infrastructure.

Bellaman provided analysis of the viability of public private partnerships during a panel discussion. He said that an infrastructure package must follow three rules in order to reward projects that create taxpayer value and be successful. Projects must be affordable (lower costs by 10 percent to 20 percent), create value (ensuring that the project generates income) and financeable (economically sustainable).

Bellaman was joined by Jim Ray, special advisor to the secretary of transportation; Chris Vieson, deputy staff director for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; and Angela Styles, a partner at Bracewell LLP focusing on government contracting. The event was hosted by Bracewell LLP’s Policy Resolution Group in the Hart Building of the U.S. Senate.    

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Nonresidential construction spending fell 0.1 percent on a monthly basis in January 2018, while year-over-year spending increased, according to an ABC analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Nonresidential January spending totaled $732.9 billion on a seasonally adjusted annual rate, adding up to a 2.4 percent increase year over year.  

Private nonresidential construction fell 1.5 percent for the month, while public sector nonresidential spending increased 1.9 percent. The largest year-over-year increases occurred in public safety (33.5 percent) and transportation (20.2 percent).

“Today’s data indicates that nonresidential spending continues to expand erratically and unevenly,” said ABC’s Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “On a monthly basis, nonresidential construction spending declined in January. While the decline was minimal, and may have been primarily attributable to freezing temperatures in much of the country, there has been a long-lived pattern of occasional spending setbacks in the context of broader expansion cycles. The result of the most recent spending setback is that nonresidential construction outlays are only 2.4 percent above year-ago levels.  

“Interestingly, there is evidence of a reversal of fortune as spending picks up in certain public segments while flattening out in certain private ones,” said Basu. “With the housing market recovering, property tax and other forms of real estate tax collections have increased. This has positioned a growing number of public agencies to step up construction spending in education, public safety and other publicly financed categories.  

“Meanwhile, there are growing concerns regarding excess inventory of commercial and office space in certain metropolitan areas,” said Basu. “This may help explain recent construction spending setbacks in a variety of privately financed construction segments. That said, there is little reason to believe that private construction will falter in 2018. Economic growth, including job growth, remains robust. Confidence is surging among many economic actors, including bankers and developers. The combination of capital and confidence should be enough to drive spending growth in most private segments as 2018 progresses.”

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ABC announced the finalists for its 2018 Craft Professional of the Year and Craft Instructor of the Year awards. Winners of both awards will be announced at the Careers in Construction Awards ceremony March 22 during ABC Convention 2018 in Long Beach, Calif.

“It’s quite an achievement to be named a finalist for ABC’s Craft Professional and Craft Instructor of the Year awards,” said 2018 ABC National Chair George R. Nash Jr., director of preconstruction at Branch & Associates in Herndon, Va. “These member firm employees embody the commitment to world-class craftsmanship, training and leadership that we celebrate in the merit shop construction industry. ABC members are fortunate to work with a group of talented leaders so dedicated to their craft and the development of our skilled workforce.”

The 2018 Craft Professional of the Year finalists are:

Richard Brown, Gaylor Electric Inc., Noblesville, Ind., ABC Indiana/Kentucky Chapter
Jeff Dickman, Van Dyken Mechanical, Middleville, Mich., ABC Western Michigan Chapter
Troy Clinger, Kent Companies Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich., ABC Western Michigan Chapter
Jaime Ramos, MAREK, Houston, ABC Houston Chapter

The 2018 Craft Instructor of the Year finalists are:

Jason Ashlaw, Demco New York Corp., East Syracuse, N.Y., ABC Empire State Chapter
David Clements, Red D Plumbing, Omaha, Neb., ABC Cornhusker Chapter
William Fuller, ABC Greater Houston Chapter, La Porte, Texas, ABC Greater Houston Chapter
Roosevelt Norwood, Zachry Industrial, Baton Rouge, La., ABC Pelican Chapter 
Eugene Senter, Facility Solutions Group, Indianapolis, ABC Indiana/Kentucky Chapter 

ABC presents the Craft Professional of the Year award to a construction craft professional who excels in his or her field while also demonstrating a commitment to safety, training and the merit shop philosophy. The 2018 winner will receive a 2018 Ram Tradesman truck from the award’s founding sponsor, Tradesmen International. The winner will also receive a ReaXX table saw from award sponsor Bosch. Each of the finalists receive a tool kit from Bosch. Ram Commercial is also an award sponsor.

ABC presents the Craft Instructor of the Year award to an instructor with outstanding creativity, a positive attitude and the ability to transfer knowledge through communications skills and innovative teaching to promote lifelong learning to the construction industry’s future workforce. The recipient of this award best embodies the merit shop ideals through superior effort and talent and will receive a $10,000 cash prize from NCCER and the Trimmer Construction Education Fund. In addition, finalists will receive a $1,000 cash prize from NCCER.   

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In a Dec. 19, 2017 Newsline article, ABC reported that the Republican majority members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overruled the board’s 2015 decision in Browning-Ferris Industries and returned to the previous joint employer standard that was in place for more than 30 years. The reversal was a victory for employers nationwide. 

However, on Feb. 26, the NLRB moved to vacate a recent joint employer decision (Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors Ltd.) and as a result, the board’s December action on the Browning-Ferris Industries is of no force or effect. Thus, the controversial Obama-era joint employer standard is back in effect, though it is unclear how long that will be the case once new Republican members are appointed to the board. 

The 2015 decision expanded joint employer liability under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to situations where a company has “indirect” control and “unexercised potential” control over the essential terms and conditions of employment of another company’s employees. The Obama-era decision imposes unnecessary barriers to and burdens on contractor and subcontractor relationships throughout the construction industry.  

ABC will continue to support the Save Local Business Act (H.R. 3441), which will restore the joint employer standard that had been in place for over 30 years, bringing stability back into the economy for contractors and subcontractors across the country.

To learn more about recent activity at the NLRB, register for ABC National’s member-only webinar on March 7, The Latest on the NLRB: Major Changes and What’s Ahead in 2018. 

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On Feb. 15, ABC joined the Coalition to Save Local Business (CSLB) in a letter to Senate Leadership recommending that the Senate take up and pass H.R. 3441, the Save Local Business Act. H.R. 3441 will restore the “joint employer” standard that has been in place for over 30 years, bringing stability back into the economy for contractors and subcontractors across the country. 

The joint employer standard is used to determine when two separate companies are considered one employer with respect to a group of employees for purposes of liability and bargaining obligations under the National Labor Relations Act. Under H.R. 3441, an employer may be considered a joint employer of a worker only if it “directly, actually and immediately” exercises significant control over the primary elements of employment, such as hiring, firing, determining pay or supervising employees on a routine basis. Enactment of H.R. 3441 would provide certainty for small business owners and other employers in all industries, while clarifying protections for American workers.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3441 on Nov. 11, 2017 by a vote of 242-181. ABC considered this a key vote on our 115th congressional scorecard.

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Overall construction input prices increased 1.1 percent in January, reversing a slight decline in December 2017, according to an ABC analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Compared to this time last year, overall construction materials prices are up 4.9 percent. Nonresidential construction materials prices are up 4.7 percent year over year and up 1 percent on a monthly basis.  

The price of natural gas fell 13.1 percent in January and is down 31 percent on a year-over-year basis. In stark contrast, the price of crude petroleum rose 11.6 percent in January on a monthly basis and is 30.3 percent above its year-ago level. February has been different to date, with burgeoning U.S. production helping push down the price of oil.

“The expectation is that construction materials prices will generally edge higher during the course of 2018,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “After all, both domestic and global economies are strengthening, business and investor confidence is elevated and construction backlog is rising. On top of that, the U.S. dollar has weakened in recent weeks, translating into more aggressive increases in the price of imports.

“One possible exception is oil. U.S. rig counts have been rising recently in response to North American oil prices that recently topped out at $65 per barrel,” said Basu. “Unlike producers in other parts of the world, American producers appear willing and able to respond quickly to price shifts. The implication is that if oil prices rise from current levels, America’s producers will respond quickly with additional supply and stabilize prices. This is precisely the dynamic that we have observed during the past several weeks.

“The typical contractor should expect materials price increases in the range of 5 percent this year. Larger increases are possible, but industry demand for materials will be constrained by growing skills shortages,” said Basu. “There is only so much output that America’s construction firms can deliver during any given period given workforce constraints, and those constraints serve to limit the demand for materials at any given moment.” 

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According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website, the OFCCP mailed 1,000 Corporate Scheduling Announcement letters (CSAL) to federal contractor establishments on Feb. 1. 

The CSAL is a notification to an establishment that has been selected by the Federal Contractor Selection System to undergo a compliance evaluation during the scheduling cycle. According to the OFCCP, the purposes of the CSAL are to:

• provide the contractor establishment’s internal Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) staff at least 45 days advance notice to obtain management support for EEO and self-audit efforts;
• encourage contractors to take advantage of OFCCP compliance assistance offerings;
• encourage contractors to focus on self-audit efforts that, if problems are adequately analyzed and corrected, saves OFCCP time/resources when it does an evaluation; and
• help contractors manage/budget the amount of time required for evaluation activity.

According to the OFCCP’s website, scheduling letters, which notify a particular contractor establishment that it has been scheduled for a compliance evaluation, will go out starting March 19.

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On Feb. 12, President Donald Trump announced the release of his administration’s infrastructure proposal. ABC President and CEO Michael D. Bellaman issued the following statement on the president’s infrastructure plan: 

“ABC applauds the president for sending Congress a plan to rebuild America’s infrastructure. It is now time for lawmakers to develop legislation and policy to efficiently modernize America’s infrastructure and drive economic growth and prosperity for all Americans.

“ABC is pleased that the president’s plan mirrors many of the key principles ABC believes will deliver the most value to taxpayers. For example, addressing regulatory burdens, such as streamlining the federal infrastructure permitting process, will reduce costs and increase the speed of project approval and completion. And expanding efforts to train the next generation of skilled workers will give more Americans the chance to take advantage of the jobs created by these infrastructure projects and help reduce the construction industry’s workforce shortage.

“We look forward to working with the White House and Congress as the infrastructure plan moves through the legislative process.”

ABC Vice President of Regulatory, Labor and State Affairs Ben Brubeck appeared live on Newsmax shortly after President Trump unveiled the proposal, and pushed for five ABC cornerstones to be included in an infrastructure Investment in an op-ed featured on CNBC. 

The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate committees of jurisdiction are now tasked with drafting the legislative language and allocating funding for the infrastructure plan, which will require bipartisan support. 

Newsline  will continue to track and report on administration and congressional infrastructure news.

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This week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to bring the immigration debate to the floor through an open and unlimited amendment process that could subject senators on both sides of the aisle to politically tough votes. Through this process, a 60-vote threshold will be required for passage of any proposal. 

Sen. McConnell has endorsed a proposal based on President Trump’s framework that would provide approximately 1.8 million immigrants eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program with a path to citizenship. The proposal also would provide $25 billion for border security, including a wall, and would severely reduce legal immigration to the United States.

ABC, as part of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, expressed concerns regarding President Trump’s framework and the reduction in legal immigration that could affect the construction workforce. ABC also joined other major construction associations in signing a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate leadership outlining key priorities in the construction industry for immigration reform. 

The president has set a March 5 deadline to end the protections for DACA recipients.

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