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SB 239 extends Workplace Fraud to July 2021
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Senate Bill 239 was passed in the Delaware General Assembly to extend the effective date for the Delaware Construction Registration Act to July 1, 2021. This act revised the Workplace Fraud Act last June to allow sub to sub-contracting in the same core business. The contractor registry would be used by the Department of Labor to list construction companies that are in compliance with the new law. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic it necessitates moving the implementation of the law back a year to 2021. ABC is in support of this legislation as long as enforcement of the Workplace Fraud Act is done under the new set of rules established by legislation passed in June 2019. For a copy of the bill, please click here. |
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Senate tables changes to apprenticeship
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Senate Bill 252 that would have made changes to the public works procurement statute which requires contractors bidding on public works projects to commit to craft training of apprentices and journeyman was tabled for the year. This bill would have required contractors to have apprentices in every trade in their contract. ABC's position was that you would only be required to have one apprentice in one trade. It also provided the option, to contractors and subcontractors bidding on public works projects, to meet the craft training requirements by paying annually into a state apprenticeship and training fund for as long as the contractor is working on the qualifying contract. For a copy of the bill, click here. |
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State Capital Budget set at $708 million.
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The States capital projects budget passed the General Assembly on June 30, 2020. The bond bill total is $708 million which is a 18% decrease over last year and 21% less than the Governor's proposal in January. This was due to COFID-19 and removing $231 million in cash and moving it to the operating budget to help balance it. Here is the breakdown: $168 million for school construction; $364 million for transportation projects; $27 million for DNREC; $42 million for the Office of Management and Budget; and $10 million each for Delaware State University, University of Delaware and Delaware Tech. The rest of the bond bill went to Corrections, Delaware State Housing Authority and State. For a full copy of the State bond bill, click here. |
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Governor signs $4.52 billion budget
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Governor John Carney signed the $4.52 billion fiscal year 2020 budget. By law, state officials can spend no more than 98 percent of projected revenues. Those estimates took a major hit in March and April due to the economic disruption produced the government-ordered shutdowns related to the COVID-19 outbreak. As usual, more than one-of-every-three dollars in the new state budget is dedicated to public education. The FY 2021 budget contains $1.6442 billion for schools -- more than 36.3 percent of the total. Nearly 27.4 percent of the budget ($1.2396 billion) is earmarked for the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), including almost $754 million for Medicaid. Despite some cuts, the governor and state officials say they are happy with the spending plan. Schools are fully funded and state workers won't have to worry about layoffs, furloughs or cuts to their benefits - at least for another 12 months. For a copy of the full state budget, click here. |
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Middletown State Rep. Quinn Johnson retiring
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Middletown state Rep. Quinn Johnson is not running for re-election.
After the state House passed the grants-in-aid and bond bills in a virtual session, the co-chairman of the Joint Finance Committee announced he was retiring after 12 years of public service. He called it a "difficult" decision, but one that's best for his family.
"My family...sacrificed a tremendous amount; t hey are often told that you can't do things; they've got to sit there and listen to you take phone calls; they've got to sit there...and go on vacations without you," the Democrat, who represents the 8th District said. "Everyone will know when the time comes...it's time for me to give back my time to my family that they have sacrificed over the last 12 years."
Johnson's retirement means the Joint Finance Committee will get two new co-chairs next year. Co-chairman Sen. Harris McDowell is also retiring from the state legislature. |
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Senator Coons to address members on July 16
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Senator Chris Coons will hold a virtual town hall meeting through Zoom conferencing on July 16 at 9:00 a.m. Senator Coons will be addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, the PPP program that passed with several versions, criminal justice reform and other topics. If you are interested in participating, you must register by emailing dsetting@abcdelaware.com There are limited spots available on this virtual meeting. Zoom conference link and information will be sent to those registered prior to the event. |
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ABC Opposes House Democrats' $1.5 Trillion Infrastructure Bill with Anti-Merit Shop Provisions
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On June 22, Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.) was joined by six other Democratic House committee chairs in a press conference releasing the Democratic Infrastructure Bill, H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act.
The release of H.R. 2 came just days after the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved the INVEST in America Act, a five-year, nearly $500 billion transportation reauthorization, after a two-day markup. The INVEST in America Act serves as the surface transportation sections of H.R. 2, bringing the total proposed infrastructure investment to more than $1.5 trillion.
ABC, which sent a letter to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee detailing concerns about the INVEST in America Act, was disappointed to see that the merit shop construction industry's priorities were not included in the larger Moving Forward Act. The bill also included several harmful provisions that would expand discriminatory government-mandated project labor agreements, apply flawed and inflationary Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements and fail to recognize the widespread success of industry-recognized apprenticeship programs.
In response to the release of H.R. 2, ABC sent a letter opposing the anti-competitive mandates in the bill, urging Congress to consider several changes to the legislation, including reducing costly and ineffective regulations, increasing competition and addressing the construction industry's skilled worker shortage, all of which can help bring critical construction projects to market in a more economical and efficient manner.
While ABC expressed support for increased funding for infrastructure programs, the letter called for the path forward on infrastructure to be rooted in fair and open competition and equal opportunity -not mandates that would leave Americans out of the opportunity to rebuild their communities. |
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ABC Urges House to Approve Great American Outdoors Act, Which Would Create 100,000+ Construction Jobs
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On June 17, The Great American Outdoors Act (S. 3422), introduced by Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), was passed in the U.S. Senate by a vote of 73-25. This bipartisan legislation would help address the $20 billion deferred maintenance backlog in the Department of the Interior, $12 billion of which is accumulated by the National Park Service, creating thousands of construction jobs in the process.
The bill now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives, where it, if approved and further signed into law, will create the National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Fund, which would direct up to $9.5 billion in nontaxpayer funds over the next five years to improve infrastructure within the NPS and other agencies with significant deferred maintenance backlog, much of which is related to transportation assets. ABC sent a letter to the House urging the swift consideration and approval of the legislation.
A 2019 Pew Research Center-commissioned report by the Cadmus Group found that addressing the NPS' nearly $12 billion maintenance backlog would create or support an estimated 108,364 construction jobs. This increase in construction demand would deliver much-needed jobs to the construction industry, which shed nearly 1 million jobs in April due to the coronavirus before adding back more than 460,000 in May.
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Registration for ABC's Election Series is Now Open!
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Registration for ABC's Election Series, powered by the Free Enterprise Alliance, is now open! The series kicks off on Thursday, July 16, and will run through Election Day, with two webinars scheduled per month.
The countdown to Election Day has official begun, and with only 126 days until voters head to the polls, we promise you will not want to miss this series. REGISTER TODAY! The series will welcome political experts from across the country who will offer exclusive insights to the nation's ever-evolving political landscape.
The ABC Election Briefing Series is free of charge and reserved for ABC members only. Sponsorship opportunities are available. Check out the full schedule and register today! We look forward to hosting you! |
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Senator Coons Mtg
July 16, 2020
9:00 a.m.
Zoom conferencing
RSVP to: dsetting@abcdelaware.com
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Legislative Committee
July 23, 2020
8:30 a.m.
Zoom Conferencing
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