Inside this issue
  ABC Receives Presidential Award  
  White House adviser Ivanka Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross presented the inaugural Pledge to America's Workers Presidential Awards to nine businesses including Associated Builders and Contractors.
 
"Through the White House's Pledge to America's Workers, the Trump administration challenged the private sector to make a major investment in the education and training of their workers to ensure Americans have the skills necessary to remain the best in the world," Ivanka Trump said in a statement. "On behalf of the President, I am honored to award nine extraordinary organizations the Pledge to America's Workers Award for their commitment to the exceptionalism of the American worker and for their steadfast resolve to equip their employees with the tools to succeed in the jobs of today and tomorrow."

The administration touted the Associated Builders and Contractors, which pledged to educate at least 500,000 construction workers starting in 2018, for overshooting its goal and investing $1.5 billion to educate more than 1.1 million course attendees.

The group's state chapters from Iowa to New Mexico have trained hundreds of construction apprentices. In addition, the Associated Builders and Contractors' Chicago-focused Community Builders Program specializes in preparing students with no prior experience to get jobs as skilled craftsmen.		  

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  ABC Primary Election Results  
 

Thanks to everyone who voted in this month's statewide primary election.  Here are the highlights.  For a complete listing of voting results, please click here. ABC will be providing all members a complete election guide for the General Election in a few weeks that you can distribute to your employees. 
National:
Incumbent US Senator Chris Coons won the Democratic primary and will face Republican Lauren Witzke who won the Republican primary.
Lee Murphy won the Republican primary for US Representative and will face incumbent Democrat Lisa Blunt-Rochester.
Statewide:
Incumbent Governor John Carney won the Democrat primary and will face Republican Julianne Murray who won the Republican primary.
Kyle Evans Gay won the Democrat primary and will face Incumbent Republican Senator Cathy Cloutier
Marie Pinkney defeated incumbent State Senator and Senate Pro Tem Dave McBride in the Democratic 13th district primary.
Larry Lambert defeated incumbent State Representative Ray Seigried in the Democratic 7th district primary.
Sherae'A Moore won the Democratic 8th State Representative district primary.  This seat was open due to Quinn Johnson's retirement. 
Madina Wilson-Anton defeated incumbent State Representative John Viola in the Democratic 26th district primary
Eric Morrison defeated incumbent State Representative Earl Jaques in the Democratic 27th district primary
New Castle County:
Incumbent County Executive Matt Meyer defeated Maggie Jones in the Democratic primary
Incumbent Karen Hartley-Nagle defeated Ciro Poppiti in the Democratic primary
Wilmington:
Incumbent Mayor Mike Purzycki defeated Velda Jones-Potter in the Democratic primary
Trippi Congo defeated incumbent City Council President Hanifa Shabazz in the Democratic primary
ABC Member Nathan Field won the Democratic City Council District 8th primary
Kent County:
Joanne Masten defeated Morgan Russum in the Democratic Levy Court District 1 primary.
Sussex County:
Cynthia Green won the Republican County Council District 2 primary. This seat was open due to retirement of Sam Wilson.
Mark Schaeffer defeated incumbent I.G. Burton in the Republican County Council District 3 primary.

  

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  ABC General Election Preview  
  The General Election is fast approaching on Tuesday, November 3.  We hope you have encouraged your employees to register to vote in this important election.

ABC has put together an election guide for all members to distribute to your employees. It lists all candidates running nationally, statewide and locally.  This will help your employees understand who is running in their district.

For a copy of this guide, please click here.  If you have any questions, please call the ABC office at 302-328-1111 or e-mail ecapodanno@abcdelaware.com 		  

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  ABC looking for volunteers on Election Day  
  ABC Delaware is looking for volunteers to offer at least 2 hours of assistance on Election Day in all 3 counties.

The volunteer work will be manning a polling place for a ABC Delaware supported candidate and thanking people for voting.  Personal involvement goes a long way in cementing our relationships with key legislators.

If you are interested, please fill out the volunteer form by clicking here.  We will notify you prior to election day with your location.  We will get you all the materials necessary for the day prior to your assigned time.  Thanks for considering volunteering on election day.  		  

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  OMB clarifies State Apprenticeship law  
 

There has been some confusion recently regarding the new State Apprenticeship requirement on state construction projects.  The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) which is the enforcement arm for the law was requiring all contractors be in an apprenticeship program in order to bid work.  Our interpretation along with the Department of Labor (DOL) was that only the programs currently running would need to comply.  This was 14 trades which I have enclosed for your reference.

Below you will find the final interpretation that came out on Friday from OMB agreeing with our interpretation that only those programs currently running by the DOL need to be in compliance.  This should clarify any issues that have occurred recently with state funded construction bids.  If you have any questions, please email ecapodanno@abcdelaware.com .

OMB and its counsel have been working over the past several weeks with Legislative Council to reconcile a literal read of SS1 to SB 48 of the 150th General Assembly (82 Del. Laws c. 36) with legislative intent as expressed during discussions of the legislation at committee hearings and before votes in the House and Senate. At issue is whether the craft training requirements contained in the legislation are triggered for any craft identified in the project or only for those crafts in the project that have a craft training program on the Delaware Department of Labor (DOL) list of approved craft training programs in Delaware. 

We concur with the resulting analysis prepared by Legislative Council providing legal support to the position that legislative intent holds that craft training is only required for those crafts on the DOL list. We will proceed consistent with this analysis by revising public works templates and guidance to reflect this change. Moving forward, we hope to work with you and members of the 151st General Assembly in January to provide clarity in the statutes pertaining to this requirement. 

  

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  Wilmington Apprenticeship Ordinance tabled  
  Wilmington City Council Ordinance 18-041 was tabled in committee a few weeks ago.  The ordinance would amend Chapter 8 of the City Code to require developers receiving financial assistance from the City of Wilmington on residential construction projects to hire workers from Class A apprentice programs. The ordinance also mandates that 15% of the workers on the project must come from these programs the first year, 20% the second year, 25% the third year and 30% the fourth year.  It also sets a minimum wage of $15/hour the first year, $16/hour the second year and $17/hour the third year and $18/hour the fourth year.  

ABC opposes this ordinance and sent all council members a letter outlining our issues. We will keep you updated if things change.		  

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  House Republicans Introduce the BUILDER Act to Modernize NEPA  
 

U.S. Rep. Garrett Graves (R-La.) introduced H.R. 8333, the Building U.S. Infrastructure Through Limited Delays & Efficient Reviews (BUILDER) Act. The legislation would codify much of the Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act rulemaking, which ABC supports. Developed with input from the House Transportation and Infrastructure, Energy and Commerce and Judiciary committees, the bill includes important provisions to create a more efficient NEPA review process and clarifies which projects require NEPA review. This will promote better agency coordination and set reasonable time limits for preparing environmental documents.

Following the release of the BUILDER Act, ABC Vice President of Legislative & Political Affairs Kristen Swearingen issued the following statement:

"ABC applauds congressional leaders for introducing this legislation, which will go a long way toward eliminating unnecessary delays that cause budget overruns in construction. Construction businesses recovering from the ongoing health and economic crisis caused by COVID-19 will surely benefit from these modifications, which will help reduce costs and speed up project approvals so that hardworking U.S. workers can get back on the job quickly and safely.

"The coordinated, predictable and transparent process to streamline permitting will also enable the industry to plan and execute even the most complex projects while safeguarding our communities, maintaining a healthy environment and being good stewards of public funds."

ABC is a member of the Unlock American Investment Coalition, which focuses on modernizing NEPA and unlocking American investment in modern, efficient infrastructure, creating middle-class sustaining jobs while advancing good environmental stewardship. To learn more, see the coalition's fact sheet on modernizing NEPA.

  

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ABC Legislative Committee
Thursday October 22
8:30 - 9:30 a.m.