• • ABC sends Legal Letter on Union only PLA Legislation
• • ABC involved in pilot program for workplace fraud
• • Apprenticeship legislation still waiting movement
• • ABC to meet with OMB Secretary on material price escalation
• • Pro-Act Seminar on April 29
• • ABC Applauds Reintroduction of the BUILDER Act to Modernize NEPA
• • OSHA Issues New FAQs on Recording Illnesses Caused by Required and Recommended COVID-19 Vaccinations

ABC Board of Directors hired Offit Kurman to send a legal letter to State legislators including the Governor and Attorney General outlining our issues with the Union only Project Labor Agreement in HB 150, the bill to legalize recreational marijuana.  The bill contains this language as part of the scoring criteria for companies interested in obtaining a license.  The PLA would require all contractors to be union in order to build cultivation, retail and manufacturing facilities.  The bill was released from the House Labor committee three weeks ago and awaits a full vote in the House.  "ABC will relentlessly and aggressively pursue all legislative and legal options to prevent this language," said Ed Capodanno, ABC President.  "Merit shop contractors and their employees should not be discriminated against due their labor affiliation."  For a copy of the legal letter, please click here.

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ABC Delaware members are participating in a pilot program with the Department of Labor (DOL) to review the registration process for compliance with the new Workplace Fraud statutes.  DOL is using a website to handle registrations for all contractors and is testing it with local contractors to see how it works.  The contractors will go through the entire registration process and provide feedback to DOL. The website will allow contractors to sub work to another sub in their same core business if they are registered in the DOL website.  The website is scheduled to be live by the end fo May.  Thanks to Erco Interiors, George and Lynch, M. Davis & Sons, Master Interiors, DiSabatino Construction and Ralph Degli Obizzi and Sons. ABC will provide a webinar to all contractors prior to the website going live.  

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ABC is still working on completing apprenticeship legislation language that would allow you to buy-in to the program to stay in compliance with state law. The new law requires you to be in an apprenticeship program to bid state funded construction work.  This buy-in would be for contractors who are not hiring apprentices or an apprenticeship program doesn't exist in their trade.  We recently spoke with the Secretary of Labor, and they are finalizing the fee structure.  They are also supportive of our request not to sunset this financial contribution after 3 years.  We are encouraged that this will be wrapped up and passed by the end of Legislative session in June.  We will keep all members updated on its progress.

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ABC has heard from many contractors recently regarding significant increases in material costs that are impacting public and private jobs.  These prices have been raised since the job was bid thus causing issues with how to pay for the additional costs.  We have scheduled a meeting this week with the Secretary of the Office of Management and Budget Cerron Cade to discuss this issue on state funded jobs and how they plan on handling the additional costs. During the recession of 2008 and 2009, the State created a Market Pressure Index fund that was used to offset these costs.  The money was allocated from the State Capital Budget. Schools and State agencies were allowed to request money from this account as needed to offset rising material costs.  We have also spoken with the chairs of the Legislative Bond Bill committee who are responsible for putting together the state capital budget.  We will keep all members updated on the progress of our talks.

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This national bill has passed the House and sits in the Senate awaiting movement.  Right now it does not have enough votes to pass, but that is changing daily.  The legislation has the following pieces: Eliminates workers' free choice & privacy, codifies the damaging join-employer standard, limits opportunity for self-employed & gig economy, imposes government control over private contracts, breaches attorney-client confidentiality, strips away employees' right-to-work protections, brings coercion, picketing and boycotts into the home and onto Main Street and eliminates limits on recognitional picketing and anti-competitive behavior, allowing unions to harm rather than organize companies. This is the most devastating piece of legislation for merit shop contractors in the last 50 years.  You need to pay attention to what is in this bill and how it will affect your company.  We are holding a seminar on April 29 to discuss this legislation.  There is no charge, but you need to register by clicking here.

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On April 14, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Rep. Garrett Graves (R-La.), reintroduced the Building U.S. Infrastructure Through Limited Delays & Efficient Reviews (BUILDER) Act, which would modernize the outdated National Environmental Policy Act) to make infrastructure project reviews more efficient, reduce project costs, spur economic recovery and rebuild America. The BUILDER Act has been reintroduced as a leading priority of ABC and Congressional Republicans as negotiations continue on Capitol Hill on forming significant infrastructure legislation.

ABC is a member of the Unlock American Investment Coalition, which focuses on modernizing NEPA and unlocking American investment in a modern, efficient infrastructure and creating middle-class-sustaining jobs while advancing good environmental stewardship.

On March 2, ABC joined dozens of members of the Unlock American Investment Coalition in calling on Congress to improve and modernize the federal permitting process under NEPA. In a letter, the coalition addressed the economic issues brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and how investment in various infrastructure projects will encourage recovery and growth as long as the federal environmental review and permitting process is improved.

Additionally, ABC and several other organizations submitted comments in support of the U.S. Department of Transportation's proposed revisions to its regulations implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA.

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The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently posted new Frequently Asked Questions on recording illnesses caused by required and recommended COVID-19 vaccinations.

The three new FAQs include:

• Are adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine recordable on the OSHA recordkeeping log?
• If I require my employees to take the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of their employment, are adverse reactions to the vaccine recordable?
• I do not require my employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine. However, I do recommend that they receive the vaccine and may provide it to them or make arrangements for them to receive it offsite. If an employee has an adverse reaction to the vaccine, am I required to record it?

For additional information about COVID -19 visit OSHA's COVID-19 webpage.

Further, ABC has launched a COVID-19 Vaccine Toolkit as part of the Coronavirus Update webpage to help inform and educate members about the latest available resources and information on the COVID-19 vaccine.

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May 27, 8:00 a.m.