Builders renew plea for Trump to level federal contract field, sans PLA mandates

Sources: Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC), Washington, D.C.; CP staff

ABC and a coalition of construction and business associations continue to urge President Donald Trump to eliminate government-mandated project labor agreements (PLA) on federal and federally assisted projects.

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Feds’ Apprenticeship task force light on contractor representation

Sources: U.S. Department of Labor; Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff

Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta has appointed ABC President Mike Bellaman to the Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion, stemming from an executive order President Donald Trump issued earlier this year with an eye to strengthening the U.S. labor force.

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EPA enlists cement, concrete, construction interests in partnership premier

Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; CP staff

The EPA has designated cement and concrete, construction, and iron and steel among 13 regulated industries chartering Smart Sectors, a partnership program whose collaborative approach, agency officials contend, provides an opportunity to pinpoint more forward-thinking ways to protect the environment.

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Feds set groundwork for sustained Labor, EPA rule, regulation roll back

Sources: Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC), Washington, D.C.; CP staff

ABC Government Affairs staff has assessed the Trump Administration’s recently released 2017 regulatory agenda, noting the prospect for significant relief from rules or measures the Department of Labor and Environmental Protection Agency adopted under President Barack Obama.

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Economist: Construction equipment sales bode well for nonresidential market

Sources: Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff

Weighing new Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) data, ABC reports that nonresidential fixed investment—a gross domestic product category embodying nonresidential construction activity—expanded at a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.2 percent in the second quarter, following a 7.2 percent jump in Q1. The expansion contributed more than 0.6 percentage point to GDP growth, due in large measure to increased construction equipment investment. The other two nonresidential fixed investment components—structures and intellectual property—also expanded, but at a slower pace.

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Contractors welcome Trump’s take on apprenticeship, vocational training programs

Sources: U.S. Department of Labor; Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.

With an eye to reducing regulatory burdens on workforce development, one of President Donald Trump’s latest Executive Orders calls on the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with Department of Education and Commerce counterparts, to propose regulations promoting development of apprenticeship programs by industry, trade or nonprofit groups, unions and joint labor-management organizations. It also directs the Commerce and Labor departments to promote apprenticeships to business leaders in manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.

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Obama’s contractor ‘blacklisting rule’ bites dust with stroke of Trump pen

Sources: White House Briefing Room; Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff

President Donald Trump has signed House Joint Resolution 37, which rolls back his predecessor’s Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order 13673 and relieves federal contractors and subcontractors of onerous paperwork and compliance terms attending what critics called the “blacklisting rule.”

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Hearing calls for infrastructure outlays, GOP budget hawks target Davis-Bacon

Sources: Associated Builders & Contractors, Washington, D.C.; CP staff

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) have introduced companion bills in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to repeal Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage requirements in federally funded highway construction.

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Construction economist assesses slowing private work stability

An Associated Builders & Contractors analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data shows seasonally adjusted, annualized spending of $687 billion in August, 1.1 percent and 1.3 percent lower than prior month and August 2015 levels, respectively. Four of the five largest nonresidential subsectors—power, highway and street, commercial and manufacturing—combined to fall 2.2 percent on a monthly basis in August 2016.

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CONTRACTORS: RULE HARMS COMPETITION, SMALL BUSINESS

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