Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and over 20 of their Democratic colleagues reintroduced the Safe Environment from Countries Under Repression and in Emergency Act, legislation to allow Temporary Protected Status recipients to apply for legal permanent residency and receive work authorization.
Reps. Donald Norcross (D-NJ) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) announced the relaunch of the Bipartisan Building Trades Caucus, which brings members of Congress together to discuss the issues that impact the construction industry.
On Feb. 22, two Wisconsin-based 401(k) plan participants filed suit against the U.S. Department of Labor in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin over the agency’s Dec. 1, 2022, environmental, social and governance retirement investing rule, entitled “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights.”
Governing for Impact and the Center for Democracy and Technology sent a letter to the White House, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health requesting that the Biden Administration direct NIOSH to study and OSHA to regulate Employer Surveillance and Algorithmic Management technology.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is inviting workplace safety stakeholders to share their comments on how the agency can best honor companies who make exceptional commitments to workplace safety and health.
The Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2023-18 to establish the Inflation Reduction Act program to allocate $10 billion of section 48C (Qualifying Advanced Energy Product Credit) credits for qualified investments in eligible qualifying advanced energy projects (the section 48C(e) program).
The U.S. Census Bureau launched a new experimental data product that features monthly construction spending estimates for private manufacturing. These estimates measure the construction work done on private new manufacturing structures or improvements to existing structures and include the cost of labor and materials, architectural and engineering work, overhead, interest, taxes paid during construction and contractor’s profits.
The Economic Policy Institute published a new analysis quantifying the impact on workers in 11 occupations when they are misclassified as independent contractors. Of particular importance for SWACCA, the analysis found that construction workers lost between $10,177 to $16,729 when they are misclassified—the second most of any occupation, listed behind trucking ($11,076 to $18,053).
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the issuance of new enforcement guidance in a stated effort to “make its penalties more effective in stopping employers from repeatedly exposing workers to life-threatening hazards or failing to comply with certain workplace safety and health requirements.”
The Environmental Protection Agency announced the first opportunities for public input on new programs focused on lowering carbon and greenhouse gas emissions from construction materials. These new programs were made possible by a $350 million investment through the Inflation Reduction Act.
