The House Education and the Workforce Committee voted 21-13 along party lines to advance H. J. Res. 116, a Congressional Review Act resolution to nullify the Department of Labor’s SWACCA-supported independent contractor final rule.

At current rates of participation and completion, federal and state government-registered apprenticeship programs will fail to meet the construction industry’s short- and long-term skilled workforce needs, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of recently released U.S. Department of Labor data.

House Education and the Workforce Committee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-VA) introduced the Workers Protecting Our Wage Earners’ Rights Act.

Contractors with records or accusations of worker exploitation have received more than $84 million in Minnesota state and municipal funds, according to Isabela Escalona of Workday Magazine.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and officials from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Federal Trade Commission jointly committed to an all-hands-on-deck effort “to investigate, challenge and combat discrimination based on automated systems” now that “social media platforms, banks, landlords, employers and other businesses…rely on artificial intelligence, algorithms and other data tools to automate decision-making and to conduct business” that “too often result…in discriminatory outcomes.”

On March 28, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee voted 12-9 to advance the SWACCA-supported nomination of Jessica Looman to serve as Administrator of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

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.

The Associated General Contractors of America’s chief executive officer, Stephen E. Sandherr, issued a statement in reaction to today’s reintroduction in Congress of the so-called PRO Act.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced new streamlined processes for noncitizen workers who are victims of, or witnesses to, the violation of labor rights, to access an expedited deferred action request process. Deferred action protects noncitizen workers from threats of immigration-related retaliation from abusive employers.