Tile Roofing Industry Alliance Lobbyist, Craig Brightup, has provided the latest government relations update and activities on the following from March 2024:

House Numbers

With Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) leaving Congress in March and Rep. Mike Gallagher’s (R-WI) surprise announcement he’s leaving, too, Republicans will be down to a 217 – 213 House majority when Gallagher leaves on April 19 creating 5 vacancies. Gallagher succeeded former Rep. Reid Ribble (R) when he declined to run for reelection in 2016.

Appropriations Bills

Congress met its March 22 deadline to pass the remaining six FY24 appropriations bills through Sept. 30.

OSHA Worker Walkaround Rule

On March 29, OSHA issued its worker walkaround final rule that allows third parties including union representatives to join OSHA inspections. The agency did not address any of the concerns in comments signed by TRIA from the Coalition for Workplace Safety, and actually added language that may expand the rule which will likely be operational in May.

DOL-NLRB Regulations

• On March 1, the Dept. of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division sent its Overtime Rule to OMB for final review.
• On March 5, the U.S. Chamber joined other business litigants challenging DOL’s Independent Contractor rule which went into effect March 11.
• On March 7,  TRIA signed a letter that went to Congress in support of resolutions to nullify DOL’s Independent Contractor rule.
• On March 8, the NLRB’s Joint-Employer Rule was struck down by a Texas federal judge.

SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rule

On March 6, the Security and Exchange Commission announced its Rule to Enhance and Standardize Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors by public companies and in public offerings. Fortunately, it doesn’t include Scope 3 disclosure obligations which would have required all but the smallest public companies to report emissions produced by their supply chains. AGC and others contend Scope 3 would have encompassed upstream and downstream activities including construction by privately-held contractors. But even with the SEC’s scaled-back rule, on March 14, a panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order pausing the rule as litigation against it plays out.

Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)

Despite a federal court recently declaring the CTA unconstitutional, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced it will continue enforcing the statute. This is based on FinCEN’s determination that the only small businesses that will get a reprieve for now are members of the National Small Business Association, who filed the lawsuit challenging the CTA.