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

Government Funding

On Nov. 14, the House passed a bifurcated Continuing Resolution extending government funding at ‘23 levels to Jan. 19 for some agencies and Feb. 2 for all others.  The bill was quickly signed and buys more time for Congress to finish FY24 appropriations bills.

Regulatory Updates

• The Dept. of Labor’s changes to Davis-Bacon Act calculations for prevailing wages is being challenged in two federal courts, with Associated Builders & Contractors bringing one of the lawsuits and Associated General Contractors the other.
• The National Labor Relations Labor Board published its new Standard for Determining Joint-Employer Status (Joint-Employer rule) on Oct. 27 and the U.S. Chamber and other business groups sued to stop it in a federal court in Texas.  Ironically, the Service Employees International Union also filed a lawsuit in a different jurisdiction claiming the rule doesn’t go far enough.  Because of the lawsuits, the NLRB announced that the effective date of the rule would be extended from Dec. 26, 2023, to Feb. 26, 2024.  
• OSHA’s proposed Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process rule (Worker Walkaround rule) is opposed by business groups per the attached Construction Industry Safety Coalition and Coalition for Workplace Safety comments, with both signed by TRIA.  The rule has also been criticized in comments submitted by the SBA’s Office of Advocacy.  

Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)  

Reporting requirements for business entities having 20 or fewer employees and under $5 million in annual revenue are scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2024.  But Treasury’s regulations aren’t ready and most small entities are unfamiliar with CTA’s requirements despite 32 million reports that will have to go to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in 2024.  Therefore, TRIA signed the attached letter urging Congress to delay CTA reporting by one year.

H-2B Legislation

Sens. Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have been working on an H-2B bill that would increase the number of visas but ban construction from the program to gain support from organized labor.  As such, TRIA signed the attached letter to Congress opposing the bill’s restrictions on construction’s access to the H-2B visa program.

For more information on our Government Relations Committee or the Tile Roofing Industry Alliance (TRIA) please email us at info@tileroofing.org or visit our website at www.tileroofing.org