ABC Legislative Week 2018: Fighting for Fair and Open Competition
Members of the merit shop contracting community, welcome to Washington and ABC’s Legislative Conference 2018.
More than 500 ABC members are traveling to Washington, D.C., for meetings with top Trump administration and congressional leaders to address the issues that impact the merit shop construction industry.
Answering ABC’s powerful Get Into Politics or Get Out of Business! message, attendees will educate lawmakers about the negative impact government-mandated project labor agreements and President Obama’s pro-PLA Executive Order 13502 have on merit shop contractors and skilled employees across America.
In order to ensure that merit shop firms and skilled craft professionals have a level playing field to compete for taxpayer-funded federal and federally assisted construction projects, they will be asking lawmakers to cosponsor the Fair and Open Competition Act (H.R. 1552/S.622), introduced by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) and Sen Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.). This critical legislation creates an inclusive policy that allows all Americans to rebuild their communities at a price that is right for taxpayers.
H.R. 1552, introduced in the 115th Congress by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.), has 90 cosponsors, is supported by a broad coalition of business and construction industry groups and was reported favorably out of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in March 2017.
Attendees can access a current list of H.R. 1552 cosponsors and ask lawmakers to cosponsor the Fair and Open Competition Act (FOCA) if they have not already sponsored this ABC-priority bill. In addition, ABC is sending an action alert to all ABC members and ABC Action App participants encouraging FOCA cosponsorship. Please share this alert from the ABC Action Center on social media and with merit shop stakeholders.
With one powerful message, together we can restore government neutrality in contracting and help taxpayers get the best possible construction product at the best possible price.
Here’s a video from our legislative breakfast program on Wednesday with highlights of ABC talking about the importance of fair and open competition on taxpayer-funded construction projects, workforce development, the forthcoming infrastructure plan and other issues of importance to the construction industry: