Archive for May 2025

This Week in Congress This week, the House voted on several foreign policy measures, including bills to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” in federal law and cut off funding from the Department of Homeland Security to higher education institutions with ties to Chinese entities. The House also considered legislation to…

President Trump’s Skinny Budget! President Trump proposed slashing federal spending in his fiscal 2026 budget request, seeking to codify his administration’s efforts to shrink the size of government. The request calls on Congress to reduce nondefense discretionary spending by 17% through an array of cuts to most agencies and by eliminating dozens of programs. Although…

ASA Opposes Limits to Deduct State and Local Taxes (SALT) Paid ASA joined the Center for a Free Economy in a letter to congressional leadership to oppose any limits on the ability of businesses to deduct state and local taxes paid unless offset dollar for dollar by new and permanent pro-growth tax reforms. The ability…

DOL’s Guidance on How to Determine Employee or Independent Contractor Status The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued a field assistance bulletin providing guidance on determining employee or independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act. As the department reviews the 2024 final rule on Employee or Independent Contractor Classification, which…

DOL’s National Apprenticeship Program The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has established its first-ever national apprenticeship program aimed at training firefighters and first responders to address a shortage in this field. This new job training model, created by the International Association of Fire Fighters, uses the National Guideline Standards as a framework for organizations to…