Posts by growthzone

President Biden Offers Marijuana Pardons On October 6, 2022, President Biden granted pardons to all those convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law.  Also, he called on HHS Secretary Becerra and Attorney General Garland to “expeditiously” review marijuana’s classification under federal law as a Schedule I narcotic, meaning it’s deemed to have no medical…

Travel Advisories to Foreign Countries Suspended The CDC will no longer maintain a list of COVID-19 travel advisories for foreign countries, another sign of the gradual shift toward pre-pandemic normalcy. The agency said it would instead issue travel health notices only for “a concerning COVID-19 variant” or other situation that would change travel recommendations for…

This Week in Congress The House and Senate are not in session this week. Return to the ASAToday page to read more articles.

ASA Supported: Federal Construction Agencies Post Change Order Policies and Procedures On September 23, the Federal Acquisition (FAR) Council released the final rule implementing an ASA backed reform that will bring unprecedented transparency and accountability to federal agencies’ change order processes.  ASA, along with the Construction Industry Procurement Coalition (CIPC), successfully led the legislative effort to include…

ASA Supported Procurement Priorities in the FY23 National Defense Act As Congress continues to draft the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), ASA supports the following procurement priorities to be included in it: ensuring that small business construction contractors receive timely payment for change orders; reauthorizing the wastewater assistance funding for the planning, design, and…

ASA Monitors OSHA’s Proposed Rules ASA, along with the Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC), are monitoring the following proposed OSHA rules: OSHA Blood Lead Level Rulemaking – On June 28, OSHA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking public input on its standards for occupational exposure to lead for general industry and construction.…

This Week in Congress The House and Senate are not in session this week. Return to the ASAToday page to read more articles.

ASA Supports the FAR’s Exemption of Periodic Inflation Adjustments to the Miller Act On Tuesday, October 4, 2022, ASA submitted supportive comments regarding the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)’s exemption of periodic inflation adjustments to the Miller Act.  Per our comments, “the federal government long has recognized the importance of surety bonding requirements on federal construction…

Hurricane Ian Relief Efforts with ASA of Southwest Florida Our friends and ASA members in Florida were recently devestated by Hurricane Ian as it ripped its way across their state.  ASA of Southwest Florida, LaRae Davenport, shared the following message: “As the ED in SWFL, our community has been destroyed by Hurricane Ian. To put…

Avoiding a Government Shutdown On September 29, 2022, the Senate voted 72 to 25 passing a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded at the FY22 levels until December 16th, giving negotiators time to work out their differences on the FY23 funding bills. On September 30th, the House passed the CR and sent the…