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House Retirements Continue Per Tuesday, January 11th’s Hill Article, Speaker Pelosi is “not offering clues about whether this will be her final year in Congress, as many expect.”  “Additionally, House Majority Leader Hoyer, who will be 83 in June, and House Majority Whip Clyburn, who will be 82 in July, have been reaching out to…

ASA Government Relations 2021 Recap Despite the continued impact of COVID-19 on the construction industry, along with the ever-changing political, regulatory, and legislative landscape, the ASA Government Relations Team wanted to briefly update you on our 2021 legislative successes as we enter the new year. Though 2021 proved to be challenging, we offer thanks to…

This Week in Congress The Senate is in session and the House remains in recess. Return to the ASAToday page to read more articles.

ASA Secures Miller Act Exemption from Inflationary Increases in the FY22 NDAA Last year, Congress passed the FY22 defense spending bill that includes the Miller Act exemption from inflationary increase.  On December 28, 2021, President Biden signed it into law and maintaining Miller Act bond threshold at $150,000 is big win for small business contractors. …

Attorneys’ Council and Task Force Update: 2021 Despite the ebb and flow of life in a pandemic, our Attorneys’ Council and ASA Task Forces stayed active in 2021 – and even got the opportunity to meet together in person for the first time since SUBExcel 2020! Following a series of productive but remote Attorneys’ Council…

ASA Calls Upon House and Senate Leadership for Full Funding of Surface Transportation Programs ASA, along with several transportation associations, called upon the House and Senate Leadership for full funding for surface transportation programs in fiscal year 2022. The current Continuing Resolution (CR) holds all surface transportation program spending at FY 2021 levels.  This means…

OSHA’s Pending Employee Vaccine ETS and the Supreme Court On Monday, January 10, 2022, OSHA will begin enforcing the first phase of the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring employers with 100 or more employees to combat the spread of COVID-19 including that all employees either be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing. This Friday, January 7,…

What Happened to Build Back Better? Congressional staff have informed us that the Build Back Better (BBB) bill will not be ready for floor action any time soon and predict the wide-ranging legislation that the White House has negotiated with centrist Sens. Manchin (D-WV) and Sinema (D-AZ) may have to be completely overhauled.  On Monday, Senate…

This Week in Congress The House voted on a resolution finding former Trump administration White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress, in addition to a bill to appoint a State Department envoy to combat Islamophobia.  The Senate voted on legislation that would impact the U.S. borrowing default by raising the debt…

Build Back Better Act? On Monday, Sen. Manchin (D-WV) spoke to President Biden regarding the reconciliation package (Build Back Better Act). No final decisions were made, but the two will continue to discuss a way forward.  Sen. Manchin did not rule out the possibility of a vote by the end of the calendar year, saying…