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ASA’s Andrew Christ Hosts SBA Administrator Guzman On Monday, Andrew Christ, an ASA Board Member and owner of Compass Constructors located in Kansas City, (MO), hosted the Small Business Administrator (SBA) Guzman at his company.  The SBA Administrator spent about ninety minutes with Andrew and his colleagues visiting his facility and discussing ways in which…

ASA Supports H.R.4366 – the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 ASA, along with the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC), sent a letter to Congress stating that infrastructure investment spurs job creation and economic growth, and to maximize this, we urge them to vote YES on H.R. 4366, Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, which contains the Fiscal…

President Biden Released His FY25 Budget President Biden’s FY25 budget proposes to reduce the deficit by about $3 trillion over a decade; set a higher minimum corporate tax and a 25% minimum tax for billionaires; and protect Social Security and Medicare, affordable housing initiatives; expand preschool access; and establish a higher federal minimum wage. It…

Ukraine Funding Update Former President Trump plans to ask Speaker Johnson this week to turn any upcoming funding for Ukraine into a loan that could be paid back without interest as the war-torn country recovers. Such an approach could prove to be more politically palatable to GOP critics. Speaker Johnson has expressed support for Ukraine…

Independent Contractor Rule Goes into Effect On Monday, the U.S. Department of Labor’s closely watched independent contractor rule went into effect, but do not expect too much of a change from the DOL’s current enforcement position.  Up until today, the Trump-era independent contractor standard was the regulation on the books governing the DOL’s approach to…

Judge Blocks NLRB Joint Employer Rule In January of this year, we wrote in our weekly update about the Joint Employer Rule.  As a brief reminder, in the fall of 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) promulgated that the rule would have made it significantly easier for the agency to find the existence of…

This Week in Congress Last week, Congress passed a detailed agreement to fund large parts of the government through September 30th with the expectation to enact it before another shutdown deadline on Friday, March 8th. This funding includes the FY24 Appropriations Bill for Agriculture-FDA, Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy and Water, Interior-Environment, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-HUD.  The remaining…

Senate Minority Leader McConnell Steps Down Minority Leader McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in history will step down from that position in November. Sen. McConnell (R-KY), who turned 82 last week, announced his decision from the Senate floor.  Per his comments, “one of life’s most underappreciated talents is to know when it’s time to move…

House Passed Tax Bill Advances in the Senate Senate Republicans are working on a set of policies to push for inclusion in the $79 billion House-passed family and business tax breaks package, as Finance Chair Wyden (D-OR) indicated he would be open to adding to the bill. The package, which passed the House in January,…

U.S. Supreme Court Rules on State Ballots and the 14th Amendment The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled states cannot use 14th Amendment to remove former President Trump from state ballots. The ruling reverses a Colorado ruling that disqualified him from returning to office because of his conduct around Jan. 6, 2021. The justices “said the…