2009 Louisiana Legislative Session
The 2009 Louisiana Legislative Session adjourned on June 25, 2009. The legislative calendar of 1,730 bills was cleared. It was a challenging session for ABC. Though the session was considered fiscal in nature, each legislator was allowed to file 5 non-fiscal bills. With 144 legislators, that number amounts to 720 general bills. We fought, killed, amended and/or modified any bills we were opposed to and gave our backing to the bills we chose to support.
Having dealt with bills ranging from providing criminal penalties, including jail time, for certain actions committed by contractors to increasing the statewide public bid threshold by $150,000 it has been a tiresome session to say the least. Member involvement has been very impressive. We can only accomplish so much at the Capitol without the advisement, testimony, and influence of members. We've had a good record of accomplishments, and developed several new legislative relationships throughout the session.
Many members engaged themselves when called upon, and much credit should be given to those of you who responded when we needed your involvement and advisement during the session.
ABC Meets with Obama Administration to Discuss PLA Executive Order
On May 21, 2009, ABC, along with two other trade associations, met with senior Obama administration officials and representatives from the Department of Labor to discuss the negative impact of expanding the federal government’s use of government mandated union-only project labor agreements (PLA), as directed by Executive Order 13502.
Executive Order 13502, signed by President Obama Feb. 6, encourages federal agencies to require the use of government-mandated PLAs on federal construction projects worth more than $25 million. The order also repealed President Bush’s Executive Order 13202 which prohibited federal agencies and recipients of federal funding from requiring contractors to sign PLAs. Section 7 of the Executive Order directs federal officials to determine if broader use of government mandated PLAs on federal and federally funded construction projects would promote the economical, efficient and timely completion of federal construction projects.
During the meeting, representatives from ABC, Associated General Contractors and the Construction Industry Round Table were invited to share their experiences about the use of PLAs on government-funded projects and the impact they have on government procurement officials and taxpayers.
“We were pleased to have the opportunity to meet and begin an open discussion about the detrimental effects expanding the use of PLAs would have on fair, free and open competition on federal construction contracts,” said Jerry Gorski, 2009 ABC national chairman and president of Gorski Engineering, Inc., Collegeville, Pa., who attended the meeting. “It’s important for federal officials to understand that government mandated PLAs will unnecessarily increase the cost of federal construction projects, and discourage 85 percent of the construction industry that choose not to belong to a union from competing for these contracts.
“ABC will continue working with the administration to ensure everyone – including merit shop contractors – has an equal opportunity to participate on federal construction projects during a time when the nation is still shedding jobs and getting people back to work is a top priority,” Gorski added.
E-Verify Rule Suspended Until September 8, 2009
The federal government again delayed the implementation of a new rule that requires federal contractors to use the Employment Eligibility Verification (E-Verify) system for verification of all new and many existing employees.
Last summer, President Bush issued Executive Order 12989, requiring federal contractors to electronically verify their employees’ work eligibility. The final rule implementing the order was set to go into effect Jan. 15. It was first delayed until May 21 and then until June 30 when the Obama administration requested additional time to review the rule in light of pending litigation. The most recent delay announcement states that federal contracts awarded prior to Sept. 8 will not require contractors to comply with the new rule.
The rule is the subject of a legal challenge brought by ABC and its coalition partners. The challenge questioned the government’s authority to promulgate the regulation and sought an injunction from a federal court (Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. v. Michael Chertoff, et al., Civil Action No. AW-08-3444 (D. Md.)). The legal challenge echoed ABC’s previous comments on the rule and argued that requiring use of E-Verify would be illegal and expose contractors to needless liabilities.