Archive for January 2021

This Week in Congress The House held committee meetings with no floor votes and the Senate sworn in jurors in President Trump’s impeachment trial scheduled for the week of February 8th.  President Trump is the first American president to have been impeached twice and will be the first to be tried after leaving office.  Meanwhile,…

ASA Responds to Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety ASA, along with the Construction Industry Safety Coalition (CISC), wrote to OSHA regarding President Biden’s recently issued “Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety.” Per the order, the President has tasked the Agency with several actions including the issuance of clear guidance regarding…

Preserving the Senate Filibuster Sen. McConnell has backed off from a key demand that had held up a power-sharing agreement after he and Sen. Schumer agreed not to vote to do away with the rule he wanted to preserve, the filibuster. Sen. McConnell had refused to agree to any deal with Sen. Schumer to share…

What Can Democrats do with 50 Senate Votes? Though a supermajority of 60 senators is generally needed to pass major legislation in the Senate, the chamber moves routine measures without a formal vote, and a simple majority is enough to advance certain annual budget and tax-related measures via a process known as reconciliation.  Only matters…

The Raise the Wage Act of 2021 The Raise the Wage Act of 2021 mirrors a bill that passed in the House in 2019 and it would phase in the hike from the current $7.25 to $9.50 this year and the full $15.00 by 2025.  House Budget Committee Chairman Yarmuth said Democrats are prepared to…

Sen. Portman Will Not Seek a Third Senate Term in 2022 Ohio Republican Rob Portman will not seek a third Senate term in 2022, potentially dashing Republicans’ hopes of taking back the Senate and the chamber’s dwindling number of centrists.  The two-term senator is one of the remaining centrists in the Senate, but he cited…

So you are in construction, and you have decided to give tech a go. Welcome to the minority – but you are my hero! Don’t be tempted by the ads at the top. These are usually very broad, they spend millions on marketing to ensure they seem relevant to you and your needs – Monday.com…

Upcoming Webinar: Maintaining a Healthy Margin In an Up or Down Market Join us on February 9th, 2021 at Noon Eastern for the upcoming complimentary ASA webinar, “Maintaining a Healthy Margin In an Up or Down Market”.  This webinar will feature a panel discussion regarding the below issues with ASA’s own industry leaders. In an Up Market: How…

Procore to Help Specialty Contractors Hit the Ground Running in 2021 If we learned anything from 2020, it’s that technology is no longer a “nice-to-have” but rather a “need-to-have”. Last year, the pandemic drove massive change in the construction industry from disruptions in productivity, new safety protocols to mitigate exposure, and the accelerated adoption of…

This Week in Congress This week, the 117th Congress returned to Washington and on Wednesday, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. On his first day in office and in the following days, President Biden is expected to sign a number of executive orders and take other executive actions…