Making the Case for Construction

AGC of America is extremely fortunate to have members and staff who are tireless in their devotion to the construction industry. And while other associations are narrow in focus and limited in scope, our professionals have the expertise needed to represent the interests of the entire industry. On most issues, if we don’t do it, it doesn’t get done!

Day in, day out, AGC’s experienced Government Affairs team is actively lobbying key decision makers on behalf of the nearly 27,000 member company firms. Whether it is meeting with legislators and their staffs or administration officials, AGC strives to promote policies that result in a more favorable business environment for its member companies.

AGC’s efforts to push back against Obama-era regulations were recently recognized in the Washington Post.

And in its 51-page comment, “Make Federal Agencies Responsible Again,” the Associated General Contractors of America recommended repealing 11 of President Barack Obama’s executive orders and memorandums, including one establishing paid sick leave for government contractors.

Here are some of our past accomplishments:

  • Permanent nullification of the “blacklisting” rule – Thanks in part to AGC’s advocacy efforts, contractors are enjoying a major victory in the permanent nullification of regulations implementing President Obama’s Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order, often referred to as the “blacklisting rule.”
  • Stopping Federally-Mandated Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) – Our success in pushing back against federally-mandated PLAs continued throughout the Obama Administration, and forced them to reconsider requiring PLAs on more than 100 different occasions.
  • Protecting Funding for Highway and Transit Construction – AGC played a crucial role in lobbying Congress and the Obama Administration to protect the current highway and transit construction funding levels when the federal transportation program was extended in 2015, and we continue to fight for new transportation revenue as well as a long-term, fully-funded bill.
  • Repeal of the OSHA “Volks” Rule – AGC led a lobbying effort in passing the repeal bill and issued a statement after the vote that the bill will preserve worker safety while protecting the constitution and respecting court rulings.
  • Reforming Flawed Federal Water Resources Programs – Thanks to the Fund, AGC led a broad coalition of interest and trade groups that successfully lobbied Congress to enact the Water Resources Reform and Development Act, which modernized the way the U.S. invests new funds in waterways projects and makes needed reforms to federal water resource development and water/wastewater state loan programs.
  • Limiting Federal Use of Single Bid Reverse Auctions – AGC successfully lobbied for a congressional ban on single bid reverse auctions – essentially sole source government contracts – to promote fair and open competition and save taxpayer money. The association also secured a congressional prohibition on reverse auctions for design-build military construction projects.
  • Making Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Programs Workable – As a result of AGC efforts, the U.S. Department of Transportation was persuaded to reconsider a number of proposed changes to its Disadvantaged Business Enterprises rules that would have made the well-intended program even more difficult to be in compliance.