• AGC Advocacy Report

  • Michael Gifford, AGC Advocacy Director
    December 13, 2024

     

     

  • State

    AGC Continues Fight Against Proposed Change to Labor Peace Act of 1943
    Advocacy Director Michael Gifford attends stakeholder meeting to represent industry
    Earlier this month several prominent state senate and house democrats held a press conference to announce they are running a bill (with support from the AFL-CIO) to remove the second vote feature in Colorado’s Labor Peace Act of 1943. Colorado is unique as the only state that has a hybrid set of rules for union formation by employees. In 23 states a simple majority vote of a company’s employees form a union and compels all employees to join the union and pay union dues. Those are called union states. In 26 states, even though a majority of employees vote to form a union, it is illegal to require individual employees to join the union and pay dues. Those states are called right-to-work. Colorado has a hybrid system, where if the majority of employees vote to form the union (50% required) then they have to have a 2nd vote of 75% of the employees to require all employees to join the union and pay dues. The Labor Peace Act has served Colorado well since 1943, protecting individual employee rights to association, and encouraging major employers to consider Colorado as a place to relocate or expand their businesses.
     
    AGC is joining with the Denver Chamber of Commerce, Colorado Chamber of Commerce, Colorado Competitive Council (C3), Colorado Contractors Association, Colorado Restaurant Association, Colorado Concern and other organizations to oppose this bill in the 2025 legislative session. In addition, Governor Polis issued a statement that he is skeptical of the need for any changes to the Labor Peace Act. Governor Polis is a key on this issue as he did veto 3 labor backed bills in the 2024 legislative session based on his free market leanings.
     
    Also important to note is the new make-up of the State Senate and the State House. Both bodies are one member shy of a veto proof supermajority, making the prospect of overriding a veto of changes to the Labor Peace Act harder to achieve. Last session the House had a supermajority at 46D-19R, where in 2025 the House is at 43D-22R. The Senate is at 23D-12R, unchanged from the 2024 session. AGC invested heavily in business friendly Dem and Rep candidates in the 2024 election, but did focus on several key races to help take away the House Supermajority status. Below is an article in the Denver Post on the proposal. Stay tuned as this issue moves forward.
     
    Democrats are planning a bill to remove Colorado’s unique barrier to union organizing. But Gov. Jared Polis is “leery.” Bill would seek to end Colorado’s status as a pseudo-“right-to-work” state through requirement of second vote.
     
    AGC Meets with CREA to Prepare for 2025 State Legislative Issues Affecting the Industry
    AGC Advocacy Director Michael Gifford is on the Board of the Colorado Real Estate Alliance (CREA) and the board met this week to discuss potential 2025 state legislative issues including a construction defects bill, changes to the Labor Peace Act, and a new wage theft bill after the veto of the 2024 wage theft bill AGC opposed, as well as progress on asking the state to relax unworkable greenhouse gas emission reduction regulations aimed at existing as well as new buildings over 50,000 sq ft.
     
    AGC Meets with CCJL to Prepare Business Community for the 2025 Legislative Session
    Gifford elected to CCJL Board for 2025
    AGC Advocacy Director Michael Gifford was elected to the board of directors of the Colorado Civil Justice League (CCJL) and he met with the board this week to discuss how to defend the business community from further democrat majority bills aimed at business liability through private rights of action, and negative changes to the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (CCPA).
     
    AGC Legislative Committee to Meet Jan 21 to Review Early 2025 Legislative Session Bills
    AGC Legislative Committee members will meet on Jan 21, 2025, to review the 1st batch of bills in the 2025 legislative session. There are 50 members of the AGC Legislative Committee and all member firms are eligible to have a representative on the committee. To check it out or join the committee email Nicole at the AGC office at nicole@agccolorado.org.
     
    Save the Date - BuildingJobs4Colorado Coalition State Legislative Reception Jan 14, 4:30-6:30pm
    AGC is a Board Member of the BuildingJobs4Colorado Coalition and AGC Advocacy Director serves as chair of the coalition. Members include 14 construction & design organizations. BJ4C will hold a state legislative reception on Jan 14, 2025. AGC members are encouraged to attend. Watch for a flyer and RSVP info soon.
     
    AGC Bill Tracker
    For a complete list of AGC bill positions for the 2024 legislative session see our handy dandy AGC Bill Tracker. For questions, contact Michael Gifford at mgifford@agccolorado.org.

  • Federal

    AGC Celebrates Passage of ACA Employer Reporting Reform
    This week, the House of Representatives and Senate passed several long-overdue pieces of legislation relieving much of the burden of Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliance for applicable businesses – reform AGC has long advocated for ever since the ACA was enacted. - Read more
     
    House Passes Defense Bill
    AGC Scores Legislative Victories for Military Construction. - Read more
     
    AGC Survey Results - Contracts Preference Programs
    Last month, AGC surveyed its members on contracts preference programs—federal and federal-aid programs that were created with the intent to help socially and economically disadvantaged businesses.  - Read more
     
    Final Rule on Personal Protective Equipment in Construction
    On December 11, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration finalized a revision to the personal protective equipment standard for construction.  - Read more
     
    AGC Annual Outlook Survey Closes Friday!
    Don’t miss this opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping AGC’s advocacy efforts, guiding workforce development strategies, and equipping the industry with data-driven insights to navigate a rapidly evolving market.  - Read more
     
    Are ICE Audits, Raids, and Enforcement Actions Coming?
    Join AGC of America on December 17 for a timely and informative webinar that will explore the potential impact of post-election policies on immigration regulations, workforce management, and compliance within the construction sector.  - Read more