House Votes to Dismantle Dept. of Labor Blacklisting Rule

The House has been busy working to dismantle some of the Obama-era regulations, tackling one with direct impact to the ready mixed concrete industry: the federal blacklisting rule. The House recently passed H.J.Res. 37, a resolution aimed at repealing the federal contracts blacklisting rule. This regulation, proposed and pushed by the Obama Administration, unjustly blocked businesses from being eligible for federal contracts if they have been accused of violating labor laws, regardless of whether accusation has been considered in court. The rule created a "blacklist" of companies and prohibited them from receiving federal contracts. H.J.Res 37 was passed by the House of Representatives and has been received by the Senate.

In the last three weeks, the House of Representatives has passed 13 pieces of legislation, called resolutions of disapproval, aimed at repealing Obama-era regulations. Each resolution addresses a specific regulation issued by the Obama Administration. These resolutions are passed pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, a 1996 law that gives Congress the ability to review and reject regulations. Under the Congressional Review Act, once a final version of a new regulation is issued, Congress has 60 working days to review the regulation and send a joint resolution of disapproval to the President. Each resolution has to be passed by both the House and the Senate and signed by the President.

To date, the House has passed 13 resolutions, the Senate has passed three of them, and two have been signed by the President. Because of the significant amount of time being consumed by confirmation debate, the Senate has considered and voted on fewer resolutions than the House. NRMCA Government Affairs strongly supports Congress’s use of resolutions of disapproval to dismantle onerous regulations issued by the Obama Administration. However, not every regulation can be dismantled using the Congressional Review Act, and many will require Congressional action using the normal legislative process. NRMCA Government Affairs will continue to advocate for the repeal or defunding of regulations that negatively affect the ready mixed concrete industry.