Blacklisting Rule Repeal Heads to White House

Last week, the Senate sent the Congressional Review Act (CRA) Joint Resolution of Disapproval – which passed on March 6 on a straight party-line vote of 49-48 -- to repeal the federal contracts blacklisting rule to the President’s desk to be signed into law. This rule is an Obama-era regulation – which moots Executive Order (EO) 13673, "Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces" -- that had a negative impact on the ready mixed concrete industry. The House of Representatives passed the joint resolution, H.J. Res. 37 on February 2, 2017. Once signed by the president, the CRA Joint Resolution of Disapproval prohibits the future re-issuance of a federal regulation in the same or similar form without Congressional authority.

The federal contracts blacklisting rule blocked businesses from fulfilling federal contracts if they had been accused of violating labor laws, regardless of whether the accusation had been considered in court or otherwise proven. The House passed a resolution disapproving of the rule several weeks ago, and with the Senate’s passage of similar legislation, the repeal of the rule has been presented to the Oval Office for President Trump’s signature. 

The federal blacklisting rule is one of more than a dozen targeted thus far by the Republican majority in the House and Senate, and NRMCA strongly supports the repeal of this regulation. NRMCA lobbied for repeal of the blacklisting rule along with the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, a coalition comprised of over 600 organizations representing millions of businesses that employ tens of millions of workers nationwide in nearly every industry. CDW members are joined by our mutual concern over actions by the National Labor Relations Board.