March 13, 2024

SWACCA joined its allies in the Construction Employers of America (CEA) in sending letters to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and the House Education and the Workforce Committee opposing Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions (S. J. Res. 63/H. J. Res. 116) that seek to nullify the SWACCA-supported independent contractor final rule that took effect on Monday, March 11, 2024. The CRA process allows Congress to nullify “major” rules issued by federal agencies if both chambers pass a resolution by a simple majority and the President signs it.

In the letter, SWACCA and CEA highlight that passing the CRA resolutions and repealing the Labor Department’s final rule “will place law-abiding employers in the construction industry at a competitive disadvantage to businesses that thrive at the expense of honest job creators, American workers, and the nation’s taxpayers.” The letter also notes that the resolutions would encourage the misclassification of workers “by weakening the standards for when workers are employees versus independent contractors.” The letter also highlights the impact of misclassification to the U.S. financial system, as evidenced by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) August 15, 2023 notice warning U.S. financial institutions to take extra precautions to prevent the banking system from being used to facilitate a “concerning increase in state and federal payroll tax evasion and workers’ compensation insurance fraud in the U.S. residential and commercial real estate construction industries.”

The letter to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee is available here and the letter to the House Education and the Workforce Committee is available here.

© 2024 Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance (SWACCA). All rights reserved.