New Ad Campaign Pushes Economic Growth Through Infrastructure Investment

ARTBA

The transportation construction, labor and business community are jointly launching an ad and social media campaign to push for action this year by Congress and the Biden administration on a transportation infrastructure investment package that improves mobility and fuels economic growth.

Beginning April 12, a television spot will run inside the Beltway aimed at members of Congress, staff and other policymakers. The TV commercial will be supplemented by online ads that began April 10 on social media and influential digital sites popular with D.C. legislators and influencers.

The campaign will extend on April 26 with online social media and website advertisements running in the states and districts of 22 key members of Congress. The ads will run during congressional recesses.

The central message of the "Moving Forward" campaign: investing in transportation infrastructure is crucial to continuing the U.S. economic recovery and creating jobs. The ads direct viewers to a landing page on the Transportation Construction Coalition website where the economic benefits of transportation infrastructure investment are spelled out.

The television spot and samples of the digital ads are available at FundInfrastructureNow.org.

The campaign is an initiative of the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) and U.S. Chamber of Commerce-led Americans for Transportation Mobility (ATM) coalition. The TCC and ATM ads will run through late May.

Established in 1996 and co-chaired by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), the 31 associations and labor unions that make up the TCC have a direct market interest in the federal transportation program. A complete list of members can be found at: www.transportationconstructioncoalition.org.

The Americans for Transportation Mobility (ATM) coalition was established by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2000. It brings together businesses, the labor and union sectors, transportation stakeholders and the public to advocate a robust transportation infrastructure grid in the United States. This includes promoting ongoing and sustainable funding through policies and broad-based initiatives.

Could the PRO Act become law?

Zachary Phillips

hen the Protecting the Right to Organize Act was passed by the House of Representatives in March, it garnered votes from five Republicans. Now in the Senate, the bill's supporters — which include construction unions and workers' rights groups — would be lucky to get even one GOP vote. In fact, it's unlikely the bill will even get to the Senate floor for discussion, legal and political experts say. 

The PRO Act seeks to: 

• Largely change the way employers and unions interact and collectively bargain.
• Redefine what the National Labor Relations Board considers an "employer" and "employee," significantly impacting companies' liability and responsibilities to their workers.
• Eliminate right-to-work states. 

Despite its uphill battle, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is continuing to search for PRO Act support, reportedly saying he will bring the vote to the Senate floor when the bill reaches 50 co-sponsors. It currently has 45. The remaining Democrat and independent holdouts are:

• Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
• Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly.
• West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.
• Virginia Sen. Mark Warner.
• Maine Sen. Angus King, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats.

Unions are lobbying hard to sway these five legislators. In late March, the Hanover, Maryland-based International Union of Painters and Allied Trades made 500,000 calls to the offices of these five senators, according to James Williams Jr., general vice president at large for IUPAT. Other unions, such as the AFL-CIO and North America's Building Trades Unions have cheered the passage of the PRO Act in the House, and urged the Senate to focus on worker-first legislation.

Despite its long odds, the 2021 iteration of the PRO Act is in a better position than the last version that passed the House in February 2020 but died in the Senate, Williams said, giving IUPAT confidence and a renewed sense of motivation.

"We started this campaign under worse circumstances and have made significant strides since then, including passage in the House with a larger majority than the 2020 bill and with bipartisan support," Williams said, referencing the five Republican representatives who voted for it in March as well as a pro-union White House. "We intend to capitalize on that progress and will keep organizing and keep mobilizing until the Senate votes on the bill." 

Construction outlook

Groups representing construction employers, like the Associated General Contractors of America, have fought the PRO Act in each of its iterations, and are especially vigilant now that the Senate flipped to Democratic control in January.

The AGC has set up coalitions in five states — Arizona, Alaska, Maine, Virginia and West Virginia — to oppose the bill by educating the business communities there on the PRO Act's potential impact, said Brian Turmail, AGC vice president of public affairs and strategic initiatives.  

Instead of bringing the bill to a vote, Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, will more than likely filibuster it — effectively delaying it until it expires, political experts say. Schumer has until Dec. 31, 2022, to bring the bill to the floor for a vote, according to Trent Cotney, CEO of Tampa, Florida-based Cotney Attorneys and Consultants.

Nevertheless, Democrats are hopeful that if they can get 50 co-sponsors, it will give Schumer the political leverage needed to bring it to the floor for messaging purposes, even while knowing that it won't be able to surpass the filibuster, Cotney said. 

Navigating the filibuster

If Republicans filibuster, the bill's supporters would need to meet the 60-vote threshold in order to bring it to a vote. 

Discarding or circumventing the filibuster would be a major challenge, Cotney said, although there are some unlikely ways it could happen. They include:

• If 67 Senators vote to abolish the use of the filibuster altogether. This is unlikely, Cotney said, due to the 50-50 deadlock of Republicans to Democrats in the Senate. Ties in the Senate are broken by the president of the Senate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
• A "nuclear option" wherein Schumer sweeps the 67-vote rule aside with only 51 votes — an option for which Schumer does not have support, Cotney says.
• The Congressional Review Act — which would be an unlikely means to repeal major congressional regulations.
• Budget reconciliation, which is a one-time budget option each fiscal year. A Senate Parliamentarian ruling last week allows Democrats to use revised budget resolutions for reconciliation, meaning they can revise the original Fiscal Year 2021 budget used to carry the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to now carry the $2.25 trillion American Jobs Plan, Cotney said. 

In theory, Schumer could try to add the PRO Act to a package tucked into budget resolutions, but would likely face resistance from the five non-Republicans who are not co-sponsors. Additionally, the Senate Parliamentarian could rule against adding the PRO Act, and therefore it would need to be removed from the resolution, Cotney said. The same scenario occurred with the move to increase the federal minimum wage to $15, when it was removed from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

The idea of abolishing the filibuster has gained support recently, as President Joe Biden referred to the practice as "a relic of the Jim Crow era," a sentiment Williams echoed. 

"It has morphed into a shield used by politicians to hide from having to deliver on campaign promises," Williams said. 

The AGC, meanwhile, supports the legislative tactic. 

Biden nominates California safety chief as head of OSHA

Kim Slowey

• President Joe Biden announced last week that his nominee for assistant secretary for occupational safety and health for the Department of Labor is Douglas L. Parker, the current head of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA).
• Prior to his position at Cal/OSHA, a position he has held since 2019, Parker held various other roles related to worker safety, including deputy assistant secretary for policy in the DOL's Mine Safety and Health Administration; senior policy advisor and special assistant at the DOL; and executive director of Worksafe, an Oakland, California-based legal services provider. Parker also worked as an attorney for the United Mine Workers of America.
• In his role at Cal/OSHA, Parker oversaw the development and issuance of an emergency temporary COVID-19 standard for the state. California is one of a handful of states that has its own coronavirus-related standard, and Biden has ordered federal OSHA to evaluate the need for one at a national level.

Contractors can look to President Barack Obama's administration for clues as to how a Parker-run OSHA might operate, said attorney Phillip Russell with Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, who represents construction industry clients with OSHA citations and other safety issues.

"Under Parker, OSHA will resume the type of priorities and strategies favored by OSHA under the Obama administration," he said. "As with [David] Michaels then, Parker will use enforcement by shaming and issue press releases when citations are issued instead of when they become final. Employers should also expect more inspections, more citations, less negotiating and more litigating."

Critics of former President Barack Obama' s OSHA pointed often to its strongly worded press releases about employer safety violations as unfair attacks. Those press releases continued until former President Donald Trump’s inauguration at which point they fell off dramatically.

Parker will also likely take the $100 million allocated to the agency in the recent stimulus bill and make new hires at all levels in the OSHA organization, Russell added.

Construction industry leaders also reacted to Parker's nomination. Greg Sizemore, Associated Builders and Contractors' vice president of health, safety, environment and workforce development, said the association hopes that OSHA under Parker's direction will be transparent and will engage with the public in pursuit of meaningful input that will help keep the construction workforce safe.

“ABC looks to OSHA to continue to be a collaborative partner for the entire industry, helping us create the conditions for everyone to complete their work without incident and to go home safe and healthy every day," he said.

Brian Turmail. vice president of public affairs and strategic initiatives for the Associated General Contractors of America told Construction Dive that the organization "looks forward to continuing the strong, productive and successful relationship we have had with the agency under its new head once he is confirmed.  

"Our industry has shown America how to safely work during the pandemic, and we are eager to share those lessons with other sectors as we build on last year’s accomplishments to create an even safer industry," he said.

In a press release, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health praised Parker's nomination, with co-executive director Jessica Martinez adding that the group is "optimistic that [Parker] will restore faith in an agency tasked with implementing and enforcing safety standards during this critical time for U.S. workers and families."

Long-dormant Ames property in Rocky Hill could get redevelopment boost from state grant

Liese Klein  

Rocky Hill officials are betting that a $500,000 grant from the state bond commission will jump-start the redevelopment of a long-vacant building at the heart of the town.

The Rocky Hill grant is one of a series of proposals under the heading of “urban development projects” scheduled to be considered by the state Bond Commission on Friday. The grant would go to the town to help pay the estimated $1.2 million it will cost to demolish the former Ames corporate offices on Main Street and Silas Deane Highway.

The town has a developer under contract to build on the site, which has been approved for a mixed-use project including apartments, according to State Rep. Kerry Wood (D-Rocky Hill). However the deal is in its early stages and has yet to be finalized or officially announced, she said. 

Vacant since 2002, the 180,000-square-foot building is an eyesore at the heart of the town and provides a sorry backdrop to civic parades and other events, said Wood. Rehab proposals have come and gone over the years, but the town would be better off demolishing the asbestos-tainted structure and offering developers a clean slate, she said. 

If the state grant is approved, town officials hope the scope of any future project would be increased to include more housing and retail space, Wood said. 

“The ability for the state to be a partner is going to kind of craft that final scope,” she said. “The fact that we now have an additional $500,000 will benefit the outcome tremendously.”

Developers have shown increasing interest in Rocky Hill as housing demand has risen since the onset of the pandemic, Wood added. “There are a lot of people who want to live here,” she said. “This money could not have come at a better time.” 

Eversource’s Aquarion to buy Plainville water utility parent

Matt Pilon  

ridgeport-based Aquarion Co. said it has agreed to purchase Plainville’s New England Service Co., which operates four water utilities in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The all-stock deal, which still needs regulatory and shareholder approvals, would add approximately 10,000 customers to Aquarion’s customer base of 216,000, and comes about three years after New England utility giant Eversource paid $1.7 billion to acquire Aquarion. 

Shareholders of NESC, which trades on the OTC Pink Sheets, would receive 0.51208 shares of Eversource common stock for each NESC share they hold. Aquarion said the value of the transaction is $40.6 million plus approximately $10 million in assumed debt.

Based on the April 6 closing share price of Eversource and NESC, the deal implies a value of $44.90 per NESC share, a 95% premium over its April 6 closing price of $23 per share, the parties said.

The NESC-owned Valley Water Systems, which has over 6,800 customers in Plainville, Southington, and Farmington, is the largest of NESC’s regulated holdings. The others include Colonial Water Co. and Mountain Water Systems in Massachusetts, and Abenaki Water Co. in New Hampshire.

Aquarion, which has acquired more than 70 water systems over the past decade, said it would retain all of NESC’s employees and that the merger “will create long-term benefits for customers, employees, and the communities we serve.”

"We will make investments in these water systems focused on reliability and water quality and deliver a superior customer experience,” Aquarion President Donald Morrissey said in a statement.