number of legislators right up until the July 31 end-of-session deadline to make the case that anti-competitive amendments sought by the construction unions would result in a  decrease of bidders and increased construction costs.

Beginning with the Housing Bond Bill, the construction unions sought to add a series of restrictive amendments.  These amendments mandated state-approved apprentice training programs and imposed ill-defined new labor requirements that appeared to create a preference for developers and contractors with labor agreements.    These apprentice mandates would have been even more problematic in light of the new policies approved by the Division of Apprentice Training and Director David Wallace, a former business agent for the New England Council of Carpenters.  These policies, as ABC has reported, create barriers for new apprenticeship programs and add numerous new requirements for contractors with existing programs.  

ABC lobbyist John Bartley identified key legislators and ABC developed a series of position papers and talking points identifying the problems with the union amendments.  Amid misinformation from the unions, ABC set out to provide legislators with factual information about how the union language would limit open shop participation and how, as a result, the taxpayers’ costs would increase during these challenging economic times. 

“Right up until the 11^th hour on July 31^st, ABC lobbyist John Bartley kept at it to ensure that ABC members were not shut out of billions of dollars in public and private construction work.  While we approached this as a team, John really did outstanding work on our behalf,” said ABC MA President Greg Beeman.  Bartley noted the importance of making sure that legislators hear our side of the story, and that we provide them with good, accurate information.  “The more we reach out to legislators, not just as an association, but through all of our members, the more successful we will be in keeping the markets open to fair competition,” Bartley, a former legislator, said.

In other legislative news, a sheet metal licensing bill was passed and signed into law.  This adds sheet metal to the state’s licensed trades, and establishes a new Board to oversee the licensing.  The law provides grandfathering provisions for employees and contractors currently working in the trade.  ABC was concerned that problematic “state approved” DAT apprenticeship requirements – and corresponding union ratios, would also be added to this bill, but the language in the final version appears not to include this requirement.