Statewide
Poughkeepsie’s Housing Fiasco
ABC A recent study in Poughkeepsie confirmed that they are experiencing the same thing happening across New York State: a significant housing crisis. With a vacancy rate of under 4%, it’s correct to call this situation a housing emergency; a healthy city has a vacancy rate of around 10%, and anything less than 4% is a…
Read MoreDOL’s Overtime Salary Level Threshold Increase Will Harm Small Businesses, Says ABC
ABC Associated Builders and Contractors today issued the following statement opposing the U.S. Department of Labor’s final rule that will change overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The final rule increases the minimum annual salary level threshold for exemption in two phases: from the current level of $35,568 to $43,888 on July 1,…
Read MoreABC Members One-Stop Guide to the FY-25 State Budget
ABC 19 days late… New York State finally has a budget deal in place. Lawmakers passed a whopping $237 billion budget early Saturday evening. This budget is $8 billion more than last year’s $229 billion budget. Most notably, the Governor made a deal on housing, which was one of the key parts holding up the…
Read MoreConstruction Backlog Indicator Rebounds in March, Contractor Confidence Improves
ABC Associated Builders and Contractors reported today that its Construction Backlog Indicator increased to 8.2 months in March from 8.1 months in February, according to an ABC member survey conducted March 20 to April 3. The reading is down 0.5 months from March 2023. View ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator and Construction Confidence Index tables for March. View the full…
Read MoreConstruction Materials Prices Increase 0.4% in March
ABC WASHINGTON, April 11—Construction input prices increased 0.4% in March compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices also increased 0.4% for the month. Both overall and nonresidential construction input prices are 1.7%…
Read MorePrevailing Wages on Off-site Prefab Will Cost NY Thousands of Jobs
ABC ABC opposes the New York State Legislature’s proposed legislation to mandate prevailing wage mandates on construction work performed at an offsite custom fabrication facility. If passed, this law will drive the custom fabrication industry out of the state and eliminate union and nonunion jobs, resulting in a significant step backward for the already struggling…
Read MoreQueens Assemblymember David Weprin sponsors bill that would make staged construction accidents a Class E felony
ABC By Athena Dawson QNS: Queens News, Sports, Entertainment & Community On Tuesday, Mar. 5, Queens Assemblymember David Weprin (D-24), held a press conference in Albany to announce his sponsorship of a new bill that would make staged construction accidents a Class E felony. The bill aims to combat what he describes as a disturbing…
Read MoreSampson Speaks at Presser Supporting Penalties for Staging Construction Site Accident
ABC At a press conference at the New York State Capitol last Tuesday, ABC Empire State Chapter President Brian Sampson spoke in support of legislation aimed at fighting workers’ compensation fraud in New York. The legislation (S.8413/ A898) sponsored by Senator Breslin and Assemblyman Weprin in their respective houses would establish staging a construction site…
Read MoreUnions Finally Come Clean
ABC By ABC Empire State Chapter President Brian Sampson In a recent article published by Biznow about declining union membership numbers in construction, the author stated construction unions have a fork in the road ahead of them, and they’re correct. However, they misidentified what the options are. It’s the politicians, not the building trades, that have a…
Read MoreABC: Government-Registered Apprenticeship Programs Not Keeping Up With Construction Industry Needs
ABC WASHINGTON, Feb. 22—At current rates of participation and completion, federal and state government-registered apprenticeship programs will fail to meet the construction industry’s short- and long-term skilled workforce needs, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of recently released U.S. Department of Labor data. ABC estimates that the construction industry’s federal and state GRAPs…
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