Supreme Court Rejects Employer Vaccine Mandate
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for large companies, reinstating a stay on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’sCOVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard. The rule, which OSHA first issued in November and which the court struck down on Jan. 13, would have applied to employers with 100 or more employees and required workers either to be fully vaccinated or to be masked and receive weekly COVID-19 tests. ABC filed one of the appeals that led to the court’s decision.
In a second decision issued on Jan. 13, the Supreme Court upheld another vaccine mandate—this one from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services requiring that staff working for Medicare- or Medicaid-certified providers be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with minimal exceptions.
A vaccine mandate for federal contractors remains on hold thanks to a nationwide preliminary injunction from a federal judge in December, when ABC, among other organizations, issued a motion to intervene. The injunction remains in place pending an appeal.
ABC is opposed to vaccine mandates but encourages vaccination and urges contractors to adhere to CDC and OSHA safety guidelines. For more information, visit abc.org/coronavirus.
Old Buildings Aren’t Old Hat
Building endurance is valuable to renters, according to a new report on the oldest apartment buildings in the United States from RentCafe—particularly for buildings constructed prior to 1950. Other highlights from the report:
- The oldest apartment building found is the 78-unit Pendleton in Cincinnati, Ohio, at 171 years old.
- The 84-unit Cambridge Oxford—located New Haven, Connecticut, near Yale University—is the second-oldest that RentCafe found. It was built in 1860.
- Boston, Massachusetts, has the highest average age of buildings built before 1950, at105 years, while Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Springfield, Massachusetts, rank second and third, at 104 and 101 years, respectively.
- Twenty-six percent of the country’s oldest inventory is found in Manhattan, with 923 buildings that still rent.
It’s Official: Infrastructure Bill and Czar
President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law on Nov. 11, 2021. The $1.2-trillion infrastructure bill provides approximately $550 billion in new spending.
In tandem with the signing, Biden named former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu to supervise the bill, turning to the veteran of Hurricane Katrina’s recovery to coordinate the rebuilding of roads, bridges and ports, according to a White House press release. Landrieu will serve as senior adviser responsible for the coordination of the new law, working through the National Economic Council.
Ransomware Disproportionately Affects Construction
Construction is the number-one industry targeted by ransomware attacks, according to a NordLocker analysis of 1,200 companies in 35 industries around the world that were the victims of cyber extortion between 2020 and 2021.
Construction businesses could be particularly enticing to cyber racketeers because of the core processes that steer the industry, such as proliferation of mobile devices and predictable schedules, NordLocker reports. And even though big companies might seem like an obvious target because they’re more likely to offer hackers sizable ransoms, small companies aren’t safe either. The nearly 100 construction companies covered in the NordLocker study ranged from $20-billion firms to family-owned enterprises.
Recommendations for protecting against ransomware include:
- Making sure employees use strong and unique passwords;
- Training staff to identify signs of phishing;
- Implementing a periodic data backup and restoration processes; and
- Adopting a zero-trust network access.
ABC Pennsylvania Chapters Forge a Path to Career Dreams
The ABC Keystone, Eastern Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania and Cumberland Valley chapters have signed a statewide letter of agreement with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to help formerly incarcerated citizens kickstart a career in construction.
The agreement—the first of its kind in the state to cover all Pennsylvania counties—provides reentering citizens with access to the ABC chapters’ registered apprenticeship programs. The agreement also calls on ABC chapters to promote the benefits of hiring individuals who are reentering the workforce and to attend job fairs when feasible.
Build Back Better Breaks Through
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $1.75-trillion social policy and climate change bill by a vote of 220–213 on Nov. 19, 2021. Dubbed the “Build Back Better” bill, the legislation represents a key piece of President Joe Biden’s agenda. Major provisions include:
- $555 billion to fight climate change;
- $400 billion for universal preschool;
- $200 billion for child tax credits;
- $200 billion for four weeks of paid family and medical leave;
- $165 billion for health-care spending;
- $150 billion for affordable home care; and
- $150 billion for affordable housing.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the plan is unlikely to add significantly to the U.S. deficit.
