Weekly Update July 2nd

-IEC NEWS-

* Did you miss the Lunch and Learn last month? Here is the link to watch. https://iecofutah.my.webex.com/iecofutah.my/ldr.php?RCID=9a5ad7fe0794e31b74aa7060b0e2d399

Books will be available for pick up starting on August 8th and 9th from 3-8pm at the IEC Back to School night. This is for contractors and students who wish to pick up books. Books can also be picked up in bulk for all of your students. We will also be delivering books to those who need them delivered. Shipping will still be available for those who pay for shipping.

We are in the process of updating the employee verification list for the students who work for member contractors. You will be receiving an email from kelsee@iecofutah.com or bailey@iecofutah.com asking for an updated list of your employees who are students with IEC. Please send us this list asap.  All IEC Education students who are employed by members will need to be verified.

***Important National News***

In honor of our country’s beginnings, this week there are several advocacy issues that you may have seen in IEC National publications. These are reminders of some issues. If you want more information you are welcome to reach out to Ken, or look at some of the IEC National emails that have been recently distributed.

Supreme Court Decision.   The Supreme Court recently overturned a 1984 Chevron Doctrine.  In the new ruling, the Court held that the Administrative Procedure Act requires courts to exercise “independent judgment” in determining whether an agency's actions align with its statutory authority. In other words, courts must “independently” interpret the statute and effectuate the will of Congress. Going back to basics, the courts must use the “traditional tools of statutory construction” to resolve statutory ambiguities and find the “best meaning” of the statute. By overturning Chevron, the Court explained that it was returning to “the traditional understanding of the judicial function.”.  It will be interesting to see what will be the ramifications, but this decision weakened the abilities of the administrative regulations in the federal government.  If the administrative agencies are challenged in court, the court must independently review the administrative rules case by case, not rely on the admin decision.

Nationwide Injunction Issued Against Davis-Bacon Rule. A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has issued a nationwide preliminary injunction, temporarily blocking provisions to DOL’s expansion of the Davis-Bacon rule in a case brought by AGC. 

DOL Sends Apprenticeship Rule to OIRA. DOL has completed its review of over 2,000 comments in just three months having sent its final rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review. Once this review is completed--which could take days, weeks, or months--the final rule will be released.

IRS Releases Final IRA Prevailing Wage & Apprenticeship Rule. An overview of the final rule is attached. Additional resources: IRA PWA Fact Sheet (IRS), PWA Overview (IRS), PWA Requirements (IRS), Prevailing Wage and the IRA (DOL)

If you do much federal work, these rules may impact you.  I encourage you to read the information on these links.  If you don’t do federal work, it may still be beneficial to you to understand why some of our apprentice training may have to change to stay aligned with these new rule changes.

State Primary Elections.  Our lobby team has published an informational piece to help us better understand the results from the recent primary election.  IEC encourages members and employees to actively engage in understanding local, state and federal issues.  When members of IEC take an active role, our industry stays strong. 

We hope you had a great 4th of July! Thanks for all your support.