Public Affairs
- August 15, 2011
- AGC Monitoring 2011 Bills Impacting the Construction Industry
Each legislative session, more than 7,000 bills are filed with possible impact on the states’ construction industry and its employers. A multitude of bills are filed by legislators on behalf of constituents, by trade groups such as AGC, or by the building trade unions.
Read more for a summary of just 62 of the bills that have been assigned to a Committee thus far. This year’s legislative session runs from January 1, 2011 to July 31, 2012.
- January 1, 2011
- AGC Files Prompt Pay – Technical Corrections Legislation
AGC filed a bill for the January 2011 legislative session that makes a technical correction to the recent Prompt-Pay Law by extending the payment benchmark from 30 to 31 days to account for the 7 months with 31 days. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development.
- August 10, 2010
- Prompt Pay Legislative Summary
Prompt Payment legislation filed by Associated Subcontractors of Massachusetts (ASM) and strongly supported by 12 trade unions, passed the legislature and was signed by Governor Deval Patrick on August 10, 2010.
The bill prescribes language on pay applications, payment flow, and unapproved change orders on all privately funded construction projects over $3 million, except for residential projects fewer than four units. The bill applies equally to owners, contractors, and subcontractors, all the way down the construction chain to the lowest tier subcontractor.
- ASM Files Retainage Legislation
A new bill has been filed by the Associated Subcontractors of Massachusetts for the 2011-2012 legislative session, which would require all construction contracts with a value over $3 million to limit withholdings for Retainage to no more than 5% of each progress payment. It requires the contracts to provide for a reasonable time period for the retainage to be paid, not to exceed 30 days after substantial completion. The bill was filed in both the House (HB 1401) and Senate (SB 956).
AGC has formed a task force to examine the bill and make recommendations for action. AGC is also engaging the owner & developer communities since this bill may be more deleterious to these industries. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Labor & Workforce Development with the first public hearing scheduled for November 17.