Alabama Construction News is the states only bimonthly magazine dedicated to the commercial construction industry.
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any contractor familiar with abc of alabama is certainly aware of the political emphasis the association puts on politics. "The association operates under the mentality of get into politics or get out of business, which is a well known slogan around the board room," said ABC of Alabama Legislative Chairman Mark Mattox of Robins & Morton. This year will certainly be no different. Below is a recap of those efforts for 2017. P R I O R I T Y : W O R K C O M P R E F O R M ABC of Alabama and Senator Orr believe that the opportunities for workers' compensation fraud is far too easy, costly to employers and needs to be addressed. The association's legislation, when passed, will ensure individuals committing work compensation fraud in any industry will be convicted of a felony if found guilty. "We have to figure out a way to ensure those individuals needing workers compensation assistance from our members are truly in need," said ABC of Alabama President Jay Reed. "This is certainly not a cost cutting measure to ensure lesser quality coverage is given to our workers, it's simply to make sure that the need is there. Even employees we have spoken with understand how the fraud can potentially cost the employers more money and any business expense leaves less on the table for everyone." The association has received tons, to say the least, of support from other industries that have job classifications requiring extensive workers compensation coverage. P R I O R I T Y : H I S T O R I CA L TA X C R E D I T S Back again for another year, the historical tax credit legislation will certainly be on the table. During the 2017 legislative session, ABC of Alabama is ensuring an effective coalition is put in place to get the facts on the table regarding the positive impact historical tax credits has on the state. At the close of session 2016, the Senate leadership requested an official white paper be produced before Senate convenes for 2017. While that document was not complete at the time of press, early indications point to the document providing the Senate with the details we had before them last year, and that is simply put: historical tax credits work. As soon as that white paper is made available to the Senate, the association will post it on its website. ABC of Alabama is very pleased that this is an issue that Huntsville and Mobile contractors feel very passionately about. This gives us an opportunity to show voices from across the state are heard regarding legislation. P R I O R I T Y : C O M P R E H E N S I V E P R I S O N R E F O R M Our association will continue to monitor the movement of an 800 plus million dollar construction package for prisons in our state. While the bill has remained very fluid and sometimes changes daily, at the time of print here are the highlights from that bill: three of the prisons will be men's campuses, while one will be a women's campus. We are hearing that the women's prison will be a single, stand-alone bid package. The three other prisons, which will be identical in design, are likely to give contractors the opportunity to bid on a single campus, two campuses or three as a package. The delivery methods have not been inked in the legislation. It is our understanding that over the 2017 Legislative Agenda Released 22 AL CONSTRUCTION NEWS JAN-MAR 2017 Mark Mattox – Robins & Morton, ABC Alabama Legislative Chairman