SMACNA Supports Support for the Department of Labor’s Requested Funding Levels for FY23

The 117th Congress has passed several historic and complex bills that were enacted into law greatly expanding the duties and revised regulatory oversight responsibilities of the DOL Solicitor and the Wage and Hour Division. These include the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and CHIPs and Science Act that authorized roughly over $1.7 trillion in federal investment in our nation’s infrastructure and domestic manufacturing capabilities. Now is the time for the Federal Government to provide the enhanced oversight and enforcement resources to ensure responsible contractors and their highly skilled workforce and registered apprentices can work on these complex projects protected from irresponsible contractors who purposefully evade Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) classifications and evade prevailing wage laws. SMACNA believes it is critical that Congress provide adequate funding to the Office of the Solicitor to ensure the agency has the resources to enforce the existing statutes and regulations to their best capabilities. As the House Committee Reported stated, “The SOL is encouraged to increase staffing levels to assist in the development of investigations, negotiations, and litigations to ensure workers get the relief they deserve.”