April 22, 2022

FCC Nominee Gigi Sohn’s Path to Confirmation Gets More Complicated

Politico is out with a new article highlighting the challenges that Ms. Sohn faces in the Senate. Apparent bipartisan opposition to her confirmation may mean that she will not be seated as the fifth FCC Commissioner.

Read more here.

Dept. of Labor to Host Event on Overtime Regulations

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division previously announced that it is reviewing the regulations that implement the Fair Labor Standard Act’s minimum wage and overtime exemptions for bona fide executive, administrative, and professional employees. 

DOL has now announced additional virtual overtime listening sessions for May and June 2022, for both worker and employer stakeholders. To sign up for these listening sessions, CLICK HERE.

NATE's Todd Washam Visits Vanguard-Sentinel Career Center in Ohio

Vanguard-Sentinel is one of three community colleges and career centers in Ohio launching tower technician training programs based on NATE’s TTT1 curriculum. Vanguard-Sentinel in Freemont, Ohio hosted NATE Director of Government Relations and Wireless Industry Network, Todd Washam, for a visit to see their newly installed 40ft training tower.

Check out the pics!

OSHA Heat Illness Stakeholder Meeting

OSHA has launched a National Emphasis Program (NEP) to address possible heat illness and injuries. As part of the program, OSHA will proactively initiate inspections in over 70 high-risk industries in indoor and outdoor work settings when the National Weather Service has issued a heat warning or advisory for a local area. On days when the heat index is 80^oF or higher, OSHA inspectors and compliance assistance specialists will engage in proactive inspections to look for and address heat hazards during inspections, regardless of whether the industry is targeted in the NEP.

In addition, the agency will hold a public stakeholder meeting on May 3, 2022, to discuss OSHA’s ongoing activities to protect workers from heat-related hazards, including the Heat Illness Prevention Campaign, compliance assistance activities, and enforcement efforts. You can register for the event here.

NATE has been fighting the arbitrary heat illness standard proposed by OSHA. Read about NATE’s comments here.

NATE and Industry Secure Veto of Legislation in Wisconsin   

The Wisconsin legislature passed legislation that would have, in effect, prioritized fiber over wireless infrastructure as the state implemented some of its broadband funding programs. NATE took action by sending a letter to Governor Evers asking him to veto this legislation. The Governor did veto this legislation thanks to the coalition efforts from our industry and the leadership of NATE members in Wisconsin who reached out to their elected officials.

A special thanks to NATE WIN Liaison Ross Royer of TowerMRL for leading NATE’s grassroots advocacy efforts in Wisconsin and pushing back on this legislation. Ross contacted dozens of legislators and sent letters to Governor Evers opposing this legislation.

OSHA’s Launches Program to Identify Employers Who Have Not Submitted Injury Forms

OSHA will be initiating a new program that will help it identify employers who fail to report specific yearly data. According to a press release, the program is used to help OSHA identify employers that have not submitted Form 300A, an annual form on worker injury and illness. Employers with more than 250 workers and those with 20-249 workers in specific industries are required to submit the form annually. Recently, OSHA proposed updates to the recordkeeping guidelines. Read more here. 

ICYMI: NATE and Family Business Coalition Fighting Tax Proposal in Pres. Biden’s Budget

President Biden released his FY2023 budget which relies heavily on a new tax on unrealized capital gains, an idea that has been proposed in different iterations and pushed hard by Senate Finance Chairman Wyden during this administration. Notably, this new version is dubbed as a “minimum tax” similar to the corporate “minimum tax” that passed in the House’s Build Back Better bill last year.

Any tax on unrealized gains could eventually pose big problems for family businesses. NATE and our coalition partners at the Family Business Coalition sent this letter to President Biden, opposing his budget request.