WASHINGTON — About 130 plumbing-heating-cooling contractors made the rounds on Capitol Hill in mid-May, asking members of Congress for more money for the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act and to scold the Department of Labor over new overtime rules.
The politically active contractors are all members of Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors — National Association, including current national President Charles “Chip” E. Greene, Greene & Associates, Inc., Macon, Georgia, and two past CONTRACTOR magazine Contractors of the Year, Mark Giebelhaus, Marlin Mechanical, Phoenix, and Kevin Tindall, Tindall & Ranson, Princeton, New Jersey.
Filled with positive energy, the business owners and chapter executives spent two days educating Congress on ways to address the industry’s skilled worker shortage and the onslaught of regulations created by federal agencies.
The event occurred just three weeks after a special PHCC Workforce Development Roundtable on Capitol Hill, where a panel of PHCC members shared proactive recruiting and hiring solutions they have implemented to create awareness of career opportunities and fill the many jobs available in the industry.
“Following the roundtable meeting and our Capitol Hill visits this week, we’re in a great position to make PHCC the go-to organization on workforce issues, like how to fund the Perkins Act that supports career and technical education and put the money in the best places to help recruit and train workers for the industry,” Chip Greene said during the conference’s opening session.
The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, first passed in 1984 with its latest iteration passed in 2006, is a grant program to the states that helps fund career and technical education, including plumbing and HVAC training programs. The Act supports career training for secondary and post-secondary education students who enroll in career and technical education (CTE). The reauthorization goals, as outlined by PHCC, include improving quality of CTE programs and increase innovation supported through reforms of state policies and practices. Currently, the Perkins Act is funded at $1.1 billion, a pittance in Washington terms.
The Congressmen with whom the PHCC-National Association contractors met agreed with them about the necessity of workforce training and commiserated about the need for more funds, but none of them indicated that any more money would be on the way in this election year.
The contractors were also upset by pending Department of Labor overtime rules that will increase the salary threshold for eligibility for overtime pay to $913 per week or $47,476 per year. The contractors were hoping that Congress could rein in the Department of Labor. The new rules are scheduled to go into effect in December.
During the opening session, Reid Wilson, Chief political correspondent and Congress editor for Morning Consult, shared political insights about this presidential election year—what he called “The Disruption Election.”
Wilson noted that Republicans have several structural problems facing them in this year’s election. What he called the “solid blue wall,” states that have voted Democratic in the last several elections, account for 240 out of the needed 270 electoral votes. Solid red states add up to 180 electoral college votes, putting Republicans at a disadvantage. Republicans also face deficits with younger voters, Hispanics and women.
“The Republicans need to run the table in all swing states to reach the number of delegates needed to win the presidential election,” he predicted. Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania — upset about losing jobs overseas — could be swing states.
During the Legislative Breakfast on Capitol Hill, PHCC members heard from a member of the U.S. Senate and a member of the House of Representatives who focused on trending issues like the presidential election, workforce development and globalization.
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), a former HVAC contractor and realtor, said he knows firsthand the important role p-h-c contractors have in this country. “The economy and strength of our country lies with small business,” he added. “Plumbers provide value-added services. They add to the quality of buildings constructed in communities and the country.”
Isakson also addressed the workforce shortage in the P-H-C industry. Calling the situation a “terrible crisis,” he gave an example of how difficult it is to find workers for a new multi-million dollar stadium that is being built in the Atlanta area. “You can’t find welders in the Southeast today,” he said.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) stressed the importance of training workers to keep America competitive. “The competition today is across the world,” he said. “Globalization affects everyone. Get a well-trained workforce to do the best job in the world. We need to know how to compete, and a lot of it starts with small businesses here today.”
A highlight of the week was a Congressional Reception on Capitol Hill. Several legislators stopped by to address PHCC members and talk about key issues, like the rising number of federal regulations, the growing need to address the workforce/skills gap crisis and the frustrations of continued political gridlock in Washington, D.C. Among the legislators attending were: Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH); Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO); Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC); Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA); Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA); Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA); and Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK); and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ).
Rep. Mullin is always a favorite of the Legislative Conference because he’s the only plumber in Congress. Mullin told the contractors that the biggest problem facing his family firm was the federal government.