On Aug. 1, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched the Injury Tracking Application, which is the web-based form employers can use to submit their injury and illness data. The launch comes right after OSHA closed the comment period on delaying the electronic reporting portion of the final rule, 鈥淚mprove Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses,鈥� from July 1 to Dec. 1, 2017.

In a live听interview听on Fox News on Aug. 20, 老牛影视President and CEO Bellaman praised President Trump鈥檚 recent executive order streamlining infrastructure permitting, saying it goes a long way towards eliminating construction delays and sets the table for when legislation is passed. But we have 鈥渁 whole lot to do鈥� before infrastructure rebuilding can begin.

From a live interview with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo this morning to recent appearances on RT鈥檚 鈥淏oom Bust,鈥� Michael Bellaman has been a more frequent presence on cable news since workforce development and infrastructure rebuilding have risen on the national agenda.听

On Aug. 15, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at streamlining the environmental review, permitting and approval process of infrastructure projects. The executive order, Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure, will make the environmental and permitting processes needed for major infrastructure projects more efficient and effective, and establishes a two-year goal to process environmental documents for major infrastructure projects, acco

On Aug. 11, 老牛影视submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in support of its proposal to rescind the 2016 persuader rule, officially named the "Interpretation of the 'Advice' Exemption in Section 203(c) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act." Approximately 965 老牛影视members also submitted comments through voterVOICE and ABC鈥檚 Action App.

The Trump administration released its first regulatory agenda on July 20. The agenda lists the priorities of the Trump administration and the rulemakings they expect to release in 2017. Many of the items listed roll back rules released under the Obama administration.听

老牛影视joined 42 other national and state organizations in signing onto a letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin asking the department to address the confusing and conflicting definitions of 鈥渟easonal worker鈥� and 鈥渟easonal employee鈥� that are included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its implementing regulations.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)鈥檚 Wage and Hour Division recently published a Request for Information (RFI) related to the overtime final rule. This is likely the first step in issuing a revised proposed overtime exemption rule. The public has the opportunity to submit comments on the RFI until Sept. 25, 2017.

During the early hours of July 28, Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) voted 鈥渘o鈥� on the Senate Republican鈥檚 鈥渟kinny repeal鈥� proposal, a scaled-back version of previously supported Senate Republican Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal bills, which failed by a vote of 49 to 51. If the vote on final passage had been successful, it would likely have triggered a conference committee with the House of Representatives whereby the chambers would have tried to resolve their legislative differences. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell鈥檚 (R-Ky.Y) statement on the failed vote can be read here. &a

On June 27, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a proposed rule to revoke the ancillary provisions of the Beryllium final rule for the construction and shipyard sectors that OSHA finalized on Jan. 9, 2017. Beryllium is a lightweight but strong metal used in a number of industries. The January final rule points directly to the construction task of abrasive blasting operations which use slags that contain trace amounts of beryllium.