Legislative Priorities

No other construction industry organization in the Carolinas delivers on legislative and regulatory issues like Carolinas AGC. Whether it involves helping ease the workforce shortage; leading efforts to secure hundreds of millions of dollars for infrastructure improvements involving transportation, building and utility public construction work; improving the business climate for construction or cutting bureaucratic red tape and minimizing risks for the construction industry, CAGC is working for you.
Below is a snapshot of how Carolinas AGC lobbyists work on members’ behalf in the North Carolina and South Carolina legislatures.

NC Flag North Carolina

“The NC legislature starts its short session – the second year of the biennium – in April with the primary purpose of amending year 2 of the biennial budget.  With this being a pivotal election year, we expect the session to be especially brief with very few, if any, controversial issues on the table.”   -  Betsy Bailey, Government Relations & Building Division, Foundation COO

  • $7.3 million funding request for various workforce programs for the CAGC Foundation to administer. The funding would be focused on construction workforce recruitment and training including heavy equipment and building inspection programs and on middle and high school student awareness of industry careers. The funding would be allocated as follows:
    • $3.6 million to establish heavy equipment operator training and certification programs at six new community colleges (in addition to the 8 already operating in the state) to be selected jointly by the NCCCS and CAGC that shall consider market demands and the needs of the construction industry.
    • $500k to establish a pilot program to recruit and compensate trained heavy equipment operators from the industry to serve as adjunct instructors in the new programs.
    • $500k to establish a program in conjunction with the Department of Public Instruction to recruit students in middle school and high school to pursue careers in technical education. 
    • $750k to continue and expand the CAGC Construction Bootcamp programs in community colleges.  CAGC received a $2.5 million grant last year to create these programs at various community colleges across the state. 
    • $2.0 million to expand the building inspection training and certification programs at community colleges.

  • Supporting the establishment and implementation of a pilot program to allow NCDOT to utilize the Progressive Design-Build procurement process on a limited number of projects.  CAGC will also support an increase in the number of projects that can utilize the Construction Manager-General Contractor procurement method.

  • With safety being our number one priority at CAGC, we intend to file legislation that will require all teen drivers to pass a work zone safety class before they can obtain a driver's license. Updating testing requirements so that all young drivers can safely navigate a work zone is another way to keep our workers safe, as well as the motoring public.

SC Flag South Carolina

“The second year of the current two-year legislative session in South Carolina kicked off Jan 9. Members of the SC General Assembly will be in session until mid-May as they work through many bills and the state annual budget. In addition, all 170 members of the SC legislature are up for re-election.” -  Leslie Clark, COO & Director of SC Government Relations and Divisions.

CAGC’s Legislative Goals for this year in South Carolina Include: 

  • Filing legislation that will require all teen drivers to pass a work zone safety class before they can obtain a driver's license. Updating testing requirements so that all young drivers can safely navigate a work zone is another way to keep our workers safe, as well as the motoring public.

  • Carolinas AGC will fully support $200 million for emergency bridge replacement and repair in the state budget to ensure the safety of everyone who travels the roads in SC. We will also support the $95 million to continue investing funds to South Carolina Workforce Industry Needs Scholarships (SC WINS) through the South Carolina Technical College System. During the last three years over 32,000 South Carolinians have taken advantage of the program, with scholarships covering the cost of tuition and required fees at any of our technical colleges to earn a post-secondary or industry credential in high-demand careers like manufacturing, nursing, computer science, information technology, transportation, logistics, or construction.

  • Current South Carolina law can leave a defendant on the hook for all damages in a lawsuit regardless of their percentage of fault. This system adversely impacts businesses - including small businesses that cannot survive a hefty lawsuit - leading to increased premiums, reduced availability of insurance coverage, and a target on entities that are perceived as having “deep pockets.” S. 533, titled The South Carolina Justice Act, modernizes the way South Carolina’s liability laws work to ensure businesses are only responsible for paying damages equivalent to their share of fault in civil lawsuits. The bill, which Carolinas AGC is pushing, is critical to our members who are always one lawsuit away from going out of business.