We need your voice now more than ever! As ACCA’s Government Relations Committee kicks off its biannual policy priority-setting process, this is your chance to shape ACCA’s advocacy efforts and ensure the issues that matter most to you and your business take center stage.
In 2025, contractors like you helped us select four federal priorities and that focus paid off! We expanded Pell grants and 529 accounts to cover trades education. We eliminated the install deadline for R-410a equipment. And we’ve laid the groundwork to rewrite the furnace rule.
On other fronts, we still have work to do. Thus, our committee’s discussion draft is built on the same four priority issues – workforce, fuel and technology choice, quality installation, and refrigerant regulations. Some specific solutions have changed, however, so we need your input on the details and prioritization!
With gridlock in Washington, it’s also true that states will host the most impactful battles for contractor priorities over the next two years. ACCA remains committed to supporting Allied Contracting Organizations (ACOs) that articulate their own priorities, but it’s also clear we could do more to establish and promote a robust state policy agenda. Please share the threats and opportunities emerging in your state.
We’re accelerating this year’s process to get ready for the 2027 ACCA Advocacy Day on March 10, so we hope you’ll join us for a Virtual Contractor Town Hall on November 17. Between now and then, we’re looking for your big ideas and specific nuances to help shape the Town Hall agenda.
Over the next six weeks, my fellow Government Relations Committee members will share a series of Contractor Forum posts and polls highlighting possible solutions and key decisions regarding our proposed priority issues. I’ll go first with an issue near and dear to my heart: workforce.
Comment on ACCA’s proposed policy priorities here
How can we grow the skilled trades workforce?
It’s no secret that the HVACR industry is facing a critical workforce shortage. In fact, one thing that has changed over the past two years is a growing urgency regarding the skilled trades crisis among policymakers at every level of government and philanthropy. The time is ripe to make major progress!
Last year’s expansion of 529 accounts and Workforce Pell grants are symbols of this growing awareness, but those are just small victories and the data center boom is bringing more wage competition than ever. I believe there’s far more that policymakers could do to make America’s education, workforce development, and apprenticeship systems deliver the skilled graduates and in-house training support that contractors need.
At my company, Trademasters, we make a point of hiring Veterans under the Virginia Values Veterans program whenever we can.
We recognize the value of hiring members of the highly skilled, well-educated, and easily trained candidate pool. The knowledge and abilities today’s service members and Veterans gain in our modern military make them an extremely valuable talent pool for companies that wish to grow and improve organizational performance.
Virginia has one of the youngest Veterans’ populations in the United States and the fastest growing Veteran labor force in the United States. Our apprenticeship program is approved by the VA so Veterans can use their GI-Bill education benefits to transition into the skilled trades. Our Commonwealth developed a program called Virginia Values Veterans (V3), which helps employers like us develop and implement successful, long-term strategies to recruit, hire and retain Virginia Veterans.
I’m eager to hear what’s working in your state and what ACCA could do to better support these kinds of programs nationwide.
Updating three priority workforce solutions
Looking back at our 2025-26 workforce priorities, we’ve made progress cultivating champions for our workforce solutions! Our committee’s new discussion draft is similar, but we’re excited to highlight specific legislation to advance these priorities:
Reauthorize WIOA and include the Employer Directed Skills Act
As part of an urgently-needed reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Congress should include provisions like the Employer Directed Skills Act to directly support contractors’ training needs, including direct support for in-house programs to develop the next generation of HVACR professionals.
Create tax incentives for in-house training
With trade schools producing so few career-ready graduates, many contractors have invested millions to create their own training programs. ACCA proposes new tax credits, like the Workforce Apprenticeship Growth and Education Support (WAGES) Act, to defray the costs of innovative in-house training programs and inspire others to follow suit. While the WAGES Act is specific to registered apprenticeships, we’ll continue seeking tax credits for a wider array of contractors’ workforce investments.
Reform apprenticeship programs to meet contractor needs
ACCA appreciates President Trump’s executive order seeking one million new apprentices. To meet that goal, however, we must reform these programs to better support both in-house and multi-state programs.
This last priority is a great example of where we have a welcome ear at the U.S. Department of Labor but urgently need your specific solutions. Apprenticeship program rules vary greatly from state-to-state and I very much hope you’ll reply to this post with your experience of what’s working well, what isn’t, and how our apprenticeship system could be changed.
What else should we prioritize?
This committee doesn’t have a monopoly on good ideas! I very much hope you’ll comment below to share your ideas for how local, state, and federal governments could better support your workforce needs.
As food for thought, here are some additional ACCA positions that could potentially be elevated as priorities:
- Support Perkins CTE Grants and other state and federal appropriations for career and technical education through traditional trade school pathways.
- Enact the CTE Awareness Act and other legislation to promote awareness of careers in the skilled trades.
- Endorse immigration reforms enabling high-skill HVACR workers (E-3-style visa pathways).
- Support the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) and other programs that support hiring individuals from historically disadvantaged populations.
What do you think? We hope you’ll consider sending a comment or video message here. Comments received by October 30 may be featured as part of the Virtual Contractor Town Hall scheduled for November 17 at 1:00 pm ET. Please register today.
Comment on ACCA’s proposed policy priorities here
Bring it to the Hill on Advocacy Day
This year’s accelerated Town Hall process is all about setting the stage for the 2027 ACCA Advocacy Day on March 10, 2027. As the nation’s premier contractor conference convenes in Washington, DC, we hope you’ll join us to advance these priorities on Capitol Hill and take your network to the next level. Learn more and register at accaconference.com/advocacy-day.
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