The American Staffing Association, in collaboration with California Staffing Professionals, an ASA-affiliated chapter, played a central role in defeating California’s AB 1018, a bill that proposed sweeping new obligations for employers using automated decision systems (ADS) in the hiring process.

Thanks to the industry’s robust advocacy efforts, including submission of testimony and meetings arranged by ASA lobbyists Mike Robson and Molly Maula, the bill was significantly amended to reflect staffing employer concerns. Most notably, ASA successfully pushed for the removal of burdensome audit and impact assessment requirements, as well as unwieldy opt-out requirements for job applicants and employees. The amended bill also allowed staffing firms to meet pre-use notice obligations via website postings, offering some practical relief for an industry that processes thousands of candidate applications daily.

Notwithstanding the improvements, ASA continued to oppose the bill through the end of the legislative session due to the retention of unworkable post-decision notification mandates that would have required individualized notices to every applicant affected by each ADS decision, including the reason for the decision, key influencing data, and appeal procedures. ASA submitted testimony explaining why such a requirement is incompatible with the high-volume, fast-paced nature of staffing operations.

Ultimately, AB 1018 was held without a vote on the Senate floor. The bill’s author has plans to revisit the legislation in 2026, and ASA remains committed to advocating for solutions that balance artificial intelligence governance with operational realities.

The Illinois Department of Labor has initiated the process of developing regulations to implement the equal benefits provision of the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act that was enacted in 2024. The provision requires day and temporary labor agencies to provide laborers who have completed 720 hours of service with a client in a 12-month period with benefits substantially similar to those provided to client employees performing the same or substantially similar work. Agencies have the option of paying laborers the hourly average cash equivalent of the cost of the benefits clients provide to such employees.

The benefits provision of the act is the subject of a lawsuit filed by ASA and several staffing agencies challenging the provision on the grounds that it violates the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act. At the invitation of the Illinois Department of Labor, ASA has submitted comments asserting that any rules the department issues consistent with the act will necessarily also conflict with Erisa. Nonetheless, to mitigate some of the adverse consequences on staffing agencies should the law ultimately be deemed compliant with Erisa, ASA has proposed that the department clarify several of the benefit provisions that are unclear or ambiguous. A copy of the association’s comments is available at americanstaffing.net.

ASA has filed comments on new regulations proposed by the Illinois Department of Labor to implement last year’s amendments to the state’s Day and Temporary Labor Services Act. The amendments made significant changes in the law’s equal pay provisions and other rules, including changing the waiting period for employee eligibility for the benefit from 90 days to 720 hours.

The proposed rules do not include provisions relating to the equal benefits provisions of the act that ASA, the Staffing Services Association of Illinois, and several individual staffing firms challenged in court. By agreement of the parties, the court case has been stayed until 45 calendar days after the effective date of final regulations on those provisions. Once benefit rules are published, the parties will assess the status of the lawsuit. You can read the association’s comments at americanstaffing.net.

A Massachusetts labor arbitrator has ruled that Harvard University’s collective bargaining agreement does not require temporary staffing agency employees used by the university dining service to be paid on par with in-house, unionized employees. Harvard retained ASA senior counsel Ed Lenz to provide expert testimony in support of the university’s position.

Following months of meetings, negotiations, starts and stops, and tweaking, adding, and removing language, Congress passed H.R. 1, “An Act to Provide for Reconciliation Pursuant to Title II of H. Con. Res. 14” (also known as “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act”). The 870-page bill was signed into law by president Trump on July 4.

Since the 119^th Congress convened in January, ASA has held more than 60 meetings with key members of Congress and staff of the House Ways and Means Committee, including chairman Jason Smith (R-MO), as well as staff and members of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. While the bill touches every aspect of federal policy from taxes to health care to immigration to defense to energy, ASA advocacy efforts focused on making permanent Section 199A, the qualified business income deduction; preservation of the Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement classification for temporary workers; preservation of the favorable tax treatment for per diem plans; and the future of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. See the full article detailing the advocacy efforts and accomplishments of the ASA legal team.

ASA will closely monitor the implementation of H.R. 1, especially as new rules and technical guidance are developed and published. If you have any questions regarding the bill and how it may affect your company, feel free to reach out to the ASA legal department.

The Washington state legislature recently passed legislation, ESSB 5814, that would place a 10% sales tax on various industries, including temporary staffing. The bill has been sent to Gov. Bob Ferguson and is awaiting further action. Staffing firms with offices in Washington should send the governor a letter urging him to veto the bill. ASA is providing a sample letter for members to use.

Since the 119th Congress convened in January, ASA vice president for government relations Toby Malara has been working with the association’s outside lobbyist, former representative Jack Kingston of Squire Patton Boggs, and held more than 30 meetings with key members of Congress and staff of the House Committee on Ways and Means—including its chair, Rep. Jason Smith (R–MO)—as well as members from the House Committee on Education and the Workforce—including its chair, Rep. Tim Walberg (R–MI). He has also met with staff and members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

The meetings focused on many of the industry’s key policy issues, such as worker misclassification, immigration reform, and workplace safety. A full listing of those issues can be found in the association’s 2025 Policy Agenda.

A major topic of discussion was the budget reconciliation process, in which key industry tax issues are at stake. Malara voiced the industry’s strong support for permanently extending the 2017 passthrough tax deduction for sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S corporations, as well as making the Work Opportunity Tax Credit permanent. He also urged lawmakers not to eliminate the exclusion from taxable income for “per diem” payments made to reimburse employees for work-related meals and lodging.

ASA will continue to schedule meetings with key lawmakers and will update ASA members throughout the year. For staffing agencies interested in meeting with their members of Congress, the ASA Guide to Grassroots Advocacy is an invaluable tool that will help ensure the meetings are a success.

ASA today officially endorsed the nominations of former representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer for secretary of labor and Keith Sonderling for deputy secretary of labor.

“As a small business owner, Chavez-DeRemer understands the burden of costly and unnecessary government regulations, the impact the national workforce shortage is having on all businesses, and the importance of upskilling employees,” said Toby Malara, vice president of government relations at ASA. “During her time in Congress, she supported the Workforce Innovation Act and reasonable rules for determining joint employer liability and prioritized training and apprenticeship programs.”

The full letter to the Senate committee on health, education, labor, and pensions chair and vice chair is available at americanstaffing.net.

On Jan. 8, members of ASA staff met with U.S. Department of Labor transition team for president-elect Trump to promote the association’s priorities and suggested areas of focus. The discussion included concerns around worker misclassification, continued support for temporary worker safety resources in coordination with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, artificial intelligence in the employment context, immigration reform, reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and federal apprenticeship programs. ASA looks forward to working with the department’s new leadership and ensuring the staffing industry’s voice is heard. The issues shared with the administration are set forth in the association’s 2025 Policy Agenda.

California’s AB 2930, a bill that sought to regulate automated decision tools (ADTs) that are used to make “consequential decisions” in employment, was defeated when the bill’s author moved it to the inactive file shortly before the conclusion of the legislative session for the California State Legislature.

AB 2930 would have imposed onerous responsibilities for impact assessments, disclosures, and governance programs on developers and deployers (employers) of artificial intelligence systems. Employers would also have an obligation, “where technically feasible,” to accommodate individual “opt-out” requests if “consequential decisions”—broadly defined to involve nearly every aspect of employment, including recruiting—were made based solely on the output of an ADT, and provide detailed notices to individual affected employees.

ASA and California Staffing Professionals, an ASA-affiliated chapter, adamantly opposed the bill. Led by longtime ASA lobbyist Mike Robson and his colleague Jason Ikerd, ASA submitted written testimony on multiple instances throughout the session and met with legislative leaders to express the industry’s concerns with the bill.

In its opposition, ASA noted the unique issues in regulating use of ADT to recruit temporary employees, the operational burden of “opt-outs” and prior- and post-consequential decision notices, and staffing firms’ inability to make “impact assessments” of ADT.

It is likely that the state legislature will revisit this topic next year, and ASA will continue to monitor similar bills seeking to regulate the use of AI in the employment context and engage as necessary.