In another roll-back of Obama-era regulations, the Senate voted last night, 49 to 48, to repeal the contractor disclosure rule.  This rule required companies bidding on federal contracts valued at more than $500,000 to disclose violations of 14 federal labor laws, including those pertaining to workplace safety, wages and discrimination. Finalized in August and blocked by court order in October 2016, the rule would have limited the ability of companies with recent employment law compliance problems to compete for government contracts unless they agreed to remedies. The US Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and other leading business groups had urged Congress and the Trump administration to eliminate the regulations, arguing they discourage businesses from competing for government contracts, and increased their compliance costs. The government estimated the cost of the reporting requirements at $458 million in the first year. The measure to abolish this rule has already cleared the house, and next it goes to the President, who is expected to sign  it.