As the House Appropriations Committee moves on fiscal 2012 spending bills, its Republican leaders are ycarrying out their budget-cutting pledge. They aren't sparing construction programs. The thin silver lining is that some of the House's recommended construction cuts are small.
For example, a bill funding military and Veterans Affairs construction, which the House passed on June 14, would trim most accounts. Base realignment and closure spending would plummet, but that was expected, because the closure round that began in 2005 is nearing an end. Andrew Goldberg, American Institute of Architects senior director of federal programs, says, “The problem, and nobody could have foreseen this in '05, is that the wind-down is hitting at a point when the construction [market] is still incredibly soft.” He says, “I think right now everybody is really kind of scratching their heads and saying, 'Where are the projects going to come from?'”