When President Obama sends his 2011 budget plan to Capitol Hill, he will propose freezing non-defense discretionary spending—which includes most construction programs—at 2010’s level for the next three years. Construction executives hope Obama will keep some infrastructure line items unscathed or maybe even recommend some hikes. But the final numbers are up to Congress and won’t emerge until after months of partisan, election-year budget battling. Complicating the picture further, Democrats have seen their razor-thin, filibuster-proof 60-vote majority slip to a vulnerable 59 votes with Republican Scott Brown’s win in the Jan. 19 Massachusetts Senate race.
That outcome quickly caused Democrats to revisit their plan for health-care legislation, probably aiming for a less-sweeping Plan B. While construction officials watch health-care developments, they also are trying to figure out how the changed Senate landscape will affect other bills. Some of the most important involve money: a possible new jobs-producing bill, 2011 appropriations and surface-transportation reauthorization.