Government

Contracts: Industry Slams Contribution-Disclosure Proposal

Construction industry groups and some in Congress are objecting to a draft White House executive order that would require companies and executives to disclose their political contributions when they bid on federal contracts.

Stephen Sandherr, CEO of Associated General Contractors, said the plan would “create the mechanism for enforcing a political litmus test” for contractors. Mike Bellaman, president and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors, said the administration proposal “would politicize the bidding process and open the door to cronyism and malfeasance.”

Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), the panel's top Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, and two subcommittee leaders also have criticized the White House draft.

Pam Hunter McFarland was a Senior Editor of ENR and her expertise was: Sourcebooks, Environment, Labor

As ENR's former Washington Bureau Chief, Tom Ichniowski wrote about the federal government since the George H.W. Bush administration, and covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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