Related Links: Link to AGC release, report, survey, statements and transcript of Jan. 21 briefing Construction Starts to Rise by 9% in 2014, Says Dodge Construction Outlook (enr.com 10/25/2013) [subscription] Construction contractors are more upbeat about business prospects for 2014 than in recent years, but they still have concerns about labor supply and the rising costs of items such as materials and health care, according to a new Associated General Contractors of America survey.The survey results, which AGC released on Jan. 21, show that many firms intend to resume adding workers this year, although the increases will be small: 86%
Related Links: Text of spending bill and explanatory report, as introduced Bill summary from Senate Appropriations Committee A $1-trillion compromise spending package to fund federal agencies through Sept. 30 provides welcome increases over enacted 2013 levels for some construction programs but cuts others.The bill, which the appropriations committees' chairs—Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.)—released late on Jan. 13, won final congressional approval on Jan. 16 when the Senate passed it with a strong 72-26 vote. The House has approved the measure one day earlier, 359-67. The bill next goes to the White House for President Obama's expected
Related Links: No Deal Yet on New WRDA Bill (ENR 12/20/13 issue) [subscription] Congressional Budget Office testimony on Highway Trust Fund status (7/23/2013) A new highway-transit reauthorization bill and the first water-resources measure since 2007 lead the list of unfinished construction legislation as the 113th Congress begins its new session.By far, construction's top 2014 legislative priority is a successor to the 2012 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, or MAP-21, the current surface-transportation law. The statute expires on Sept. 30, putting public-works committees under severe time pressure to produce a new bill.House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman
Related Links: SBA Final Rule (Federal Register 12/23/2013) SBA Size-Standard Summary, by Industry Dredging companies and construction firms that do land-subdivision work soon will face a higher maximum revenue level to qualify for federal small-business aid programs offering, for example, loans and contracts.A Small Business Administration final rule, which takes effect on Jan. 22, hikes dredging firms' "size standard" in average annual receipts, to $25.5 million from $20 million. Land-subdivision firms' mark rises to $25.5 million from $7.5 million.Other SBA construction category standards were unchanged: General contractors' level remains at $33.5 million; specialty-trade contractors' mark is still at $14 million.
Related Links: Link to text of Corps report Corps press release on report A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study has identified eight plans, costing as much as $18.4 billion, to block Asian carp and other harmful species from moving from the Mississippi River basin through waterways around Chicago and into the Great Lakes.The Corps’ Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study, released on Jan. 6, holds out the possibility of hundreds of billions of dollars in design and construction work over many years, but it does not pick a preferred plan from among the eight options, nor does it
Related Links: Interior Dept. press release Executive summary of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service final EIS (2/5/2013) Interior Secretary Sally Jewell has rejected a proposal to swap a parcel of Alaska state and Native-owned land on the Aleutian peninsula for a road corridor through a federal wildlife refuge.Jewell’s decision, announced on Dec. 23, drew praise from environmentalists, but strong criticism from Alaska’s senior U.S. senator and some local officials.Jewell said that the proposed road—from the town of King Cove through part of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge to an all-weather airport near the town of Cold Bay about 20 miles
Related Links: Information on Baucus Energy Tax Proposal Information on Baucus Corporate and Accounting Tax Reform Proposal With President Obama's Dec. 20 announcement that he will nominate Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus to be U.S. ambassador to China, industry officials say they don't expect to see action any time soon on one of the Montana Democrat's main priorities: an overhaul of the federal tax code.If Baucus, as predicted, is confirmed to the China post, his successor as chairman of the powerful Finance panel is widely expected to be Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a strong
Related Links: Senate Clears Budget Bill With $45B Spending Hike for 2014 (enr.com 12/18/2013) House and Senate budget committees' summary of budget agreement (12/10/2013) Now that Congress has approved a budget bill that includes a sizable spending hike for the rest of fiscal year 2014, construction industry officials will gear up to battle with advocates for a wide range of other interests for a share of those dollars.MIKULSKIThe budget bill—the result of a deal between House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D-Wash.)—won final congressional approval on Dec. 18, when the Senate passed
Related Links: WRDA Update: Views Differ on Negotiations' Status (enr.com blog 12/19/2013) House-Senate Talks on WRDA Bill Get Under Way (ENR 12/2-9/2013) As the House and Senate began their year-end breaks, there was no agreement in sight yet on a new Water Resources Development Act, or WRDA.The bill would authorize at least $8 billion in Army Corps of Engineers projects and make changes in Corps policies.Key lawmakers and staffers from both houses have been exchanging information since a House-Senate conference committee formally convened on Nov. 20 to work out the differences between the bills. The two chambers passed those measures
Related Links: Summary of Ryan-Murray budget agreement (Dec. 10) Congressional Budget Office Dec. 11 analysis of budget measure (excludes House Medicare amendment) A two-year budget measure that includes a $44.8-billion spending boost for 2014 has won final congressional approval, with the Senate's passage by a comfortable margin. The legislation next goes to the White House for President Obama's expected signature.The budget bill, which the Senate approved on Dec. 18 by a 64-36 vote, would avert a government shutdown in mid-January and increase discretionary spending by a combined $63 billion for the rest of this fiscal year and all of fiscal
