President Obama’s proposed $3.8-trillion budget for fiscal year 2013 recommends cuts for most major federal construction programs, reflecting continued heavy pressure to hold down overall discretionary spending. But the budget proposal also calls for a sharp boost for surface transportation and a reduction in airport grants for big airports.Obama’s budget request, sent to Congress on Feb. 13, is just the beginning of what surely will be a long, tough, partisan fight over next year’s spending. The final numbers won’t become clear until the fall, or perhaps later.One key construction item in the president’s budget is a proposed six-year, $476-billion surface
Related Links: Bureau of Labor Statistics release, including data tables AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's analysis ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu's analysis The Construction industry's unemployment rate increased in January to 17.7%, from December’s 16%, but it was much lower than January 2011’s mark of 22.5%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported.BLS's latest monthly employment update, released on Feb. 3, also showed that construction gained a further 21,000 jobs in January, after adding 31,000 in December. That brings the industry's total employment to its highest level in two years, according to Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of America chief
Related Links: Link to House-Senate conference report on FAA bill Labor Provision Deal Unblocks FAA Bill No FAA Bill Yet, Another Extension Likely House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on a four-year measure authorizing $63.6 billion for Federal Aviation Administration programs, including FAA's Airport Improvement Program (AIP) construction grants. Once the measure is enacted, it would bring an end to more than four years of short-term authorizations for AIP and other FAA programs.News of the House-Senate deal came at a meeting of conferees late in the afternoon of Jan. 31. The final conference report was filed about mid-day on
White House photo by Chuck Kennedy Obama's infrastructure spending proposal would require approval from Congress, which didn't adopt similar plans he proposed last year. Related Links: Blog: Construction reax to SOTU White House transcript of State of the Union speech White House background document on SOTU proposals President Obama's State of the Union address included a further pitch for increased federal infrastructure spending, which he proposed to finance through savings gained from the military’s pullout from Iraq and pulling back from the Afghanistan war.Obama can take action on some of the many items he discussed in his Jan. 24 speech
Courtesy of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada U.S. Trade Rep. Kirk (left) and Canada's International Trade Minister Fast sign an extension of their countries' 2006 lumber trade agreement. Related Links: U.S.-Canada Timber Pricing Dispute Heats Up (2011) U.S-Canada Lumber Pact Goes Into Effect (2006) The U.S. and Canada have agreed to a two-year extension of a 2006 trade pact that governs pricing and export volumes for softwood lumber, a key material in housing construction.The extension, which top trade officials from the two countries signed in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 23, carries the lumber agreement through Oct. 12, 2015, but
After more than four years of short-term funding, a multiyear aviation bill seems to be finally on its way to passage. Senate and House leaders on Jan. 20 resolved a thorny labor issue that had blocked a multiyear authorization for Federal Aviation Administration programs, including its Airport Improvement Program, or AIP, grants, which fund runways and other projects.Those programs have been operating under a long series of stopgap bills since September 2007, when the last long-term FAA law expired. The 22nd extension is slated to lapse on Jan. 31.Some issues remain to be worked out. One item is believed to
Construction groups and other organizations have launched a lobbying drive, aiming to nudge Congress to pass a new multiyear highway and transit bill. They see a window of opportunity—if not necessity—between now and March 31, when the current stopgap authorization runs out.To be sure, industry officials have been campaigning for a new bill for a long time, beginning even before the last major surface transportation measure lapsed in September 2009. But now they are turning up the intensity. They know November's elections will keep the 2012 congressional session short, and if there's little progress toward a long-term transportation bill in
Related Links: No FAA Bill Deal Yet, Another Extension Likely FAA Contractors Resume Work After Stopgap Extension Passes Aviation Bill Fight Shuts Down Airport Grants Senate and House leaders have reached agreement on a thorny labor issue, clearing the way for a final deal on a multiyear Federal Aviation Administration authorization, which is more than four years overdue.FAA programs, including the agency's airport construction grants, have been operating under a long series of stopgap measures since September 2007, when the last long-term aviation bill expired. The latest stopgap, the 22rd in that series, lapses on Jan. 31.The agreement, between Senate
The latest in a long line of stopgap authorizations for Federal Aviation Administration programs is due to expire on Jan. 31. With Congress in session for only a few days before that date and no deal yet on a multiyear measure, it looks as if at least one more extension is in the cards.For construction, the key issue is how much will be authorized—and when—for FAA's Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants, which finance work on runways, taxiways and other infrastructure.The current stopgap is the 23rd since September 2007, when the last long-term aviation bill lapsed. Jane Calderwood, Airports Council International-North
Amtrak's 2012 construction program has a heavy emphasis on the Northeast Corridor, with several new and continuing projects. In a move that could assist longer-range plans, the White House on Jan. 13 announced a pilot program to expedite environmental reviews for future high-speed-rail projects on the Washington, D.C.-to-Boston line.