President Obama and congressional Republicans are squaring off again in a budget fight, this time over Obama's new plan to slice the deficit by $3.6 trillion over 10 years. The plan, released on Sept. 19, includes tax hikes to get more revenue from wealthy taxpayers and modifications to Medicare and Medicaid. Congressional Republicans blasted the proposal, signaling a deal will be hard to achieve.The legislative package also would cover the $447-billion cost of Obama's Jobs for America Act, unveiled on Sept. 9 (ENR 9/19 p. 9), which includes $105 billion for transportation, schools and other infrastructure.GOP lawmakers have balked at
Related Links: Full 3Q Cost Report (Subscription required) Construction economists continue to dial back their forecasts for 2011. Single-family housing, public works and the institutional-building markets have all stumbled badly in 2011, says Robert Murray, McGraw-Hill Construction's chief economist. The few bright spots, such as multifamily housing, manufacturing and powerplants, “won't be able to outweigh the minuses,” he says.Murray estimates that total construction starts in 2011 will come in at $408 billion, a 4% decline from 2010. Since ENR's second quarterly cost report, the forecast for total residential work has been pulled back from a 5% increase to a 2%
With the Oct. 1 start of fiscal year 2012 around the corner and none of the spending bills for that year enacted yet, congressional appropriators are again turning to a stopgap funding measure to keep federal agencies operating.On Sept. 12, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) said he planned to introduce a continuing resolution soon. There was no word at press time on how many weeks' funding the bill would provide.As of Sept. 12, the House had approved six of the 12 appropriations bills funding various departments and agencies for 2012. The Senate had passed just one: the military
Related Links: Highway, FAA Extensions Advance in House FAA Contractors Resume Work After Stopgap Extension Passes Aviation Bill Fight Shuts Down Airport Grants The path wasn't smooth, but Congress has approved a measure extending federal highway, transit and aviation programs--and the taxes that finance them. President Obama signed the measure on Sept. 16.Final congressional action came less than 24 hours earlier, when the Senate passed the measure by an overwhelming 92-6 vote.The bill had sailed through the House on Sept. 13, on a unanimous voice vote.The bill's enactment will continue a pattern of living by stopgaps for state transportation and
Construction companies that rely on federal highway, transit and airport contracts can breathe a little easier as legislation is moving in Congress to extend surface-transportation and aviation programs as well as the taxes that finance them. But the relief is only temporary. The new legislation continues highway and transit programs through March 31 and extends airport grants and other Federal Aviation Administration programs through Jan. 31.The House passed the new stopgap measure on Sept. 12, on a voice vote. Senate action was expected to follow. Lawmakers were aiming to wrap up the bill before the current short-term aviation bill expired
This story was updated Sept. 15. The earlier version had an incorrect figure for the total allocated to infrastructure spending. President Obama's $447-billion job-creation package would offer a significant lift to the struggling construction industry, including $105 billion in infrastructure spending plus new or extended tax incentives aimed at small businesses. The tax breaks could find receptive ears in Congress, but the funding for transportation, school upgrades and housing faces a steep, uphill trek.In outlining his proposed “American Jobs Act” on Sept. 8, Obama urged lawmakers to pass it “right away.” Immediate action isn't likely, however. House Republicans, who have
A crane set up on the south side of the historic Washington National Cathedral fell over at 10:55 a.m. Wednesday, according to a post on the cathedral's web page.The crane had been erected to stabilize debris shaken loose from the cathedral by the Aug. 23 magnitude 5.8 earthquake whose epicenter was in central Virginia.The crane operator suffered “slight injuries” and was treated on the scene, says Lon Walls, spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Dept. There were no other injuries, Walls says.According to the cathedral’s statement, the crane did not hit the cathedral, but did fall against
Related Links: Read the Bureau of Labor Statistics press release View analysis by AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson View analysis by ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu The construction industry's unemployment rate edged downward in August, to 13.5% from July’s 13.6%, the Labor Dept.'s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Last month's rate also was an improvement over the August 2010 level of 17.0%. But the latest monthly BLS unemployment report, released on Sept. 2, also said construction lost 5,000 jobs in August and construction’s jobless rate was still the highest among U.S. industry categories. Ken Simonson, the Associated General Contractors' chief
White House photo/Chuck Kennedy Obama, with DOT Secretary LaHood and engineering and construction workers behind him, urges Congress to pass transportation bills. Related Links: Read Obama's remarks on transportation bills Obama memorandum on expediting priority infrastructure projects President Obama has called on congressional lawmakers to pass bills to extend surface-transportation and aviation programs “as soon as they come back” from the August break.The seventh stopgap highway-transit authorization since 2009 is set to expire on Sept. 30 and the 21st Federal Aviation Administration extension since 2007 is slated to lapse on Sept. 16.In remarks delivered on Aug. 31 in the White
State transportation officials and construction firms are hoping that shortly after Congress returns from its summer recess, lawmakers will extend the federal motor-fuels tax as well as the federal highway and transit programs. But Congress will have to move quickly: When legislators go back into session after Labor Day, there will be only 11 legislative days before the gas-tax and highway-transit authorizations expire on Sept. 30.Industry officials are hopeful Congress will act in time. Greg Cohen, president of the American Highway Users Alliance, says, "I think there's broad agreement on the need to extend the gas tax. it's not controversial."