The simmering debate over how to cut the federal budget deficit is heating up, with the April 13 release of President Obama's outline for shrinking the budget gap squaring off against House Republicans' deficit-trimming plan, drafted by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (Wis.) and approved by the chamber on April 15. Photo: Courtesy of House Republican Conference Duel begins between budget plans from the House GOP’s Ryan and Obama. Photo: Pete Souza Both proposals would slice non-defense domestic spending, which could hit construction programs. Construction officials welcome the fiscal focus. The proposals aim to slash the deficit by about $4
Republican governors in Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida grabbed headlines by rejecting federal high-speed-rail funds awarded to their states, but many other governors—Democrats and Republicans—are hungry for the money that was turned back. In a signal that demand for rail money still outpaces supply, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation has received almost $10 billion in requests for shares of $2 billion in rail aid Florida rejected earlier this year. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said on April 6 that 24 states, the District of Columbia and Amtrak submitted more than 90 applications for the money Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) turned back.
In a move welcomed by construction groups and other business organizations, Congress has cleared a bill to repeal a tax-reporting provision of last year's health-care law. Final congressional approval came on April 5, when the Senate passed the measure on a 87-12 vote. The House had approved the bill on March 3. The measure now goes to the White House for President Obama's expected signature. After the Senate vote, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney issued a statement saying that "we are pleased Congress has acted to correct a flaw that placed an unnecessary bookkeeping burden on small businesses." The
Will this be the year a long-delayed, multi-year aviation bill finally becomes law? There has been progress. The House on April 1 passed a four-year bill, but infrastructure advocates don’t like its cuts to Federal Aviation Administration airport construction grants. House lawmakers next will take their bill into negotiations with the Senate, which approved a two-year bill in February. Construction groups prefer the Senate version’s funding for Airport Improvement Program (AIP) construction grants, which finance runway work and other projects. The Senate bill averages about $4 billion per year for AIP. However, the House bill slices the program to an
After a long delay, the Army Corps of Engineers’ first rewrite in 28 years of its “Principles and Guidelines” for evaluating water projects is expected to be released in June, top Army officials say. The new standards will be a major shift away from the present P&G, issued in 1983, which said the sole federal water-resources planning objective is “to contribute to national economic development” while being “consistent with protecting the nation’s environment.” Photo Courtesy U.S. Senate Environment And Public Works Committee Darcy (left) and Van Antwerp say new project evaluation standards will be out in June. Jo-Ellen Darcy, assistant
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has received almost $10 billion in applications for the $2.4 billion in federal high-speed rail funds that Florida rejected. Related Links: Amtrak Gateway Project News Release DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said on April 6 that 24 states, the District of Columbia and Amtrak submitted more than 90 applications for the turned-back rail money. The deadline for submitting requests was April 4. DOT now will begin to review the proposals. The department said that it had not yet determined when it will announce the winning applications. The funds became available when Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R)
Construction's jobless rate continues to show a positive trend, improving to 20% in March from February's 21.8% rate. Though last month's mark remains worrisomely high, it was much better than March 2010's 24.9%. Related Links: U.S. Department of Labor News Release ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu's Analysis AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's Analysis March also was the sixth consecutive month in which construction's jobless rate improved over the year-earlier levels. But the Bureau of Labor Statistics latest monthly employment report, released on April 1, also shows that construction lost 1,000 jobs last month. All of construction jobs shed were in
In a move aimed at spurring U.S. exports of construction equipment and services to Brazil, the U.S. Export-Import Bank is providing a $1-billion line of credit for infrastructure projects in that country.
More North Carolina passenger-rail construction projects appear to be on tap, thanks to a recently signed agreement among federal and state agencies and railroad companies. With the signing of the pact on March 22, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has formally obligated $461 million in stimulus-act funds to the North Carolina Dept. of Transportation (NCDOT) for rail improvements between Raleigh and Charlotte. But there is a potential hurdle: A Republican member of the state’s House of Representatives has introduced a bill that would bar NCDOT from spending any federal high-speed-rail funds unless the state Legislature approves it. FRA awarded the
Nearly half of existing coal- and oil-fired powerplants may need pollution-control upgrades under a newly proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule that sets the first national standard for mercury, arsenic, nickel and other pollutants. The proposed rule was released on March 16 in response to a court-ordered deadline that was set following a case brought by several environmental groups. A final rule is required by November. EPA estimates that coal-fired plants produce 99% of mercury emissions and that existing technology could prevent 91% of mercury in coal from being released. EPA expects the rule, when final, to encourage the 44% of