President Obama has proposed a $3.8-trillion budget for fiscal year 2011 that would freeze total “non-security” domestic discretionary spending—the category that includes most federal construction programs—and result in cutbacks in most of the key construction accounts. Industry sources say the proposed reductions are not surprising given current economic realities, and they point to a few bright areas in the budget’s long list of cuts. Slide Show DOT: Federal-aid highway obligation The DOT program funding highway projects was one of the few programs to receive a modest boost. Industry sources such as the American Road and Transportation Builders Association say the
President Obama has proposed a $3.8-trillion budget for fiscal year 2011 that would freeze total "non-security" domestic discretionary spending--the category that includes most federal construction programs--and result in cutbacks in most of the key construction accounts. Photo: White House Obama, with OMB Director Peter Orszag (left) and deputy director Rob Nabors, seeks freeze in "non-security" spending Obama's proposal, transmitted to Congress on Feb. 1, does recommend boosting a few construction programs, including the federal-aid highway obligation ceiling. It also proposes a new, $4-billion "National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund," for transportation projects "of regional and national significance." Administration officials have
California is the top winner but Midwest states and Florida also scored big in states' fierce competition for $8 billion in federal grants to build high-speed-rail lines around the country. Related Links: High Speel Rail Awards Summary High Speed Rail Map Round Two of ARRA Rail Grants Draws Huge Crowd States Vying for First ARRA Rail Grants States Clamor For High-Speed Funding The White House released a list of awards on Jan. 28, [see full list pdf attached] shortly before President Obama and Vice-President Biden were scheduled to make a formal announcement in Tampa. The funding is part of the
When President Obama sends his 2011 budget plan to Capitol Hill, he will propose freezing non-defense discretionary spending—which includes most construction programs—at 2010’s level for the next three years. Construction executives hope Obama will keep some infrastructure line items unscathed or maybe even recommend some hikes. But the final numbers are up to Congress and won’t emerge until after months of partisan, election-year budget battling. Complicating the picture further, Democrats have seen their razor-thin, filibuster-proof 60-vote majority slip to a vulnerable 59 votes with Republican Scott Brown’s win in the Jan. 19 Massachusetts Senate race. + Image On the Board:
President Obama will propose a three-year freeze at current levels on total "non-security" spending--the budget sector that includes most federal construction programs--beginning in fiscal year 2011, senior administration officials say. But within that total, budgets for individual departments and agencies and specific line-item programs that are Obama priorities could rise, officials say. Details will be disclosed Feb. 1, when the President transmits his 2011 budget proposal to Congress. Rob Nabors, the Office of Management and Budget's deputy director, told reporters Jan. 26 that the proposed spending cap would apply to overall non-security funding, and hold it for three year's at
An estimated 262,000 construction-sector jobs have been produced or saved by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds through the end of 2009, the White House Council of Economic Advisers says in its second quarterly report on the stimulus measure’s impact. That total is nearly double the 133,000 ARRA construction jobs CEA estimated in its first ARRA snapshot, issued on Sept. 10. In its new report, released on Jan. 13, CEA notes that its numbers “are only estimates,” but those figures are in line with job counts reported by states and localities to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The panel
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation is changing the criteria it uses to evaluate which new transit projects it will fund. Industry officials say the shift is likely to give a boost to streetcar and urban light-rail projects in the competition for federal money, but other options, such as bus rapid transit, will still be in the game. Photo: Trimet Observers say future urban light-rail projects, such as the existing system (above) in Portland, Ore., and streetcar-line proposals will benefit from DOT’s policy shift on new transit starts. In unveiling the shift on Jan. 13, DOT Secretary Ray LaHood said the
As the 111th Congress begins its new session, construction groups will be keeping an eye on House-Senate negotiations on a final health-care bill and Senate action on a jobs measure expected to include billions for infrastructure. Also on the agenda are successors to stopgap surface-transportation and aviation authorizations soon to lapse. Jeffrey Shoaf, the Associated General Contractors’ senior executive director for government affairs, says, “You’ve got the first quarter of this year chock-full of big issues.” Talks continue on a final health-care bill (see below). Shoaf says lawmakers are “very close to getting it done but...every time they’ve voted on
Construction’s jobless rate climbed to its highest level in at least a decade, reaching 22.7% in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported. Economists say the slump in nonresidential building markets has overshadowed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s boost to the public-works sector. The latest BLS monthly figures, released on Jan. 8, show construction’s December unemployment rose from November’s 19.4% and also stood well above the December 2008 level of 15.3%. + Image Source: U.S. Dept. of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Note: Rates are not seasonally adjusted. The 22.7% rate is the industry’s highest since 2000, when
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has produced or saved an estimated 262,000 construction-sector jobs through the end of 2009, the White House Council of Economic Advisers says in its latest update on the impact of the stimulus legislation. That total represents a near doubling from the 133,000 construction jobs CEA estimated in its previous ARRA study, issued Sept. 10. In its new report, released Jan. 13, CEA says that over all, ARRA hasincreased employment by 1.5 million to 2 million as of the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with what the jobs level would have been if the legislation
