Yesterday, the House passed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Accountability Act of 2015, which would allow for the department secretary to more easily remove or demote the agency’s civil service employees guilty of misconduct or found to be incompetent. The bill would also require that all probationary periods for new employees be extended from the current requirement of one year to at least 18 months. The secretary would also be able to strip pension benefits from department senior executives who are convicted of a crime that influenced their job performance. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee approved similar legislation last week and floor action in the Senate is pending.

The highway & transit extension also includes $3.4 billion to cover a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) funding gap for the remainder of the current fiscal year, ending September 30. The department needed the additional funds to continue to pay for non-Department medical services to veterans, which were enacted last year in response to the VA hospital waiting list scandal. The need for additional funds was also necessary as the department attempts to fix problems that have plagued construction projects such as missing key decision deadlines, poor communication with construction contractors and late completion of design work. The problems on the construction side have negatively impacted health care VA funding accounts.

Construction employment declined in 127 metro areas, was stagnant in 51 and increased in 180 between June 2014 and June 2015, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials noted that the declines come as the House and Senate struggle to enact legislation to extend federal transportation investments beyond the July 31st expiration of the current program.

The House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health this week passed The Construction Reform Act of 2015, introduced by House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), that would require another federal construction agency to execute U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) construction projects above $100 million. Under the bill, federal construction agencies like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or General Services Administration could execute construction projects for the VA under project-specific agreements reached by the VA and respective agency.

When your company works on a military base, ensuring that your employees can access the project site is essential. Many military bases throughout the nation utilize the RAPIDGate program, which conducts security background checks on your employees as a prerequisite to base access. Several AGC members throughout the country have reported difficulties having their employees approved under RAPIDGate, and, thus, denied access to bases and project sites. During this webinar, Tim McGinn with Eid Passport, which runs the RAPIDGate program, will discuss:

Commander of NAVFAC Pacific Rear Admiral Bret J. Muilenburg will become the next Navy chief of civil engineers following RADM Katherine L. Gregory. Prior to reporting to his current position, RADM Muilenburg was the commodore of the 30th Naval Construction Regiment and commander of Task Force Forager, theater engineers for International Security Assistance Force Joint Command, Afghanistan. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, a Master of Science in Engineering Management from George Washington University, Washington, D.C., and a Master of Science Degree in Environmental Engineering and Science from Stanford University, Stanford, California.

AGC met with the top two federal construction agencies, at their request, to give the contractors’ perspective on key issues facing the industry. USACE HQ: Early Contractor Involvement The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Headquarters recently invited AGC to participate in a discussion on project delivery, specifically focusing on early contractor involvement (ECI). USACE executed about a dozen projects via ECI delivery—similar to CM-at-Risk—in the 2000s. (For more USACE ECI background, click here). Looking for ways to improve cost estimates, USACE is again considering using ECI—whether a Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) equivalent of ECI or utilizing more constructability reviews concurrent with design.

Please Complete the Survey Below to Help You & AGC The Obama administration recently issued a proposed rule and guidance to implement its “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” (Blacklisting) Executive Order. Please complete this survey to help AGC show how the Blacklisting EO would impact the construction industry.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Would Execute VA Projects above $100 Million as Part of Legislation The Senate recently passed legislation to require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to execute new Department of Veterans Affairs construction projects valued above $100 million. The provision, introduced by Sens. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), was included in the Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act of FY 2016.

The Obama administration recently issued a proposed rule and guidance to implement its AGC-opposed “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” (Blacklisting) Executive Order. Please complete this survey to help AGC show how the Blacklisting Executive Order would impact the construction industry.