On May 19, 2011, AGC sent a letter to the Omaha District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers providing comment on their solicitation regarding the potential use of project labor agreements (PLA) on large-scale construction projects (exceeding $25 million) within the Omaha/Lincoln Metro area.

With fiscal year 2011 funding in place, the House of Representatives has started the FY 2012 in earnest by announcing a schedule for marking up the annual appropriations bills, as well as plans for how House Budget Resolution spending totals will be divided between the twelve Appropriations Subcommittees.

On May 12, the Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management Subcommittee of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing on several proposals to employ a BRAC-like process to civilian properties, reduce the federal footprint and ostensibly save taxpayers billions of dollars in annual operating costs of such facilities.

On May 12, 2011, AGC submitted testimony for a hearing held jointly between the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the House Committee on Small Business entitled, “Politicizing Procurement: Would President Obama’s Proposal Curb Free Speech and Hurt Small Business?” 

AGC’s Federal Contractors Conference attracted nearly 400 people to Washington, D.C., this week to meet with 20 federal agencies and review procurement and contracting issues.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wednesday released for public comment new draft guidance to clarify jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act over wetlands and waterways. 

The White House is reportedly considering issuing an Executive Order that would require federal contractors to disclose their campaign contributions.

Come Hear the New Reality Directly from the Federal Owners The 2011 AGC Federal Contractors Conference will be held May 2-5, 2011, at The Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. This meeting is the only national event where contractors and federal agency personnel can meet in a collaborative forum to review federal construction contracting issues and trends from around the United States. These insightful and highly productive exchanges have solidified the need for both federal construction contractors and the federal construction agencies to share information on a wide variety of issues, foster better communication, and create real solutions.

Over Half of Budget Cuts Derived From Federal Construction Programs After several long weeks of negotiations, the White House and House Republicans announced in the late hours of April 8 that they have agreed on a $1.208 trillion spending package for the remainder of FY 2011.  The package represents nearly $40 billion dollar cut in non-defense discretionary spending for the remainder of FY 2011. 

Senators Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced S.573, the Corps of Engineers Reform Act of 2011, on March 14. The legislation converts the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund into a state-administered grant program with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) doling out funding locally under general Corps oversight. Under the reforms, project spending decisions would be made by state officials making the program locally run and without the possibility of congressional earmarks.