As AGC reported last week, the House and Senate began official negotiations to reconcile their differences on a bill that will reauthorize federal highway and transit programs.  Members of the conference committee have not met formally as a group since their meeting last week but conferees and their staff has been working behind the scenes.

The Summer 2012 AGC Tax and Fiscal Affairs Committee/Financial Issues Forum Meeting will be held on Thursday and Friday, June 14-15, 2012 in Washington, DC. The host hotel for the meeting will be the Madison Hotel. (http://www.madisonhoteldc.com/). Confirmed speakers include senior staff from FASB’s parent organization, senior staff from the Senate Finance committee and as usual, the meeting will delve deep into the weeds on the latest financial and accounting news that will impact the construction industry. The meeting is open to all and is a terrific way to share knowledge, gain knowledge and pick up CPEs.

In the last year, the U.S. Senate has seen veteran moderate member retirements on both sides of the aisle, including Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). On Tuesday, the first moderate fell to a Tea-Party challenger, as two-term Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock (R-Ind.) defeated six-term incumbent Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.). Sen. Lugar, the two-time chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and 1996 candidate for president, becomes only the seventh Senate Republican in 30 years to lose a primary.

The U.S. Senate recently confirmed Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick as U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 53rd commanding general. Previously, Lt. Gen. Bostick served as Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1, U.S. Army. In April 2011, the U.S. Defense Department announced his nomination to the rank of Lieutenant General as well as his assignment as Commanding General, Corps of Engineers and Chief Engineer of the U.S. Army.

The House Armed Services Committee today approved the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2013 with a host of small business contracting reforms attached to the measure. The reforms AGC supported and advocated for include:

On May 8, the House and Senate conferees held their first public hearing.  The hearing consisted almost solely of opening statements from the 47 members of Congress serving on the conference committee.  The committee is being chaired by Environment and Public Works Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and they are charged with working out the differences between H.R. 4348, a 90-day extension of the current surface transportation authorization that includes environmental streamlining provisions, approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, and other provisions with the Senate’s two-year $109 billion comprehensive bill, MAP-21.

AGC of Colorado members presented an AGC PAC check to Congressman Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) in Denver this week. Seeking a third term, Rep. Coffman has voted with AGC 88 percent of the time while serving in the House of Representatives. The congressman has voted the AGC way 100 percent of the time this Congress and is the pro-construction candidate in this year’s race.  

AGC PAC supporters at the Montana Contractors Association recently held a fundraiser for Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) with former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as a special guest. The National PAC has contributed the legal maximum of $10,000 to Rep. Rehberg’s toss-up U.S. Senate race against incumbent Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.). Montana Chapter members presented the National PAC checks directly to Rep. Rehberg.

AGC and the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) met this week with the House Oversight & Government Affairs Committee to discuss legislation that would severely restrict federal agency participation in conferences hosted by private organizations.  Aside from ASAE, AGC was the only other organization there to fight for continued open discussion with federal agency representatives at private industry conferences and meetings.

The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) rule on representation case procedures went into effect April 30, 2012. The NLRB rule, also known as the “quickie election” or “ambush election” rule, would expedite the union representation election cycle to as little as 14 days. It is bad for both employers and employees.