On Dec. 7, 2011, the U.S. House passed H.R. 10, the “Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act”, by a margin of 241 to 184.  The AGC-supported bill would require Congress to scrutinize major rules and affirmatively approve any new major rule before it could be imposed on employers. The REINS Act is limited to new “major rules” (i.e., rules having an impact on the economy of $100 million or more), therefore impacting only a small fraction of all rules promulgated each year (about 26 rules in the pipeline meet that threshold. They include new regulations on Crystalline Silica, Hours of Service and Hazardous Communications), while covering those with the most significant impact on the economy.

Legislation that that enhances pipeline safety and reliability in transporting our nation’s utility resources had previously passed two committees in the House. Now, newly agreed upon language to amend the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 (H.R. 2845), will reauthorize federal pipeline safety programs through fiscal year 2015. Pipeline safety and the prevention of underground facility damages has been a top priority for AGC and this legislation is a significant step forward in the process to provide greater regulatory certainty and predictability for construction contractors.

The leading Democrats on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee proposed legislation instituting tough new ‘Buy American’ requirements for construction projects. The bill, “Invest in American Jobs Act of 2011” (H.R. 3533), will require all steel, iron and manufactured goods used in the covered construction categories to be produced in the U.S. Covered categories include federal-aid highway, rail, public transit, Amtrak, aviation, wastewater and FEMA mitigation projects. Many of these categories have pre-existing requirements that would be superseded by this bill’s more stringent requirements. Other programs have little experience with Buy American requirements outside of Recovery Act projects.

Senate As the Senate Banking and Science, Commerce and Transportation Committees aim to markup their respective provisions of the surface transportation reauthorization bill next week, the Senate Finance Committee is not moving any closer to marking up their revenue provisions of the bill.  However, Republican members of the Finance Committee shared their proposed options for funding the legislation – also known as MAP-21 – in a letter sent to Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.).

House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) and Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) announced that the House and Senate will hold a joint Conference Committee meeting on the remaining fiscal year 2012 appropriations bills beginning Dec. 8. AGC has advocated for this measure to come together to ensure the vast majority of the federal construction programs are well funded for the next fiscal year, as this legislation will  include the remaining nine appropriations for fiscal 2012.

Leaders of the AGC of Kentucky presented two AGC PAC checks to Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers (R-Ky.) on Nov. 23. During the presentation, AGC members and chapter staff thanked Rep. Rogers for his support of the commercial construction industry and for the repeal of the 3 percent withholding law.

On Nov. 30, 2011, the U.S. House passed (by a margin of 235-188) legislation blocking the National Labor Relations Board from moving forward with its “quickie election” proposal as well as reversing the Board’s recent decision on “micro unions.”  The vote fell largely along party lines with Republicans supporting and Democrats opposing. 

House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) announced Nov. 29 that his committee will not take up surface transportation reauthorization legislation until late January or early February 2012. It had been anticipated that the T&I Committee would introduce its bill on Monday, Dec. 5 with the expectation that it would be considered by the full House before the end of the year.

The Budget Control Act established new spending caps ($1.045 trillion) that established the allocations in which the House and Senate Appropriations Committees drafted their fiscal year 2012 funding bills.  To date, Congress has only passed 3 of 12 FY 2012 appropriations bills and the federal government is currently operating under a continuing resolution that expires on Dec. 16.   It is likely that the remaining appropriations bills will become part of one large legislative vehicle that will also include any must pass legislation.

The failure of the Super Committee also sets the stage for a busy year for tax policy with a number of important tax rates and expenditures set to expire starting on Jan. 1, 2012.