On Nov. 16, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 674, the 3 Percent Withholding Repeal and Job Creation Act.  This week’s legislative victory was the culmination of over five years work by AGC, AGC Chapters, AGC members, and coalition partners to repeal the 3 percent withholding requirement.

This afternoon, the House of Representatives started debate on H.R. 2112, a so-called “minibus” bill that provides federal funding for the Departments of Transportation; Housing & Urban Development, Agriculture; and Commerce/Justice/Science).  Once the "minibus" passes the House, it will be considered by the Senate where it is also likely to pass.   The funding level in the "minibus" represents a $7 billion decrease from last year.  Among the items getting “zeroed-out” for no funding are high speed rail and a national infrastructure bank.

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 674, a bill to repeal the 3 percent withholding law. The vote passed 422 to 0 and will be sent to the president for his signature. Today’s legislative victory was the culmination of over five years of work by AGC, AGC Chapters, AGC members and coalition partners.

Later this year, the  House is expected to consider the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act, a bill that would rein in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and prevent the board from unilaterally streamlining the union representation elections, also known as “quickie elections”. In recent months, the NLRB has attempted to speed up union elections and limit appeals and procedural safeguards that protect the integrity of representation elections. The board’s actions may reduce the amount of time an employer can address their employees before a vote during an organizing drive.

The results of the 2011 election show voters remain supportive of statewide bonds despite the economic downturn, with $6.575 billion approved in two states. Arkansas voters approved a renewal of a $575 million highway bond program and Texas voters approved $6 billion in bonds for water projects.

Representative Tim Bishop (D-NY) introduced H.R. 3145, the “Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2011,” which would reauthorize both the clean water and safe drinking water State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs and establish a clean water trust fund. On Nov. 4, AGC sent a letter to Rep Bishop thanking him for introducing the bill.  AGC also held a media event with the AGC of Greater Milwaukee on Oct. 27 to promote legislation like Rep. Bishop’s.  AGC urges all of its members to visit our Legislative Action Center to write a letter to your representative asking them to support and cosponsor the bill.

As reported last week, AGC joined forces with Reps. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) and Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) to circulate a letter to Republicans in the House of Representatives calling on Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to take action on a multiyear surface transportation reauthorization bill.

By a vote of 18 to 0, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) approved a two-year transportation authorization bill. This is the first step in the long process of passing a reauthorization bill. AGC will continue to work with the House and Senate throughout this process to ensure the bill has the best possible impact on the construction industry.

On Nov. 10, the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 674, a bill to repeal the 3 percent withholding law after amending it slightly. AGC supports repeal of this onerous mandate. The U.S. House of Representatives may vote on the amended bill as early as next week.

In response to the Senate vote (by a margin of 95 to 0) to repeal the 3 percent tax withholding mandate, AGC's chief executive officer, Stephen E. Sandherr issued the following statement: "An overwhelming bipartisan majority of Senators understand that repealing the 3 percent tax withholding mandate is essential to boosting economic growth. With construction activity down by $400 billion and the industry's unemployment rate at 13.7 percent, the last thing construction employers need is to be forced into giving interest-free loans to the federal government. That is why today's Senate vote comes as welcome news for construction firms, workers and taxpayers alike. As our members made clear in a recently released survey, many firms will be better able to offer positions to the veterans this legislation also supports without the enormous cost of this measure looming."