U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood attended AGC’s 92nd Annual Convention in Las Vegas to discuss pipeline safety and federal investment in transportation infrastructure. 

AGC this week signed a letter with more than 400 organizations to call on Congress to restore funding for the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA).  The letter specifically requests Congress to fund the DERA program at a level of at least $50 million in fiscal year 2012.

Last week, AGC PAC launched the “Victory 2012: Each One, Reach One” campaign, which encourages each AGC PAC contributor to reach out to enlist new contributors for the AGC PAC. The initiative will help AGC PAC meet its goal of $1.2 million in contributions during the 2012 election cycle.  The AGC PAC raised nearly $200,000 towards that goal.

Register by April 9 to Guarantee Hotel Discount 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.

Following a late-night meeting at the White House yesterday and another this afternoon between President Obama, Speaker of the House John Boehner, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid there is still no deal on a budget compromise for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2011.  If a deal is not struck by midnight on April 8, the Federal government will shut down.

AGC continues to urge Congress to repeal the 3 percent withholding mandate on federal, state, and local government contracts. Starting January 1, 2012, public owners will begin withholding 3 percent of every payment to contractors for goods and services.

As many as three AGC “Key Votes” are possible in the Senate this week as the chamber continues consideration of small business legislation.

AGC continues to urge Congress to repeal the 3 percent withholding mandate on federal, state, and local government contracts. Starting January 1, 2012, public owners will begin withholding 3 percent of every payment to contractors for goods and services.

As Congress continues to debate funding levels for FY 2011 and beyond, there have been several developments in the debate over the future of the Civil Works Program.

The Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Counsel on March 16, 2011 issued an interim rule amending the FAR to implement section 811 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (Pub. L. 111-84). The provision requires Federal agencies to provide a written justification prior to awarding a sole-source contract in an amount over $20 million under the 8(a) program by the Small Business Administration (SBA).