This week, the Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, Congressman George Miller (D-Calif.), introduced a bill to provide five days of paid sick leave to employees that have symptoms of a contagious illness or have been in close contact with someone who has the symptoms. The Emergency Influenza Containment Act is a direct result of the H1N1 virus, but the language of the bill is so broad that any contagious illness could be covered.  Employers who direct an employee to leave work or to not come into work would have to provide up to 5 days of paid sick leave over a 12 month period.  This legislation would apply to all employers with 15 or more employees. This legislation is different than another bill, The Healthy Families Act, which would require employers with 15 or more employees to allow employees to earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.  AGC is opposed to The Healthy Families Act because it requires a one-size-fits-all paid sick leave package of 56 hours and limits an employers' flexibility in creating a benefits package that would meet the needs of the construction industry's unique workforce. Congressman Miller has indicated that he wants to have a hearing and pass the Influenza Act sometime this month.  As of now, AGC expects these two mandatory paid sick leave bills to remain separate.  AGC will continue to report on movement on either bill.

Following a three-day Republican boycott of a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee business meeting to consider S. 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and ten Democrats voted to approve the bill without considering any amendments.  None of the panel's Republican members were present for the vote.  Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) was the lone Democrat to vote against the measure.Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. Boxer introduced S. 1733 on September 30, 2009, and have subsequently released two substitute versions of the bill that provide important details of the legislation, including the allocation of free allowances (i.e., permits to emit pollutants) and distribution of auctioned allowance revenues. Republicans on and off the panel - including Republicans moderate on climate change - have called for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct additional analysis to assess the cost of the bill to the economy.  Senator Boxer and other Democrat allies have insisted that EPA's current analysis is adequate and "unprecedented," and denied repeated Republican entreaties to delay Committee consideration of the legislation.At least five other Senate committees have jurisdiction over energy and climate change legislation; only the Environment and Public Works and Energy and Natural Resources Committees have acted to date.  With the Senate slated to consider health care and other year-end priorities, such as the remaining federal spending bills and tax extenders, the full Senate may not consider comprehensive legislation until 2010.  Passage of the bill in the Senate remains uncertain. AGC has prepared a document, Top Ten Things Contractors Need to Know about Climate Change, to summarize AGC's concerns with energy and climate change legislation. AGC encourages members to express their concerns with the Senate climate change bill by contacting their Senators using AGC's Legislative Action Center.  For more information on pending climate change regulatory and legislative efforts and AGC's activities, please visit AGC's Energy and Climate Change Web site.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Water and Environment held a hearing on Recovery Act progress, including updates from representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Civil Works Program.Additional witnesses included representatives from state and local governments administering Recovery Act dollars. AGC has expressed concern about the speed at which contracts have been solicited and awarded; according to witnesses administering these Recovery Act dollars; however, steady progress has been made in getting projects underway.According to USACE Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo Ellen Darcy, "731 Civil Works projects are underway across 49 states and also in both Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. Eight projects have been completed to date. Fifty Project Partnership Agreements have been executed around the country under the reimbursable environmental infrastructure program for a total cost of $66.3 million. During this same period, 2,753 contract actions were awarded, of which 2,058 or 75 percent were awarded to small businesses. Of the $2 billion in contracts awarded, 48 percent of the total dollar value was awarded to small businesses. In addition, larger companies receiving Civil Works contracts are encouraged to hire local small business as their sub-contractors."Testifying on behalf of the U.S. EPA was Deputy Director for the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, Nanci Gelb.  According to Gelb's testimony, "nearly 20 percent, or $800 million of the funds appropriated for the Clean Water SRF are under contract, an increase of approximately 20 percent in the last four weeks." This represents slightly less than twenty five percent of the $4 billion allocated for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) but is significant progress considering reports in July indicated that only one half percent of EPA's $6 billion SRF funds had been awarded to contract.   Gelb also noted in her testimony that requirements for "Buy American" green infrastructure and implementing Davis-Bacon prevailing wages have been challenging, but EPA has been successfully navigating the requirements through weekly internal meetings of its Stimulus Steering Committee.AGC has closely monitored "Buy American" waivers granted for stimulus-funded SRF projects, and submitted a letter to the Committee detailing continued concerns about the vastly expanded "Buy American" provisions in the Recovery Act and the lack of final guidance from OMB.  AGC's position was noted by Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.); however Chairman Oberstar raised doubts that this issue presented a significant problem for industry and noted that the requirement was encouraging U.S. innovation. He cited a single company that now manufactures advanced Ultra Violet Treatment systems for water.  Oberstar asked that EPA respond to AGC's concerns and report back its findings to the T&I Committee.On a positive note, according to AGC analysis of recent figures released by EPA detailing contract actions, EPA funds for Recovery Act projects have been significantly leveraged. Clean Water SRF funded projects totaling $1.6 billion in Recovery Act Funds have been combined with state and local dollars being leveraged into nearly $3 billion in projects.  For the Drinking Water SRF, $726 million in Recovery Act Funds have been leveraged into nearly $1.3 billion. Additional discussion took place toward the end of the hearing regarding additional water infrastructure needs in communities, including the viability of a "Trust Fund," which has been introduced by Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), as one of the potential solutions to meet the nation's clean and drinking water infrastructure funding needs.  These needs are conservatively projected to have an investment gap of almost $600 billion over the next twenty years. AGC supports H.R. 3202 and AGC members are encouraged to visit the AGC Legislative Action Center to learn more about this legislation.More information:T&I Hearing Video and Witness StatementsAGC Letter to T&I Committee on "Buy American" Clean Water SRF: ARRA Reporting Summary Project List (PDF)Drinking Water SRF: ARRA Reporting Summary Project List (PDF)SRF Progress Toward ARRA Goals (PDF)

Republicans are declaring victory with Tuesday gubernatorial victories in Virginia and New Jersey, saying that it is a clear vote against the aggressive overreach of Congress and the Obama administration. Democrats on the other hand are saying that they picked up a seat in New York that had been held by the GOP for more than 100 years, and that they won in a democratic open seat in California. Those two Representatives were sworn in today and Speaker Pelosi has said they may provide the margin of victory necessary to pass  the health care bill being considered by the House this weekend. Both sides have valid points.  What is certain is that the conclusion of elections this week mark the official beginning of the 2010 election campaigns, which will include bruising public spectacles. Millions will be spent by Democrats to preserve their majorities, and millions will be spent by Republicans to pick up vulnerable seats.

Although the outcomes of elections in New York, New Jersey and Virginia we followed ended according to plan, getting to the end did not go as expected. New York's special election in the 23rd district was definitely the biggest shocker: Republican Dede Scozzafava suspended her campaign just days before the election.  Realizing that she was down double-digits in the polls and didn't have the funds the other candidates had, she decided to step aside and let Conservative Doug Hoffman and Democrat Bill Owens battle it out.  The National Republican Congressional Committee and Republican National Committee immediately endorsed Doug Hoffman, but in an unexpected turn of events, Republican Scozzafava then endorsed Democrat Owens.  When the polls finally came to a close, Owens had earned 49 percent of the vote, with 46 percent going to Hoffman and Scozzafava still picking up a few votes.  While both parties claimed victory, in the end the Democrats picked up a seat that has been red for over a century.In New Jersey, the race was less eventful, but the outcome surprised many.  With the most recent pre-election polls showing the two candidates, incumbent Democratic Governor Jon Corzine and Republican Chris Christie, literally tied, most people thought the race wouldn't be called until the wee hours of the morning.  Surprisingly, Christie was declared the winner just about two hours after the polls closed (Corzine conceded around 10:45pm EST).  Although the win was far from an upset, people were shocked.  Several counties, such as Middlesex, that have long been Democratic strongholds voted for Christie, helping him receive 49 percent of the vote while Corzine could only earn 44 percent.The Virginia gubernatorial race went as expected.  Republican Bob McDonnell defeated Democrat Creigh Deeds handily, receiving 59 percent of the vote.  Although Deeds had support from the President and Vice President, most agree that his campaign was run poorly.  The election was called for McDonnell at 7:55pm by the Associated Press, less than an hour after the polls closed.  McDonnell's victory help clinch a Republican sweep in Virginia, as the voters also elected a Republican Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General.

A new video advertisement from the Transportation Construction Coalition, co-chaired by AGC, highlights the findings of a new study that shows 22,000 Americans die each year on deficient roadways.Watch the video here.For more information, contact Brian Turmail at (703) 837-5310 or turmailb@agc.org.

A new ad campaign, launched as part of a broad business community effort with AGC's support, explains some of the economic challenges various proposed health care "reform" efforts pose for employers nationwide.

Includes employer mandates, insurance policy mandates, premium and tax increases, and Medicare cutsAfter weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) released legislation that will overhaul the nation's health care system. The 1,900 page legislation comes with a preliminary cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office of $900 billion over the next ten years. The cost estimate only pertains to the expanded coverage and not other changes to existing programs, so the official price tag could significantly increase to over $1 trillion.  A major change from previous versions of the legislation is that many of the reform timeframes will be moved up, allowing democrats to enter the 2010 and 2012 elections with some achievements.The majority of the Affordable Health Care for America Act is financed through a surtax on married couples with adjusted gross incomes exceeding $1 million a year and individuals earning over $500,000 a year.  The surtax is not indexed for inflation and would begin in 2011 at a 5.4 percent rate.  Previous drafts of the legislation had thresholds of $280,000 for individuals and $350,000 for couples, but it was indexed for inflation.  The tax will generate $460.5 billion, much of it from small business owners who are at the forefront of our economic recovery.In addition to the surtax, businesses with a combined annual payroll exceeding $750,000 will be required to pay an 8 percent penalty for its uninsured workers.  Employers who choose to offer coverage must contribute at least 72.5 percent of premiums for individuals and 65 percent for families.  The legislation includes credits for small business but they provide small employers limited value.The legislation contains a government insurance option and expands Medicaid. It also includes a corporate information reporting proposal, which would require reporting on most third party transactions, limit the amount employees can contribute to health care flexible spending accounts, end deductions companies can take for retiree prescription drug coverage, and increase penalties for nonqualified distributions from health savings accounts.AGC supports health care reform that expands coverage and makes coverage more affordable. However, H.R. 3962 fails to reduce costs and address the rising cost of insurance. The current proposal will increase insurance premiums and will impose indirect tax increases on employers to pay for the reform.

Impacts single- and multi-employer plans Representatives Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) and Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) Tuesday introduced H.R. 3936, the Preserve Benefits and Jobs Act, which that would provide single- and multi-employer pension plan funding relief to mitigate against the effects of investment losses in 2008. Under the bill, multi-employer plans that meet a solvency test would be eligible for relief through two options that would allow employers to repay recent losses over a 30-year period, and employers would be unable to increase plan benefits for two years.  For plans in endangered or critical status, the bill would extend the rehabilitation and funding improvement periods.  The bill would also facilitate mergers of funds and allow the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) to provide assistance to lower long-term costs.  The bill would also update PBGC benefit guarantees. AGC, along with the National Coordinating Council on Multiemployer Plans (NCCMP) has been advocating for legislation to provide relief to troubled defined benefit pension plans.  AGC will continue to work with NCCMP and Congress to enact pension funding relief legislation prior to the end of the year. For a section by section summary of H.R. 3936, click here.

Senate may vote next weekSenators have been trying to reach an agreement this week on an amendment to legislation that would extend unemployment insurance that would expand both the first-time home buyer tax credit and net operating loss (NOL ) carry-back from two to five years.Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) today outlined his amendment that would extend the existing $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, set to expire on November 30, 2009 through June 30, 2010 (contracts must be in place by April 30 to qualify).  In addition, the amendment would expand the income thresholds to those with incomes of $125,000 for individuals and $225,000 for couples, up from $75,000 and $150,000 under current law.  Further, the tax credit would be expanded at a reduced figure of $6,500 to home buyers who have lived in their homes for at least five years. The amendment would also expand NOL carry-back relief from two to five years.  The NOL provision would allow unprofitable companies to obtain immediate cash refunds on taxes they paid in previous years.  Current law allows companies to get refunds of taxes paid in the previous two years, or five years for smaller companies in 2008.  Proponents of NOL relief-including AGC-are seeking to extend the two-year period to five years for all companies for both 2008 and 2009 losses.AGC has called for expansion of these two tax provisions in its Build Now for the Future: A Blueprint for Economic Growth.  AGC sent a letter last week in support of the home buyer and NOL expansions.