Congressional hearings and negotiations on how to fund the federal government for the FY 2017 are underway, and GOP Congressional Leaders have voiced their interest in passing individual appropriations bills prior to the end of the fiscal year in September. However, the upcoming November elections and the vacant Supreme Court seat could complicate the congressional schedule for 2016 and make passing individual appropriations bills unlikely.

Talks of Extension Begin Talk about passing a short-term extension of the Aviation Innovation Reform and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act swirled around Capitol Hill this week. Although the Act passed out of committee in early February, the House has not made plans to consider the bill on the floor prior to its expiration on March 31.

This week, AGC of America President and CEO, Steve Sandherr joined other transportation leaders in a panel discussion at the Association of American State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Washington Briefing to discuss the passage of the surface transportation reauthorization, the FAST Act.

AGC joined with nine other construction industry groups in a letter to Federal Highway Administrator Greg Nadeau asking the agency to complete action on a proposed rule clarifying the applicability of Buy America requirements for manufactured products that may contain steel elements and for incidental products such as nuts, bolts and washers. In December 2012, the agency issued guidance to its division offices clarifying that:

Water Resources Development Act Consideration Underway As part of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently submitted an annual report to Congress that identifies about $13 billion worth of potential Civil Works Program projects for study, modification or construction. The report identifies 12 potential projects valued at about $3.663 billion with signed Chief of Engineers (COE) reports, 10 potential projects valued at about $2.980 billion with pending COE reports and 26 potential projects valued at $6.445 billion that state and local entities requested. Potential projects with signed COE reports have been fully vetted within USACE and are ready to enter the planning phase of construction. Projects recommended by state and local entities require further USACE study if authorized.

AGC Federal Contractors Conference; May 9-11 in Washington, D.C. The difference between AGC’s Federal Contractors Conference (FedCon) and other federal construction meetings is that, at FedCon, construction contractor attendees drive the agenda. As such, for this year’s conference—held May 9-11 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.—AGC is currently seeking your questions for consideration in meetings with headquarters leaders of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Military Construction Program, Civil Works Program, Contracting, Safety and Small Business offices. To see our draft agendas for these various sessions, please click here. To register, click here.

Have you been wondering….What are the odds of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump securing their party's nomination? Could Republicans have a contested convention? How would a third party candidate like Mike Bloomberg affect the race? What party will control the Senate in 2017?

As expected, Donald Trump placed first in the Nevada Caucuses scoring just under 46 percent of the attender preference; his strongest performance to date. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was second with 24 percent, followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 21 percent. Dr. Ben Carson and Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) trailed with 5 and 4 percent, respectively. Though he didn’t emphasize Nevada at all, Gov. Kasich finishing dead last and behind Dr. Ben Carson cannot be good for his pre-Ohio staying power.

AGC’s 97th Annual Convention will be held March 9-11, 2016 in San Antonio, Texas. Please visit meetings.agc.org/convention for registration information. Below is a preview of some of the Convention sessions.

AGC Seeks Increased Funding for Airport Infrastructure Today, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee officially kicked-off the reauthorization process for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with a markup of the Aviation Innovation Reform and Reauthorization (AIRR) Act. The AIRR Act, which fundamentally transforms air traffic control operations, is expected to pass the committee later this evening. It is important that representatives and senators hear from AGC members about the need for increased funding for airport runway and infrastructure projects The FAA is currently operating under an extension that expires on March 31.