This morning, the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing on the Healthy Families Act (H.R. 2460/S. 1152).  This legislation would require employers with 15 or more employees to allow all employees to earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.  Workers would begin accruing leave time on their first day of employment and become eligible to use the time after 60 days. This approach would require a one-size-fits-all paid sick leave package of 56 hours and limit an employers' flexibility in creating a benefits package that would meet the needs of the construction industry's unique workforce.  In addition, this would have a significant bureaucratic impact on employers having to create a new system to track accruals of paid sick leave time.  The House Education and Labor Committee is expected to pass this bill sometime this summer.  Senate action is unclear at this point.   There are some rumors that this language could be incorporated into the overall health care reform debate currently being discussed on Capitol Hill.  AGC is a member of The National Coalition to Protect Family Leave, which is working on this legislation.

Following official confirmation from the Obama Administration that the Highway Trust Fund does not have sufficient revenue to reimburse states through the end of fiscal year 2009 (September 30, 2009) for Federal-aid highway contracts already underway, the AGC co-chaired Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) initiated an effort for coalition members visit each House office.Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood acknowledged last week that the HTF needs an additional $5-7 billion to get through FY 2009 without disruption, and an additional $8-10 billion to get through FY 2010. TCC members are also using this opportunity to discuss the need to pass a multi-year reauthorization bill with a revenue increase before the September 30 expiration of SAFETEA-LU. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is currently drafting reauthorization legislation and the Highways and Transit Subcommittee is scheduled to begin considering the bill on June 24.  AGC will notify members as information becomes available.

On June 10, 2009, the House Appropriations Interior & Environment Subcommittee approved it's FY 2010 bill, which provides funding for the Department of the Interior and other agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This bill delivers on the President's requested budget of $3.9 billion for EPA's Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs with an increase of approximately 250% from FY09 appropriations (excluding the $6 billion in ARRA stimulus funding).The bill provides $2.3 billion for the Clean Water and $1.5 billion for Drinking Water SRF programs with additional funding allocated to specific earmarked projects. The bill also funds the President's request of $475 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and various other programs. For a complete listing of programs with funding levels click here.The full Appropriations Committee is expected to vote on this legislation June 18, 2009.

This week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee released draft legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system. The 615-page bill would require all Americans to receive medical insurance, establish insurance exchanges and increase oversight of the insurance industry. Despite the length of the draft legislation, details on the complex issues such as a government-sponsored insurance plan and financing were not included.Some issues included in the draft proposal include: individual mandates; a yet to be determined employer "play or pay" mandate; a yet to be determined new public health insurance option; minimum benefit requirements to be determined by a newly created advisory board; subsidies for individuals and small businesses; expansion of Medicaid; insurance market reforms; and new prevention and wellness programs. Also, the draft bill exempts unions from additional requirements for 1 year.The HELP Committee's draft is the first of three Democratic plans expected to be unveiled.  The Senate Finance committee and a "Tri-Committee" health reform bill (from the House's 3 committees of jurisdiction) are still working on their versions.  Despite the lack of details on the complex issues and a yet to be determined cost estimate for reform, the committees are planning to move forward with considering the drafts in their respective committees starting next week.  Democratic leadership continues to work towards a final bill by the August recess and to present the President with a bill to sign by October.At this time, all of the proposals could still contain employer mandates, a government-sponsored insurance plan and taxed employer-provided health care benefits. AGC is closely monitoring the developments and will advocate on behalf of the construction industry as the debate progresses.

AGC CEO Steve Sandherr met with officials from the Obama Administration's Office of Management and Budget, Department of Labor, Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the Vice President's staff last week to discuss AGC's position on the Government Mandated Labor Agreements (GMLAs). Earlier in the year, the President issued an executive order encouraging agency heads to consider mandating labor agreements on construction projects costing more than $25 million.  During the lengthy meeting, Steve explained the impact of mandated labor agreements on both union and open shop employers.  For example, he noted that while AGC is neutral on project labor agreements when they are voluntarily adopted by a project's owner, he noted that even union shop contractors have their existing labor arrangements undermined when the government imposes GMLAs. The meeting gave AGC an opportunity to explain to senior Administration officials the practical, and negative, effect of mandated labor agreements.  For example, the Administration now understands the problems of having contracting officers with little construction expertise negotiate GMLA's, and they are now checking to see if previous mandated labor agreements have actually resulted in increased efficiencies and economies.  AGC will continue to press this issue with all federal agencies that perform construction work.  A copy of the fact sheet that was presented by AGC is available here.For more information on GMLAs, contact Denise Gold at (703) 837-5326 or goldd@agc.org.

On June 1, AGC submitted to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Councils written comments on a series of interim rules amending the FAR in order to implement several key provisions set forth in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The interim rules were issued March 31 without any opportunity for prior public comment.  AGC was the only construction organization to raise concern over the onerous reporting requirements in the interim rules.To read AGC's comments and view copies of the Interim Rules, please visit the following:Recovery Act - Reporting RequirementsRecovery Act - Buy American Requirements for Construction MaterialRecovery Act - GAO/IG AccessIn order to allow AGC members and Chapters to communicate with the government, AGC set up a special portal located at the AGC Legislative Action Center in order to highlight key issues that needed to be addressed.The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) also issued its own guidance on April 23 establishing government-wide guidance and standard award terms for agencies to include in financial assistance awards (namely, grants, cooperative agreements and loans) as part of their implementation of the Recovery Act. Public comments are due by June 22:Recovery Act - OMB Interim GuidanceAGC is now preparing to submit comments to OMB on behalf of the entire association by the June 22 deadline.

On June 4, AGC held its third session in its new Federal Contracting: Stimulus at Work webinar series, entitled "How to Handle Claims and Disputes." The federal market has changed dramatically over the last six months and this program provided participants with the ins and outs of federal contracts and what makes them unique. The webinar also included information on the AGC's Ethics and Compliance Program Toolkit and AGC's Construction Contractors Guide to Department of Defense Past Performance Evaluation.The final webinar in this series will provide an overview of the existing process and walk attendees through the evolution of federal contracting. "The Recovery Act" webinar on June 11 will provide information and clarification on some of the most challenging issues surrounding the Recovery package, including new rules governing the following:New Buy American Rules;Reporting Requirements, including Salary Disclosure for Contractors;Inspectors General and GAO Access to Contractors Employees; andEstablishing Ethics and Compliance Programs.

Vice President Joe Biden, left, participates in the roundtable on the Recovery Act with Christian Zimmermann, right, Tuesday, June 2, 2009.

President Obama released some details he would like to be included in health care reform legislation this week and requested legislation on his desk to sign by October. The details were more specific and may signal that he plans to play a greater role in crafting the legislation.The list of priorities include a government-run insurance program that could compete alongside private insurers, a government commission to contain costs in health entitlements and an insurance mandate that would provide subsidies for those unable to afford the mandate. The public insurance plan will likely be the most contentious issue in reform and may be the deal-breaker for gaining Republican support.Both the U.S. House and Senate are gearing up to debate the legislation. The Senate Finance Committee is expected to release legislation in the coming days. Their version is likely to include an individual mandate and they may consider taxing employer-provided health care benefits. The Senate HELP committee is expected to finally release their legislative language next week and it is likely to include an individual mandate, expanding Medicaid and reforming the insurance industry. These two committees will have to resolve differences before the legislation can be brought to the Senate floor for debate, which is expected in July. Three U.S. House committees are also drafting legislation and aiming for a bill by the August recess.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has been briefing members of the relevant House and Senate Committees about the revenue shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund that could cause a slowdown in payments to states as early as mid-July. The Obama Administration has indicated that an infusion of $5 billion to $7 billion will be necessary soon in order to fully fund existing commitments through September 30, 2009, or the end of fiscal year 2009.At a hearing this week on the nomination of Victor Mendez for Highway Administrator, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) reported that in addition to the funds needed for FY 2009, an additional $8 billion to $10 billion will be necessary to get through FY 2010. The President's budget indicated a need for as much as $36 billion in FY 2010 to prevent a shortfall in funding.At a hearing today before the Senate transportation subcommittee, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood indicated that the Administration will be working with Congress to ensure that this cash flow problem does not result in a slowdown in reimbursements to states for ongoing highway construction.