Contact your Congressmen and Tell Them to Support a Long-Term Bill This week, select members of the House and Senate –called conferees – began negotiations on resolving the differences between the two chambers’ long-term highway & transit bills. However, with funding levels and duration yet to be agreed upon, negotiations are off to a slow start, which could result in yet another short-term extension if Congress does not reach a deal by November 20. AGC – along with our members and chapters – has been a leader in the reauthorization process and advocated for the construction industry’s priorities in a letter to all conferees, detailing which provisions and policies should be included in a final transportation bill. Please visit Hardhats for Highways and send a letter to your members of Congress, urging them to support a long-term highway & transit bill.

As previously reported by AGC, the Bipartisan Budget Act was a two-year budget agreement that Present Obama signed into law on Nov. 2. The bill included a provision that repeals the prohibition against adjusting the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) civil penalties for inflation. Unlike other similar federal civil penalties – which are covered by the Federal Civil Penalties Adjustment Act of 1990 – the OSHA civil penalties have been explicitly exempted from inflation since 1990. This means that OSHA penalties will now increase for the first time in 25 years.

AGC Federal Procurement Priorities to Become Law Both the House (last week) and Senate (this week) overwhelmingly passed the National Defense Authorization Act of FY 2016 (NDAA Bill), a bill the president vetoed just two weeks ago. The president is expected to sign the bill into law as a result of the bipartisan budget agreement reached two weeks ago. Compared to the vetoed version of the bill, this NDAA bill has slightly lower levels of spending for Department of Defense programs.

Last week, the House Republican Steering Committee met and selected Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) as the next Ways and Means Chairman, replacing the former chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) who was elevated by his colleagues to become the Speaker of the House. The race to replace Chairman Ryan was the closest watched gavel race in recent memory, pitting two veteran panel members, Reps. Brady and Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) against each other. AGC sent a letter to Chairman Brady congratulating him on his victory, as well as outlining AGC’s tax, health and pension policy priorities. Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC), a CPA and tax lawyer, was selected to fill the committee vacancy left by the departure of Speaker Ryan.

AGC was instrumental in advancing the debate for a private activity bond (PAB) provision during the debate on the surface transportation reauthorization and funding measure last week in the House. The Performance Based Building Coalition is promoting the creation for a new category of Exempt Facility Bonds for public buildings (e.g. courthouses and universities) that would utilize public-private partnerships (P3s) to advance public projects and unlock the doors for private investment in our nation’s public building infrastructure.

Despite early criticism for utilizing a poll from a less-than-respectable firm that pushed Lindsey Graham out and demoted Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee to the undercard stage, the Fox Business Network received record ratings Tuesday night when 13.5 million viewers tuned in for the fourth primetime GOP presidential debate.

Register for the AGC Financial Issues Committee (FIC) Winter Meeting held at the Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch in Scottsdale, AZ scheduled for January 13-14, 2016. Please visit the meeting’s site to register as well as view presentations and agendas of past meetings.

Save $100 on Registration Fee Register today for the 2016 AGC Federal Contractors Conference (FEDCON) and save $100 off the registration fee. FEDCON is the premier conference for federal construction contractors to discuss the latest projects, policies and contracting issues facing the industry with federal agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Naval Facility Engineering Command, Air Force Civil Engineer Center, General Services Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of State, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Bureau of Reclamation.

Save the Date! Oct 19-21, 2016 | Las Vegas, Nevada Last week, over 480 construction company owners, CFOs, CPAs and consultants attended the successful 19th Annual AGC/CFMA Construction Financial Management Conference, jointly sponsored by AGC and the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA). During 32 interactive sessions over the three-day meeting, owners and financial professionals heard from leading experts in the fields of accounting, tax, financing, IT, insurance and sureties, health care, fraud, workforce strategies, contracting, claims and risk management.

Save the Date! Nov. 3-5, 2016 | Phoenix, Arizona Last week, over 100 construction company owners, suppliers and industry partners who perform work in the highway & transit markets attended the 2015 AGC Highway Contractors Conference. The two-day meeting featured presentations and discussions on drones, workforce issues, transportation funding, technology updates and project delivery.