McConnell Takes the Gavel as Senate Majority Leader The 114th Congress convened this week with Republicans controlling both chambers for the first time in eight years.  The first order of business in the House of Representatives was to re-elect John Boehner (R-Ohio), who overcame a small challenge from within his party, as Speaker of the House.  In the Senate, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) takes over as Majority Leader.

On Wednesday, the House approved H.R. 26, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), by a vote of 416-5 vote.  On Thursday, the Senate approved the bill by a vote of 93-4.  The TRIA bill would:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Dec. 19 that it will not regulate coal combustion residuals (CCR), including fly ash, as a hazardous substance and by doing so will preserve the future beneficial use of this product in concrete and most other construction applications.  AGC has been actively involved in working to convince EPA that a hazardous designation was unnecessary and would have an extremely detrimental impact on the future use of fly ash and raise liability concerns about its previous use. 

Four House members from two committees most critical to the highway reauthorization are asking their colleagues to sign onto a letter to House leadership that expresses strong bipartisan commitment for addressing transportation needs by providing a long-term funding solution.  It is a bipartisan “Dear Colleague” letter that is now being circulated by Reps. Ribble (9R-Wisc.), Lipinski (D-Ill.), Reed (R-N.Y.) and Pascrell (D-N.J.) calling for an end to short-term extensions and a revenue source to support a long-term bill. The letter has been sent to all Republican and Democrat House offices requesting their support.  The letter will be sent to Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Pelosi sometime next spring, demonstrating strong bipartisan support for this legislation. 

On Dec. 16, the Senate approved H.R. 5771, the “Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014” by a 76-16 vote. The $41.6 billion retroactive package of tax extenders, endorsed by the House on Dec. 3, now heads to the president’s desk for signature. The tax extenders legislation restored approximately 55 expired tax provisions for fiscal year 2014, including the following AGC-supported tax policies:

On Tuesday, the president signed into law the $1.1 trillion spending bill, which eventually passed both the U.S. House and Senate after a tumultuous week filled with partisan politics on unrelated provisions. This nine-month bill funds federal agencies through the end of the fiscal year with the exception of the Department of Homeland Security – which is only funded through Feb. 27. The new law includes a series of association-backed multi-employer pension reforms, all designed to allow employers and employees the opportunity to protect and improve retirement programs.

On Dec. 16, AGC submitted comments to OFCCP in response to its proposed rule prohibiting federal contractors from retaliating against employees who disclose compensation. The rule is in response to Executive Order 13665, signed by President Obama in April 2014. It applies to federal and federally-assisted contracts and subcontracts, as it amends Executive Order 11246.

On Dec. 16, as part of the tax extenders legislation, the Senate passed a provision that would increase a fuel tax to benefit inland waterway lock and dam construction and maintenance projects. The provision would raise the fuel tax from 20 cents to 29 cents per gallon on barges using the inland waterway system and will take effect after April 1, 2015. For the last several years, AGC has worked with a coalition of commercial barge, agricultural and labor interests in pressing for this increase in inland waterways infrastructure funding.

Hand counted sampling is now complete in the Tucson-area congressional district recount in both Pima and Cochise Counties, and Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper made the results official. Retired Air Force Colonel Martha McSally (R) has defeated two-term Congressman Ron Barber (D) by 167 votes.  In the original count from Nov. 4, McSally led the Congressman by 161 votes.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) announced yesterday that he will indeed form a political action committee for purposes of testing his viability in a campaign for president, thus following in his father's and brother's footsteps. The announcement is hardly a surprise based upon Mr. Bush's political moves of the preceding weeks.