Visit HardhatsforHighways.org to Contact Your Elected Officials Following the midterm elections on Nov. 4, the 113th Congress will reconvene to take final action on a number of legislative items that must be addressed before its adjournment. While Congress passed an extension providing funding until May 2015 for the federal transportation programs, AGC is pushing for transportation authorization and funding to be one of the priorities that will be taken up in the lame duck session.

Book your Hotel – Conference Rate Expires Next Week Construction Future will be the overriding topic at the 2014 Highway & Utilities Contractors Conference on Nov. 13-15 at the Omni La Costa resort in San Diego, Calif. A variety of sessions have been organized to cover topics that will help contractors position their companies for Construction Future. Highlights include: discovering the next generation of managers; technology applications; paperless projects; industry megatrends; November election impacts; and Design-Build success stories. To learn more, book your hotel room and register, click here.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) released its final rule implementing Executive Order 13658 (EO), which establishes a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour for direct federal prime contractors and subcontractors at all tiers. That $10.10 minimum wage must be adjusted annually for inflation. The new minimum wage will take effect on direct federal agency contracts entered into on or after Jan. 1, 2015. Federally-assisted contractors are not affected. The final rule will be published in the Federal Register on Oct. 7.

The Office of Advocacy, an independent office within the Small Business Administration (SBA), has submitted their formal comments to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerning the proposed rule redefining “waters of the U.S.” and the scope of the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction.

With Oct. 1 marking the beginning of fiscal year 2015, the 31-member organization Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) urged Congress to find a way to pay for, and pass, a new long-term surface transportation measure as soon as possible.  They cautioned that failure to act would lead to another self-imposed funding crisis that would undermine vital road, highway and transit repairs.

On Wednesday, House Republicans decided to delay consideration of a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded after the end of the fiscal year – Sept. 30.  The decision was made following President Obama’s request to add language to the bill related to activities in the Middle East.  House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) explained that a delay in the vote was necessary because “everybody should be given time” to consider the president’s request.  The president is looking for congressional support for activities against ISIL.  While he is not yet seeking additional spending authority, he could seek as much as $500 million more to train and equip troops to fight ISIL after the election.

Earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5078, the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act, by a vote of 262-152. This bill would halt the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) proposed rulemaking that redefines “waters of the U.S.” under the Clean Water Act (CWA).  It would prevent the agencies from finalizing the rule and require that they consult with state and local governments to form recommendations for a consensus regulatory proposal.

This week, the Senate voted to advance debate on the Paycheck Fairness Act by a vote of 73 to 25. The bill would give the government greater control over how a company’s employees are paid by expanding the Equal Pay Act to limit an employer’s ability to make pay decisions based on experience, local market rates, education, or other business factors. It could also threaten incentive programs, promote class action law suits, and create unlimited compensatory and punitive damages in Equal Pay Act cases. This bill would apply to all employers with two or more employees.

Responses Will Help Us Push for Measures Outlines in AGC Workforce Development Plan Since we conducted our first survey to gauge the extent of workforce shortages last Fall, we have heard from many of you that the labor market has only become tighter in the intervening twelve months as demand continues to grow for many types of construction in many parts of the country. While it is clear that worker shortages are a growing concern, and in some cases a significant problem, we feel it is important to better quantify where these shortages are taking place, how severe they are, and what steps firms are taking to both cope with tight labor markers and improve the supply of new, qualified workers. That is why we are asking you to take a few minutes to complete the following workforce survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2014AGCWorkforceSurvey.

This morning, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, along with the Railroad Subcommittee, introduced the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2014 (PRRIA).  This bipartisan legislation is scheduled to be considered by the full committee on Wednesday, Sept. 17.