On Friday, the House of Representatives is expected to approve another bill that permanently extends an expired tax provision. H.R. 4718 would expand and make permanent 50 percent bonus depreciation for qualified property placed in service after Dec. 31, 2013. While bonus depreciation is not classified as a traditional “extender,” it does keep the focus on the expired tax provisions. Coupled with the higher Section 179 limits (H.R. 4457), the bonus depreciation bill goes a long way towards moving the tax treatment of business investment towards general expensing; a concept many economists have argued is good for the economy. The legislation is the fourth tax bill to be approved by the House in the past two months.

Yesterday, the U.S. House overwhelming passed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act by a vote of 415-6. The vote came on the heels of the Senate’s 95-3 vote two weeks ago. The strong number of votes in both the House and Senate were a rare display of bipartisanship. The legislation is now expected to be signed into law by the president in the coming days.

Both the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee moved legislation today to provide sufficient revenue to the Highway Trust Fund in order to keep highway and transit programs operational until May 31, 2015. The House bill included language extending MAP-21 authorization, at current levels, to May 31, while the Senate bill did not. However, the Senate provided sufficient revenue to carry the program until June 1 and is expected to add extension language at some point.

On July 9, AGC sent a detailed letter and joined with an industry business coalition in a letter to the House of Representatives strongly opposing legislation automatically debarring federal contractors for any violation—or even claims thereof—of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The legislation came in the form of an amendment introduced by Rep. Keith Ellison (D- Minn.). The Ellison Amendment would prohibit the use of funds allocated under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works and Department of Energy funding bill from being used to enter into a contract with any person who discloses, via the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS), a civil, criminal, or administrative proceeding that resulted, or could have resulted in a finding of fault and liability related to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). As of press time, the amendment has not been voted on.

The chief executive officer of AGC of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, released the following statement in response to a report on the condition of the nation's rural roads released by national transportation research group TRIP today.

On July 9, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a record amount of funding for maintaining the nation’s ports and harbors through dredging activities. The House voted 281-137 to pass an amendment by Reps. Janice Hahn (D-Calif.) and Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) that added $57 million to the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.

Comment on Massive Expansion of Federal Jurisdiction in “Waters of the U.S.” Proposed Rule Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) released their notice of proposed rulemaking redefining “waters of the U.S.” under the Clean Water Act (CWA). This rule expansively defines waters - claiming traditionally navigable waters, tributaries (including ditches), impoundments, adjacent waters (including waters in the floodplain or riparian areas), and “other waters” all as federally jurisdictional. More projects will have to obtain Section 404 permits, increasing the time and cost of performing construction services. 

In a rare display of bipartisanship, the Senate overwhelmingly passed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act by a vote of 95-3. This bipartisan legislation will streamline the workforce development system, giving states greater flexibility to address worker shortages and strengthening employer engagement. AGC urged Senators to support the bill and marked it as a key vote.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a case challenging the validity of three “recess appointments” President Obama made to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in January 2012.  The court ruled unanimously that President Obama violated the Recess Appointments Clause of the Constitution. The case was challenged with the help of the AGC-supported Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The decision will affect the status of hundreds of cases that were deemed to have been decided by invalid board members of the NLRB.

House Ways & Means Committee to Release Plans in Early July Today, the Senate Finance Committee had planned to hold a markup of Chairman Ron Wyden's (D-Ore.) $9 billion Highway Trust Fund patch.  However, at the request of ranking Republican member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Chairman Wyden suspended the markup to allow Republicans more time to develop alternatives to his proposal.  Republicans remained focused on finding spending cuts to offset the patch and would like more time to negotiate with Democrats to forge a bipartisan compromise.  The second part of the markup  may happen the week of July 7.