On Sept. 14, the Obama administration released a report to Congress providing a first guess at how they will implement $1.2 trillion in automatic budget cuts—called sequestration—slated to begin on Jan. 2, 2013. This sequestration process comes as a result of the debt ceiling deal –enacted under the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA)—for which background information can be found here and here.

This afternoon, the Senate voted 67-31 to proceed on a six-month, FY 2013 continuing resolution (CR), funding the government through March 27, 2013 at about FY 2012 levels. However, because the Senate was not able to reach unanimous consent on the motion, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filed a cloture motion, which requires 30 hours of debate before a vote on passage of the CR can be brought to the Senate floor. Unless an agreement can be reached, the vote to pass the CR will take place at approximately 1:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.  The House passed the CR on Sept. 13.

A report was recently released by the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA) and Horizon Actuarial Services, which contains an inventory of historical data for all multiemployer pension plans in the construction industry (not just mechanical trades).  The report explains how the funding shortfalls in construction-industry multiemployer pension plans cannot be easily corrected by only increasing contribution rates.

The House passed a continuing resolution (CR) for FY 2013 by a vote of 329-91 that would largely hold government spending at levels set in 2012. The $1.047 trillion spending measure would fund the government through March 27, 2013.  The Senate is expected to take up and pass the CR next week.

On Sept. 4, General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Dan Tangherlini announced the selection of Dorothy Robyn, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment, to head the Public Building Service (PBS).  PBS is charged with negotiating leasing and development deals for many of the federal government’s nonmilitary agencies, overseeing 374.6 million square feet of federal workspace.

Association Also Weighs in on the Treatment of Air Data Influenced by Exceptional Events AGC recently submitted comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on proposed revisions to its National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5).  AGC also commented on draft guidance to improve the Agency’s Exceptional Events Rule.  That rule allows EPA to exclude certain air-quality monitoring data when determining whether or not an area violates a NAAQS.

Late last week, the Obama Administration released two pieces of guidance that are important to employers. The Treasury Department released IRS Notice 2012-58, describing safe harbor methods that employers may use to determine which employees are treated as full-time employees for the purpose of the employer responsibility provisions, along with other issues.

The Democrat platform was adopted this week at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.  Overall, the platform fails to outline specific Democratic plans or positions in what we consider to be key policy areas.  The platform does touch on several issues relevant to AGC priorities including, tax, infrastructure, immigration, labor and employment, regulations, and energy. 

The next webinar in AGC’s 8-part webinar series, titled “Walking the Compliance Tightrope: How to Meet the Strict Legal Standards for Government Work,” will focus on preventing illegal gratuities, kickbacks and bribes.  This webinar will take place on Sept. 13 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. EDT.

The Republican platform that was adopted this week addressed several AGC priorities including: tax policy, labor and employment policies, infrastructure investment and energy. Here is a very short summary of specific issues address in the party platform.