On October 17, 2018, the Trump Administration unveiled its Fall 2018 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions mapping out federal agencies’ priorities for the coming months. This bi-annual publication informs the public of regulatory or de-regulatory actions under consideration or planned by federal agencies. The present agenda includes several submissions with implications for construction contractors, included
On Oct. 9, AGC joined industry allies in urging Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin to have the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issue interim guidance to correct a drafting error from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that accidentally changed the depreciation period for certain commercial real estate improvements to 39 years, instead of 15 years—or
On Sept. 17, the U.S. Senate approved a bipartisan bill targeting policy changes to help reverse the current opioid crisis. AGC-supported changes in the bill, which include increasing the number of mental health and substance abuse professionals, providing job training and treatment services to individuals with substance use disorders, and providing support for recovering individuals to
On Sept. 13, the House passed an AGC-supported water resources development bill that helps the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) maintain much of our nation’s water resources infrastructure. The Senate is expected to approve the bill in the coming days. While not a funding bill, this legislation allows Congress to eventually approve billions of dollars in funding for
Eighty percent of construction firms report they are having a hard time filling hourly craft positions that represent the bulk of the construction workforce, according to the results of an industry-wide survey released today by Autodesk and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Association officials said shortages pose a significant risk to future economic growth. AGC
Urge Congress to Take Action on Infrastructure House Transportation and infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) released a Republican “discussion draft” for addressing the nation’s infrastructure needs and, in particular, fixing the long term health of the Highway Trust Fund. Some of the ideas have come from existing proposals from the administration’s infrastructure plan as well as
AGC Participates in White House Event to Sign Job Training Pledge On July 19, the President signed an Executive Order that establishes the President’s National Council for the America Worker. The council will help develop a national strategy for job training programs with guidance from an advisory board of private sector and government representatives to
The U.S. Department of Labor has published a final rule rescinding the controversial “Persuader Rule” issued under Pres. Obama. This is a victory for AGC and others who opposed the regulation and urged the Trump administration to rescind it. The Persuader Rule sought to expand the reporting obligations of labor relations consultants (broadly defined) who conduct activities to persuade
Following Scott Pruitt’s resignation late last week, Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler assumed the role of acting administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on July 9. In his first address to EPA staff, Wheeler indicated that he would continue President Trump’s goals for the agency to reign in federal regulatory overreach and refocus EPA on
On June 29, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued a supplemental proposal to the July 2017 proposed action to repeal the 2015 Obama Administration definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS). Public feedback on the July 2017 proposal indicated some level of public confusion about
