An interim rule was issued that brings many of the reporting requirements first made public in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to the broader scope of federal contracting. The rule calls for reporting executive compensation and first-tier subcontract awards if the prime contractor and its subcontractors meet certain thresholds. It is based on the same point of law, the amended Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (a product of then-Senator Obama and Senator Tom Coburn [R-Okla.]).

Under this rule, a prime contractor is required to report for disclosure on www.usaspending.gov the names and compensation of their five most highly compensated officers if in the preceding year the contractor received $25 million or more in revenues from federal contracts and subcontracts and 80 percent or more of its annual gross revenues from federal contracts and it does not already file this information with the SEC. All three must be satisfied to trigger the compensation reporting. The prime contractor is also required to collect and report this compensation information for its first-tier subcontractors if the subcontractor meets the three triggers and the subcontract is for $25 thousand or more.

The prime contractor is also required to report to the system every subcontract if the prime contract is $25 thousand or greater. This requirement is phased in however, as follows:

1.     Until September 30, 2010, any newly awarded subcontract must be awarded if the prime contract award amount was $20 million or more.

2.     From October 1, 2010 until February 28, 2011 any newly awarded subcontract must be reported if the prime contract award was $550 thousand or more.

3.     Starting March 1, 2011, any newly awarded subcontract must be reported if the prime contract award amount was $25 thousand or more.

This is an interim rule, and as such it became effective upon publication and will operate unless and until a final rule is enacted. User guides, FAQs, and an online demonstration are available at the Federal Subaward Reporting System website, www.fsrs.gov. AGC will submit comments on the interim rule before the September 7 deadline.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has held 14 hearings to date on the progress of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and the latest hearing Tuesday dealt with the first full year of the program. According to the Committee, the ARRA has resulted in 10,348 highway, transit and wastewater projects breaking ground, creating or sustaining nearly 300,000 direct jobs and 938,000 indirect jobs, while 5,700 more projects are in the works. Additionally, the Recovery Act is helping improve to 24,000 miles of roads and 1,100 bridges. Finally, 77 percent of the stimulus' formula-based road and transit spending, or $26.4 billion, has been put out to bid by state officials.

The Committee's analysis of the job creation from the ARRA validated that infrastructure investment is a significant job creator. AGC was also encouraged by the Committee's call for further investment in infrastructure as a means for job creation. Other issues from the hearing included the recent TIGER grant awards, small business and minority/women contractor participation in Recovery Act contracts, and implementation of Buy American provisions.

President Obama marked the one year anniversary of the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Wednesday with AGC member Chuck Niederriter (Golden Triangle Construction, Imperial, Pa.) by his side. Thanks to the stimulus, Golden Triangle is hiring more than 100 employees this spring and will order new equipment, creating more jobs.

The administration came to AGC for a construction contractor who has benefited from the stimulus to be a part of today's White House event. During his remarks, President Obama announced, "If you don't think the stimulus is working, talk to Chuck."

Watch part of the event here, or read Bloomberg's coverage. Obama and Biden's remarks are available here.

Niederriter, president of Constructors Association of Western Pennsylvania, participated in AGC's media conference call to announce anew analysis of stimulus data that shows the program is delivering more jobs than initially estimated.

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced $1.5 billion in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grants to 51 projects across the country. The TIGER grants program was created in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which was signed into law one year ago yesterday.

When DOT solicited applications for TIGER grants, more than 1,400 applications seeking in excess of $57 billion in funding were submitted. While ARRA did not specify the criteria to be used in selecting individual projects, it did set out some broad parameters. ARRA specified that these discretionary grants were to be awarded to state and local governments or transit agencies on a competitive basis for a variety of transportation projects that will have a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area or a region. Rail-related projects are the biggest winner, with $789 million of the available funds awarded to these projects. The funds remain available until September 30, 2011. The DOT 2010 appropriations bill included an additional $600 million in funds for the TIGER grant program, which have not yet been awarded.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, most states were on target to meet Wednesdays' Recovery Act deadline for projects receiving federal assistance through the State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs.  Considering the significant lag time due to new "Buy American" requirements and other administrative issues, this is a significant accomplishment. In fact, many states have leveraged EPA dollars with additional SRF funds by a factor of 57 percent.

AGC estimates that EPA Recovery Act dollars ultimately will be leveraged nationally almost 2 to 1, yielding at least $12 billion in projects from the $6 billion allocated to the SRF's under the Recovery Act. States that have not met the February 17 deadline will ultimately lose funds not under contract.

The U.S. Senate defeated an amendment by a vote of 53-45 to legislation that would have increased the federal debt ceiling and prevented any new financial commitments for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).  The amendment was particularly troublesome because it would have invalidated the key provision used to pay for the $75 billion of new appropriations in the House-passed Main Street for Jobs Act and would have likely prevented the Senate from moving forward on their jobs bill because they too are likely to use TARP funds to offset the cost of their bill.

AGC, as co-chair of the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC), sent a letter to the Senate opposing any effort to redirect the TARP funds to deficit reduction.

President Obama convened a White House Summit  on Thursday to discuss actions that can be taken to create jobs. Leaders from business, labor and state and local government were invited to participate, including former AGC president Doug Pitcock, who served as AGC's representative.

Following opening session comments by President Obama and Vice President Biden, the participants separated into breakout groups to discuss specific recommendations. At the breakout session titled "Creating Jobs through the Rebuilding of America's Infrastructure," Pitcock made the point that construction projects have the dual benefit of creating jobs in the short term and providing long-term economic benefits by producing assets that will be here for future generations.

Pitcock also said the project approval process needs to be streamlined so that projects can go to construction quicker. President Obama responded that he is an advocate for investing in infrastructure and understood the approval process needs improvement. He said he is pushing legislation to create a National Infrastructure Bank because he believes that major infrastructure investment needs financial support beyond the annual appropriations process. He also views the bank as a way to leverage private sector funds in support of infrastructure.

The White House intends to use the recommendations from the Summit to craft a legislative proposal to address unemployment.

For more information, contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.

AGC CEO Steve Sandherr met with Governor Ed Rendell (D-Pa.) and members of the House and Senate to discuss the drafting of legislation to address the dire unemployment situation and the importance of a significant infrastructure component in any jobs bill.

Sandherr promoted investing in all types of infrastructure as well as the need to fully fund a multi-year highway reauthorization bill. During the meeting, the need to address and find long-term financing options, such as a National Infrastructure Bank, was discussed. AGC believes an infrastructure bank would best be included in the long-term bill rather than a short-term jobs bill.  Sandherr discussed the meeting with D.C.'s Streetsblog.

Rendell has been a national leader on infrastructure and is the co-chairman of Building America's Future, a bipartisan coalition of elected officials dedicated to bringing about a new era of U.S. investment in infrastructure that enhances the nation's prosperity and quality of life.  Rendell is expected to hold a press conference on Monday in Washington. 

For more information, contact Jeff Shoaf at (202) 547-3350 or shoafj@agc.org.

As the White House holds their jobs summit, House and Senate Democrats have begun the process of drafting legislation to address the dire unemployment situation facing the country.  The timing on when such a bill would pass is not clear.  The Senate will likely take up a "jobs" bill in January, while the House's intent is to pass a jobs package by the end of the year, though Democratic leaders have acknowledged the short congressional schedule may mean waiting until early next year.

AGC has been working closely with leadership in the House and Senate to ensure that any "jobs" bill includes a significant increase in infrastructure spending and that the spending must be targeted to existing programs that can have an immediate impact in providing the construction industry with a much needed shot in the arm.  At various high level meetings, AGC has encouraged House and Senate leaders to build on the successes of the stimulus and include a significant increase in funding for transportation and water infrastructure programs.

In addition to infrastructure spending, Congress is considering extending unemployment insurance, renewing a program that offers the unemployed a 65 percent subsidy for health insurance premiums under COBRA, providing tax credits to employers who hire new employees, and increasing the amount of loans offered through the Small Business Administration.

As this process evolves, how these investments and policies are paid for will need to be addressed.  House and Senate Democrats have advocated for the use of the uncommitted or repaid money (about $210 billion) from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).  Republicans oppose using TARP funds to pay for a "jobs' bill, and instead favor using unspent stimulus funds.

For more information, contact Sean O'Neill at (202) 547-8892 or oneills@agc.org.

AGC met with officials from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on November 18 to discuss AGC's position on the implementation of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA).  The GAO was asked by Senate leaders to review whether any new federal requirements affected the selection or start of some ARRA projects.

The agency also was interested in determining the effects of the reporting requirements and the new Buy American provisions and how those requirements may affect the selection or start of certain projects. AGC shared some concerns over the reporting requirements and how the additional oversight had caused some confusion for both new and experienced federal contractors. AGC explained its experiences with the new Buy American requirements and how those rules have challenged the EPA-funded State Revolving Fund programs, and expressed concern over the rising construction unemployment in the U.S. and its effect on the industry.

The meeting gave AGC an opportunity to inform GAO about the practical, and negative, effect of government-mandated project labor agreements, particularly on ARRA projects.  For example, the GAO now understands the problems of having contracting officers with little construction expertise negotiate GMLA's and the impact a mandated agreement may have on the cost of an ARRA project.

The GAO is expected to deliver a final report  to Congress in late February, 2010.

 For more information, contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.