AGC Charities' first-ever national Operation Opening Doors event took place in Orlando on March 16.  AGC member and student chapter volunteers, with the help of Turner Construction and several other AGC member companies, renovated the homes of two Orlando-area disabled veterans, installing handicap-accessible showers and toilets, tiling floors and painting.

View photos of the event here.

iBEAM Construction Cameras documented the transformation of Korean War veteran Sergeant Major Nestor Ortiz's bathroom, which volunteers made wheelchair-accessible.

The news was covered by the Orlando Sentinel.  Read more here.

The construction workforce was smaller in every state and the District of Columbia in January 2010 than it was just 12 months earlier, according to a new analysis of federal data released Wednesday by AGC.

The data indicated just how widespread the construction downturn is, AGC's chief economist Ken Simonson said, noting that 38 states and D.C. experienced a double digit percentage drop in construction employment.

Read the press release here. The news was covered by the Associated Press, Salt Lake Tribune, and Orlando Business Journal, among others.

For more information, contact Brian Turmail at (703) 837-5310 or turmailb@agc.org.

As President Obama and Democratic Leaders regroup from the White House summit on Health Care Reform, they have begun plotting a strategy and timeline for passage. It appears that the Democrats are considering moving the legislation at an accelerated pace, perhaps beginning as early as this week. In order to accomplish this aggressive timeline, they likely will have to pass the Senate bill and also utilize the politically toxic legislative process known as reconciliation. Meanwhile, AGC is part of a coalition that is urging Congress to rethink its current approach to health care reform.

The outcome of the process and final legislative package remains unknown at this time and some Democrats who initially opposed the legislation are being strongly urged to reconsider their vote by the Democratic leadership in order to ensure they have enough votes for passage in the House.

AGC has considerable concerns with both the process being utilized to enact this sweeping reform of the nation's health care system, as well as the policies in the bills. AGC has long advocated for health care reform that allows employers to provide affordable and quality coverage for their employees, but the current bills and policy changes being trumpeted by Democratic leaders fail to accomplish these goals.  In addition, AGC and other business groups are launching an advertising campaign that pushes for employer-friendly health care reforms.

In addition to concerns with rising taxes on individuals and employers, future projected increases on insurance premiums and mandates on employers, AGC remains opposed to singling out the construction industry. The original Senate bill excluded small employers in the construction industry from the small business exemption. While the outline released from the White House last week does not mention this provision, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has not voiced his opposition to it.

Please communicate with your members of Congress on health care reform and specifically on the construction industry employer provision by using the AGC Legislative Action Center.

For more information, contact Jim Young at (202) 547-0133 or youngj@agc.org.

The construction unemployment rate jumped to 27.1 percent and construction employment dropped to a 14-year low as another 64,000 construction workers lost jobs in February, according to federal employment figures released Friday.  AGC found that the economy would have added jobs for the third time in four months had it not been for declines in construction employment.

Read AGC's press release here. The news was covered in the Christian Science Monitor, LA Times, Orange County Register, Miami Herald, Chicago Sun Times and the Kansas City Business Journal, among others.

For more information, contact Brian Turmail at (703) 837-5310 or turmailb@agc.org.

Tom Foss (Griffith Company, Brea, Calif.) testified on transportation investments before Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Tom Foss, president of Griffith Company, Brea, Calif., presented AGC testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee on the importance of transportation investments to the national economy.

Foss emphasized that the construction industry, like other businesses, relies on a well-functioning transportation system for delivery of materials and products to job sites and, therefore, called for increased investment. Foss pointed out that unemployment in the construction industry is currently more than 24 percent and that additional highway and transportation investment is needed to remedy this situation. AGC's testimony pointed out that transportation funding in the stimulus legislation has saved construction jobs, but that more funding was needed. Foss also called for enactment of a long term SAFETEA-LU reauthorization with increased funding to bring long-term economic growth and certainty to the highway construction market. EPW Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said she is committed to getting a six-year highway bill completed this year. She called the hearing the first step in accomplishing this goal.

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

Meet the two veterans who AGC Charities will help on March 16 in Orlando, Fla., as part of the first ever national Operation Opening Doors project.

Watch the video here.

WWII veteran Harding Cox and Korean War Veteran Nestor Ortiz need your help to make their homes accessible. To find out how you can help, contact Nahee Rosso at (703) 837-5348 or rosson@agc.org.

Construction spending in January fell by $5.5 billion to $884 billion, its lowest level since June 2003, according to AGC's analysis of new federal figures. Declining investments in private-sector non-residential construction and public construction at all levels of government drove the decline, AGC's chief economist Ken Simonson said.

Read AGC's press release here.

For more information, contact Brian Turmail at (703) 837-5310 or turmailb@agc.org.

USA Today featured interviews with AGC's chief economist, Ken Simonson, AGC president Doug Pruitt, and members Christian Zimmermann of Pike Industries and Bob Schafer of Ranger Construction.

Read the article here.

For more information, contact Brian Turmail at (703) 837-5310 or turmailb@agc.org.

Today's nationally-televised health care summit, as well as upcoming November elections, have renewed the urgency for a health care reform bill, despite problems reconciling the House- and Senate-passed versions. The summit will include leaders of both parties and the White House.

In the days leading up to the summit, several Democratic senators explored using the partisan reconciliation process to pass reform that includes a public option against the desire of moderates in their party. While the president did release an outline of his own plan this week, it remains uncertain if Democrats will have an official agreement or if the Republicans will make significant contributions to the process.

The president's proposal attempts to bridge the gap between the House and Senate and the summary released outlines some changes to the employer mandate provisions.  The proposal:

• Requires employers to help defray the cost of coverage for their employees who receive tax subsidies to purchase health coverage on their own.
• Changes changes the transition to the employer responsibility policy for employers with 50 or more workers by subtracting out the first 30 workers from the payment calculation (e.g., a firm with 51 workers that does not offer coverage will pay an amount equal to 51 minus 30, or 21 times the applicable per employee payment amount).
• Changes the applicable payment for firms that do not offer coverage and have more than 50 employees to $2,000, one-third less than the average House assessment for a typical firm and less than half of the average employer contribution to health insurance in 2009.  (A significant note to the construction industry is the proposal applies the same firm-size threshold across the board to all industries, unlike the Senate version that singled out the construction industry.)
• Fully eliminates the assessment for workers in a waiting period, while maintaining the 90-day limit on the length of any waiting period beginning in 2014.

The Senate is expected to extend unemployment insurance and COBRA benefits later this week.

For details on the president's health care proposal, click here. For more information, contact Jim Young at (202) 547-0133 or youngj@agc.org.

By a vote of 70-28, the Senate today passed the long-awaited "jobs" legislation with thirteen Republican votes. The bill extends the federal highway program, includes payroll tax breaks, and allows public bodies to convert tax credit bonds to Build America Bonds.

Earlier in the week, the Senate voted to allow debate on the bill to proceed. The vote was largely along party lines with five Republican senators joining 58 Democrats in support: Bond (Mo.), Brown (Mass.), Collins (Maine), Snowe (Maine), Voinovich (Ohio). Senator Nelson (Neb.) was the lone Democrat voting against.

AGC sent numerous alerts in support of the legislation and members across the country responded by urging their senators to support cloture. AGC followed up with visits and correspondence to senators, and by sending a Key Vote alert today pointing out the high importance the construction industry placed on today's vote.

The bill contains the following provisions:

• Extends highway program authorization through December 31, 2010 at current funding levels.
• Provides additional revenue to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent through the first quarter of 2011. Restores highway spending authority that was cut on September 30, 2009 due to a budget rescission in SAFETEA-LU.
• Allow public bodies to convert tax credit bonds to Build America Bonds.
• Exempts workers hired in 2010 that have been unemployed for at least 60 days from Social Security payroll taxes.
• Extends 2008 and 2009 section 179 expensing thresholds so that taxpayers may elect to write-off up to $250,000 of certain capital expenditures in 2010 in lieu of depreciating those costs over time.

The bill must now go to the House for consideration.

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