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.

During the stimulus anniversary media event, President Obama said, "If you don't think the stimulus is working, talk to Chuck." AGC member Chuck Niederriter is far right.

President Obama made this announcement Wednesday, on the one year anniversary of the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 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.

President Obama, left, shakes hands with AGC member Chuck Niederriter, right.

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 a new analysis of stimulus data that shows the program is delivering more jobs than initially estimated. Read more on the event here.

AGC's analysis shows that the stimulus is delivering more construction jobs than initially estimated, and that funding will expand beyond transportation programs in 2010.

Click here to access AGC's press release, conference call remarks and photos of employees who are working thanks to the stimulus.

The Wall Street Journal, San Diego Union Tribune, Denver Post, and Phoenix Business Journal, among others, covered the call.

In addition, AGC connected CBS Evening News with Matthew Jahns, a D.C.-area project manager for AGC member company Jacobs, to talk about the impact of the stimulus on him and his team. Watch the video here.

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

AGC issued a statement in response to the California Air Resources Board's decision to delay enforcement of its off-road diesel emissions rule, but to proceed with the off-road diesel rule as soon as is legally permissible.

Read AGC's statement here. The news was covered by Roads and Bridges, San Diego Daily Transcript, Central Valley Business Journal, and Occupational Health and Safety.

For more information, contact Mike Kennedy at (703) 837-5335 or kennedym@agc.org.

Overall U.S. job growth continued to be undermined by the severe downturn affecting the construction industry as another 75,000 construction workers lost their jobs in January 2010 and the industry's unemployment rate jumped to 24.7 percent, according to federal employment figures released Friday.  Excluding construction job losses, nonfarm payroll employment actually rose for the second time in three months, AGC said.

Read the full press release here. The news was covered by Reuters, San Diego Union Tribune and the Philadelphia Inquirer, among others.

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

Linda Conrad of Zurich Insurance explains the risks and opportunities posed by global supply chain changes.

What would you do if your steel fabricator for five projects suffered a catastrophe? Be it financial collapse or a devastating hurricane, it poses a significant risk to your projects and profitability.

Linda Conrad, Zurich Insurance, and Don Nabor, Gilbane Building Company, presented a session on weak links in the global supply chain at AGC's Surety Bonding and Construction Risk Management meeting.

They explained that natural and man-made catastrophes are occurring much more frequently than ever before, from tsunamis to earthquakes to market collapse. Since suppliers can easily be located in areas affect by these kinds of disasters, companies need to start planning for these kind of external factors when developing their risk management program.

Additional supply chain risks exist, including regulation changes and damage to company reputation.  In addition, increased competition among subcontractors brings new players to the table, forcing a learning curve.

And as new interest in Lean practices and cutting inventory risks grows, contractors will face a greater chance of running out of supplies when supply chains fail.  Risk is neutral, according to Conrad, and can be a threat or opportunity.

Both Conrad and Nabor urged attendees to consider the global supply chain a financial issue, instead of just a purchasing issue.

For more information contact Monica Cardenas at (703) 837-5364 or cardenasm@agc.org

Ed Gentilcore, partner with Duane & Morris, explains the risks associated with LEED v3.

AGC's Surety Bonding and Construction Risk Management meeting included Tiptoeing Through the Garden, a presentation that explored the new risks embedded in LEED v3, and how the ConsensusDOCS green building addendum addresses those issues.

Presenters Ed Gentilcore, partner at Duane & Morris, and Steve Charney, partner at Peckar & Abramson, discussed some of the issues inherent in the green building process as LEED certification is awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-government entity.  In addition, the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), which oversees LEED credentialing, allows for an unrelated third party to report that a green building is not in compliance, and may investigate without notification until a building is decertified. 

Gentilcore and Charney also discussed the ConsensusDOCS 310 Green Building Addendum, which responded to many of the risks associated with green building by reducing and allocating potential liabilities.  In fact, Charney noted that the addendum acts as a "conductor of the orchestra" so that all project participants are aware of each other's roles.

For more information, contact Monica Cardenas at (703) 837-5310 or cardenasm@agc.org.

Contractors share cost saving and risk reduction tips.

More than 200 contractors and insurance and surety professionals attended AGC's meeting on Surety Bonding and Construction Risk Management to talk about their shared issues and concerns and increase efficiency and effectiveness.

AGC Risk Management Committee chairman David O'Haren, executive vice president of Holder Construction Group, kicked off the meeting Tuesday morning, which began with a discussion on relating risk assessment and mitigation to a company's core values, led by industry leaders John Alberici (Alberici Constructors, Michael Bolen (McCarthy Construction Co.) and Robert Van Cleave (Balfour Beatty Construction).