Calls for Congressional Repeal These Agency Policies
On November 15, AGC urged Congress to repeal—under the Congressional Review Act (CRA)—burdensome federal agency policies, including the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA) multi-employer citation policy, the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) bid preference policy for construction project proposals including project labor agreements (PLAs), and the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) guidance seeking to hold individuals in construction firms criminally liable for company offenses. A recent decision by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) confirmed what AGC informed Congress of last November: that Congress may repeal not only final rules under the CRA, but also agency guidance and policies.
Collectively, these policies place unnecessary and unreasonable risks on contractors, often driving up the cost of construction. The OSHA multi-employer citation policy has created a confounding web of risk for prime contractors, often considered controlling employers responsible for the miscues of other contractors on the jobsite. GSA is the only federal construction agency that provides a 10 point bid preference for proposals with PLAs. And, the DOJ policy encourages prosecutorial fishing expeditions, instead of calculated enforcement efforts to address the actions of bad actors.
AGC has previously encouraged the administration to address these policies and will continue to work with both Congress and the agencies to repeal them.
For more information, contact Jimmy Christianson at (703) 837-5325 or [email protected].

Contact your Congressional Delegation Today
Neither the version of tax reform legislation approved by the House today nor the Senate version currently under consideration in the Senate Finance Committee currently contain provisions to fix the Highway Trust Fund’s revenue shortfall. Nevertheless, AGC and the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) continues to press both houses of Congress to use tax reform as an opportunity to address the trust fund’s solvency. TCC sent a letter today to Senate Finance Committee members highlighting this concern and urging action. The letter mirrors one previously sent to the House Ways & Means Committee.Contact your members of Congress and ask them to push for inclusion of a Highway Trust Fund revenue solution as the process moves forward.
For more information, contact Brian Deery at [email protected] or (703) 837-5319.

Early Bird Registration Ends November 20, 2017
The AGC Financial Issues Committee (FIC) Summer Meeting will be held January 8-9 at the Kimpton Solamar in San Diego, CA. Visit the meeting site to register and book your stay!
The Committee is geared toward member company CFOs, Controllers, Tax Directors, Sureties and other senior accounting professionals – in which attendees have an opportunity to learn as well as formulate positions on tax and accounting matters that directly affect AGC member companies. Meetings center around discussions with FASB, practitioners, and financial officer breakout groups on topics including internal controls, project performance reviews and cybersecurity solutions. Attendees also have an opportunity to network and discuss a wide variety of topics, including: audit issues faced by construction companies; Executive & Congressional action on federal tax policy; and best practices for industry professionals.
For more information, contact Matthew Turkstra at [email protected] or (202) 547-4733.

Register today for this complementary webinar for AGC members. As you know, the most far-reaching tax reform legislation since 1986 is speeding through Congress. No matter what your construction market—public or private—or construction firm—c-corporation, s-corporation, LLC, LLP, or partnership—the passage of this legislation will have an impact on you.
During this webinar, AGC’s lead infrastructure and tax lobbyists on Capitol Hill—Sean O’Neill and Matt Turkstra— and Chief Economist Ken Simonson will discuss:

• The latest updates on what’s in and what’s out of the tax reform legislation;


• The likelihood of its becoming law and, if so, when it would take effect;


• What this could mean for your construction business—no matter the type, c-corp, s-corp, LLC, partnership or so forth;


• What this could mean for your construction marketplace—public or private; and


• How AGC is advocating for your business and what you can do to help shape this critical legislation.

Tell Your Representative/Senators to Provide Tax Relief for Construction
Earlier today the House passed its tax reform legislation, H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, by a vote of 227-205.  While there are a number of positives in the bill, such as repealing the estate tax, repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax, (AMT), and increasing the exemption from percentage of completion accounting to $25 million, AGC continues to have concerns about the taxation of pass-throughs and the lack of infrastructure financing in the bill.  AGC is continuing to communicate with the members of the House and Senate to make improvements in the legislation throughout the legislative process and urges you to contact your members of Congress and urge them to treat S-corps fairly as compared to C-corps and maintain incentives for public and private construction in tax reform.
On Nov. 9, the Senate Finance Committee released the Senate’s version of comprehensive tax reform, and, since then, its legislation has been significantly amended.  The Senate tax reform plan differs from the House’s in a number of meaningful ways, and AGC has put together a chart comparing the two bills.
For the construction industry, the biggest change is how the Senate bill approaches the taxation of pass-through entities (S-Corporations, LLC’s, Partnerships and Sole Proprietorships).  While the House bill creates a separate pass-through business tax rate, and sets up enforcement rules to curb abuses, the Senate bill would instead allow for a 17.4 percent deduction of net business income against the individual tax rates with a number of limitations.  The top effective tax rates for pass-throughs under both bills, however, would create a wide gap between the tax rate on C-Corporations and pass-throughs (roughly 35 percent and 32 percent in the House and Senate bills, versus 20 percent for C-Corporations).
Another important difference is that, after the Senate amended its legislation on Nov. 14, all of the individual tax provisions, including the rate relief for pass-through businesses, are now scheduled to expire after 2025.  Unfortunately, this change was made to accommodate the Senate budget rules, which do not allow for an increase in the deficit after 10 years.
Regarding infrastructure, the Senate bill did not entirely repeal the tax exemption for Private Activity Bonds (PABs) as the House bill did, and scaled back the Historic Tax Credit, rather than repealing it entirely as House bill did.  These are improvements compared to the House bill.
For more information, contact Matthew Turkstra at [email protected] or (202) 547-4733.

Help Us Generate a Comprehensive Outlook for 2018 by Taking the Survey Today
Each year around this time, AGC asks you – our members – to predict what next year will be like for your business.  This year AGC has partnered with Sage to prepare questions that focus on expectations for market performance, hiring, labor market conditions, etc.  Please take a moment to complete the survey here: 2018 Construction Industry Hiring and Business Outlook. 
For more information, contact Nahee Rosso at [email protected] or (703) 837-5348.

Apply by November 15, 2017!
AGC of America is proud to announce the launch of the AGC Diversity & Inclusion Awards program. AGC will present a total of six awards in three award categories: (1) the Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Awards, (2) the Chapter Diversity & Inclusion Award; and (3) the Diverse Business of the Year Award. These awards seek to raise awareness of the value that a diverse workforce and inclusive environment brings to a company by spotlighting diversity and inclusion champions within AGC. By recognizing these diversity and inclusion champions, AGC hopes to inspire other AGC member-companies to engage in activities that will promote diversity and inclusion both within the Association and the industry.
AGC member companies and chapters in good standing who meet the competition requirements are encouraged to apply online for some much-deserved recognition. Apply by November 15, 2017. Learn more about AGC of America’s Diversity & Inclusion Awards program at www.agc.org/diversityawards.
For more information contact Brynn Huneke at [email protected] or (703) 837-5376.

AGC of America President Art Daniel, joined by fellow members of the AGC of Texas, presented the Construction Advocacy Fund with a chapter check for $250,000 during last week’s Highway, Transportation & Utility Infrastructure Conference. This is the Fund’s single largest contribution to date.
President Daniel said, “To protect our industry and expand market opportunities in this complex legislative and political environment, AGC of Texas members felt a sense of duty to support the Construction Advocacy Fund.” He added, “On most construction industry issues, if AGC doesn’t do it, it doesn’t get done!”
The Fund serves as the advocacy arm of AGC of America financing efforts to expand markets, protect the industry from regulatory overreach, and advocate for our members. It funds a host of critical campaigns, including AGC’s ongoing efforts to fight for federal infrastructure investments, push back against costly, and needless, regulatory burdens, sustain legal fights, promote workforce development and workplace safety, and enhance construction technology.
Unlike AGC PAC, the Fund is permitted to accept contributions from corporations, individuals, and PACs in unlimited amounts. However, the Fund is prohibited from making contributions to candidates and instead supports activities beyond dues capabilities.
Visit constructionadvocacyfund.agc.org for more information and to make a contribution.

AGC submitted comments this week to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) supporting its proposal to repeal an Obama-era rule requiring states to measure greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when planning transportation improvement projects. AGC joined with 38 other organizations with similar interests in transportation infrastructure enhancements in challenging FHWA’s authority to mandate the measurements pointing out that Congress, in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, called for development of performance measurement standards but specifically limited those measures to safety related issues, pavement and bridge conditions and congestion.
The GHG measurement rule was issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation in the final days of the Obama Administration. AGC raised concern about the rule when it was initially issued and in a meeting with Transportation Secretary Chao in her first days on the job following Senate confirmation. AGC suggested repealing the rule in written comments to both the White House and the Transportation Department on regulatory reform.
AGC also submitted separate comments pointing out that the GHG measurement rule would undermine the transportation planning process, could adversely impact air quality and duplicate other federal initiatives related to GHG already underway. AGC’s comments this week strongly supported FHWA’s proposal to repeal the rule.
For more information, contact Brian Deery at [email protected] or (703) 837-5319.

Helps Contractors Meet Green Building Owners’ Requirements
AGC, as a member of the High Performance Building Coalition, on Nov. 7 expressed support for the federal government’s Energy Star program, as the House of Representatives weighs legislation proposing significant changes to the successful program.  The program helps contractors select cost-saving energy efficiency building solutions and products as a means toward achieving various green building owner requirements.  Earlier this year, the Trump Administration’s proposed budget zeroed out funding for the program.
Currently, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is considering legislation that would move the Energy Star program wholesale from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to the Department of Energy, relax third-party certifications, and require the voluntary and non-regulatory program to comply with the Administrative Procedures Act.  AGC and its coalition urged caution against making changes to this time-tested program that has helped industry deliver over $146 billion in energy costs savings to businesses and homeowners.  The coalition also urged further study on the costs of moving the program before such a decision is made.
For more information, contact Melinda Tomaino at [email protected] or (703) 837-5415.