On Monday, the Senate confirmed Steven Mnuchin as the 77th Secretary of the Treasury by a 53-47 vote (one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin voted in favor). Later in the day, Vice President Pence swore Mnuchin into office during a ceremony presided over by President Trump in the Oval Office. Over the coming weeks, the Secretary will round out his team with advisors and await the Senate to approve top slots that require confirmation votes including his deputy secretary, undersecretaries for domestic finance and international affairs, as well as assistant secretaries of legislative affairs and tax policy, the latter being a key role in formulating and advancing the administration’s tax plan – the details of which are to be released in the coming weeks.
For more information, contact Brian Lenihan at [email protected] or (202) 547-4733.

Governors Sends List of Projects to White House
Although there is still no word out of the White House on their infrastructure investment plan, infrastructure continued to make news in the nation’s capital this week. The Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee held their first hearing, the National Governors Association (NGA) is sending a list of 428 infrastructure projects to the White House, and Ranking Democrat on the House Transportation Committee Peter Defazio is sending a letter to President Trump recommending three immediate actions that could be taken to provide funding for surface transportation, waterways, and airport construction projects. AGC will continue working with Congress and the administration to shape a plan that meets the investment needs for our nation’s infrastructure.
The Senate committee hearing on “Modernizing our Nation’s Infrastructure” focused on the infrastructure needs of the country, particularly rural communities.  Senators heard from witnesses representing public works agencies, including the heads of the Wyoming and Colorado Departments of Transportation.  Similar to last week’s hearing in the House, there was consensus among witnesses and Senators that any new infrastructure plan must not only rely on private investment but must also include direct federal spending to meet the nation’s infrastructure needs in both urban and rural communities.
For more information, contact Sean O’Neill at [email protected] or (202) 547-8892.

It has been over 30 years since a wholesale revamp of the tax code has taken place. With full control of the federal government, Republicans are poised to move tax reform packages through Congress. Buzz is building about a fundamental change to the taxation of businesses through a “cash flow tax” – a tax that is levied on the cash entering the business less the cash leaving – which is included in the House Republican’s Tax Blueprint. This concept currently only applies to c-corporations, remaining silent on the treatment of pass-through (subchapter-S) firms that pay taxes through the individual rate.  However, lawmakers have yet to flesh out many details on the tax plans, and AGC will continue to monitor and analyze proposed changes that will affect our member companies.
For more information, contact Brian Lenihan at [email protected] or (202) 547-4733.

Urge Your Senators to Repeal Blacklisting
Following a concerted AGC advocacy effort coordinated in conjunction with business organization partners, the House today voted 236-187 to repeal the regulations implementing former-President Obama’s “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces”—commonly called Blacklisting—Executive Order. Now, action moves to the Senate. Please contact your U.S. Senators and urge them to repeal the blacklisting regulations.
Under the blacklisting regulations, both prime and subcontractors must report violations and alleged violations of 14 federal labor laws and “equivalent” state labor laws during the previous three years, and again every six months, on federal contracts over $500,000. Prime contractors would also be responsible for evaluating the labor law violations of their subcontractors at all tiers during both contract solicitation and contract performance. A single alleged violation could lead a contracting officer to either (1) deny a prime contractor the right to compete for a federal contract; or (2) remove a prime contractor or subcontractor from an ongoing project. A federal court halted implementation of the Blacklisting regulations on Oct. 24, 2016. That litigation continues.
A Senate vote on repealing the Blacklisting regulations may come as soon as early next week. This is one of a handful of regulations issued in the final months of the previous administration—typically referred to as midnight regulations—that Republicans plan to repeal under what is called the Congressional Review Act, which only requires a simple majority (51 votes) in the Senate for a regulation repeal bill to pass. There are 52 Republican Senators in Senate.
Again, please contact U.S. Senators and urge them to repeal the Blacklisting regulations. For more information on the Blacklisting regulations and AGC’s advocacy efforts against them since 2014, click here.
For more information, please contact Jimmy Christianson at [email protected] or (703) 837-5325.

Calls for Removal of Two Old Rules for Every New Rule
President Trump this week issued an executive order requiring two regulations to come off the books for each new one issued, allowing agencies to offset the cost of new regulations by eliminating existing ones. However, it is unclear how this executive order will be implemented. The Administrative Procedures Act (APA)—the law governing the regulatory process—requires a number of steps that agencies must undertake to remove—or even tweak—an existing regulation. Agencies may be subject to court challenges during the course of repealing regulations under the APA if they fail to meet various legal criteria.
AGC will continue to review this executive order and others issued to date. For more AGC analysis on President Trump’s executive actions, click here.
For more information, please contact Jimmy Christianson at [email protected] or (703) 837-5325.

AGC Sends Letter to President Trump
This week, AGC of America and AGC chapters joined nearly 400 other associations, labor unions and transportation groups in sending a letter to President Trump expressing support for a major infrastructure plan that, among other things, addresses the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund. The letter was referenced by House Transportation & Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster in his opening remarks during his committee’s hearing on 21st Century Infrastructure.
Much like AGC’s Agenda to Rebuild American Infrastructure, the hearing focused on addressing the needs of our nation’s roads, bridges, waterways and airports. The witnesses – who included Fred Smith, President and CEO, FedEx and Rich Trumka, President, AFL-CIO – were unanimous in the need for greater investments in infrastructure including an increase in the federal gas taxes, while also acknowledging there needs to continue be a role for private investment.  Ranking Democrat on the committee, Peter DeFazio outlined his plan to pay for certain infrastructure projects, which includes indexing the gas and diesel taxes to inflation to repay 30 year treasury bonds, raising the cap on Passenger Facility Charges (PFC) for airports, and directing billions of dollars back into the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund that have been diverted to pay for deficit reduction.
With infrastructure a top priority of President Trump and a part of the House Republican’s 200 Day Agenda, AGC will continue to push for additional funding and financing for all types of infrastructure and pro-construction regulatory policies.
For more information, contact Sean O’Neill at [email protected] or (202) 547-8892.

AGC-Backed Bill Clears Committee
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) introduced the AGC-backed bill, Construction Consensus Procurement Improvement Act, to limit federal agencies from procuring construction services through reverse auctions. In addition to addressing reverse auctions, this legislation reforms design-build procurement by reasonably limiting the second-step design-build shortlist. On Thursday, the bill easily cleared the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and it now moves to the House of Representatives for a floor vote.
AGC supports commonsense procurement reform that improves the delivery of federal construction services and benefits the government, taxpayers, small businesses, and the entire construction industry. AGC firmly believes reform of the federal procurement process should recognize construction’s unique melding of industry sectors while ensuring the government is using the most cost-effective method of procurement.
For more information, contact [email protected] or (703) 837-5368.

AGC Identifies Priority Issues
By a vote of 93-6, the Senate confirmed Elaine Chao to serve as Secretary of Transportation in the Trump Administration. A handful of Democrats voted against her nomination including Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). AGC delivered a detailed letter to Secretary Chao congratulating her on the confirmation and highlighting numerous priority issues AGC would like to work with the Department to address. AGC’s top priority is to fix the Highway Trust Fund so that it can continue to support the long-term economic strength of the nation. AGC also expressed support for reducing regulatory requirements that increase inefficiencies and costs in government programs. The letter highlighted opportunities for U.S. DOT to reduce the regulatory burden and offered recommendations on regulatory programs that need to be reconsidered, including: local hire requirements, disadvantaged business enterprise program, work zone safety, hours of service, greenhouse gas measures, and guidelines for environmental reviews.
Secretary Chao previously served as Secretary of Labor and in various Transportation Department leadership positions, including Deputy Secretary. She is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and is expected to be a major player in developing the Trump Administration’s infrastructure initiative.
For more information, contact Brian Deery at [email protected] or (703) 837-5319.

Senate Dems Release Infrastructure Blueprint; House GOP adds Infrastructure to the First 200 Days Agenda; Pres. Trump Highlights Infrastructure in Inaugural Address, Looks to Restart Pipeline Projects
Infrastructure investment ideas continued to make news this week in Washington with the House, Senate and President Trump each highlighting infrastructure investment as a priority. AGC has provided recommendations to both the administration and Congress for rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure. AGC will work with President Trump and Congress to ensure that any infrastructure plan includes real, dedicated funding for all types of infrastructure, while also encouraging greater private sector investments where appropriate.
Following President Trump’s inaugural that talked about infrastructure, President Trump signed several infrastructure-related Executive Orders (EO), including one to restart the permit application for the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines and a second to expedite environmental reviews and permitting for high priority infrastructure projects.  The White House has not released details on the contents of their infrastructure plan or when it will be released.  Several news reports this week cite a list of projects that could be built under a Trump plan but it does not appear that this list has been compiled by anyone in the Trump transition or administration.  What is known is that the National Governors Association has shared a list of potential projects that have been identified by individual states with the Trump Administration.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats released their infrastructure blueprint, which would invest $1 trillion over 10 years in all types of infrastructure. The plan calls for direct government spending on projects but does not offer up a way to pay for it – except for “closing tax loopholes used by corporations and super-wealthy individuals.”  The plan will likely be used by Senate Democrats as a starting point in negotiations with the Trump administration. Over in the House, Speaker Paul Ryan is laying out Republican’s plan at a gathering in Philadelphia, which according to reports includes healthcare, tax reform and an infrastructure package.
For more information, contact Sean O’Neill at [email protected] or (202) 547-8892.

AGC, as part of a broad coalition that represents a vast cross section of the economy, is working to deliver a joint letter to President Trump following his inauguration. The letter urges the president to strengthen our nation’s economy through significant investment in infrastructure in order to end the cycle of uncertainty that has plagued America’s infrastructure network for many years.
AGC thanks all the chapters who have signed onto the letter, if your chapter has not signed on to the letter and would like to do so, please click here.
For more information, contact Sean O’Neill at [email protected] or (202) 547-8892.