Book your Hotel by Oct. 2
Jointly sponsored by AGC and CFMA, the 22nd Annual AGC/CFMA Construction Financial Management Conference will be held Oct. 24-26 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. This three-day conference offers programs and workshops designed specifically for financial professionals in the construction industry. The 34 interactive sessions will cover the latest industry issues and their financial implications. Participants may earn up to 20 continuing professional education (CPE) credits. Register at meetings.agc.org/agc_cfma.
For more information, contact Matthew Turkstra at [email protected] or (202) 547-4733.

On Sept. 11, Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, Kevin Brady (R-Texas), released details on a package of bills that he has collectively referred to as “Tax Reform 2.0,” and announced that the Committee would mark up the legislation today, Sept 13. The centerpiece of Tax Reform 2.0 is the Protecting Family and Small Business Tax Cuts Act of 2018, which would make the temporary provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Republican tax reform plan passed at the end of 2017) permanent.  Because of budgetary reasons, a number of tax provisions affecting individuals and businesses, including the new 20 percent deduction for pass-through businesses, are scheduled to expire at the end of 2025.
AGC sent members of the committee a letter of support, noting the importance of making the new 20 percent pass-through deduction, lower individual rates, and the increased estate tax exemption permanent.  Additionally, AGC co-signed a Parity for Main Street Employers letter noting the importance of the new 20 percent deduction.
After Ways and Means consideration of the legislation, it is expected that the House of Representative will take up the bills the final week of September.  While it is unlikely that the Senate will vote on the legislation before the elections in November, it is possible that there may be action in the lame duck session of Congress before the end of the year.
For more information, contact Matthew Turkstra at [email protected] or (202) 547-4733.

Authorizes Billions of Dollars for Corps, Drinking Water and Wastewater Projects
On Sept. 13, the House passed an AGC-supported water resources development bill that helps the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) maintain much of our nation’s water resources infrastructure.  The Senate is expected to approve the bill in the coming days. While not a funding bill, this legislation allows Congress to eventually approve billions of dollars in funding for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works projects, including navigation (dredging, locks), flood control (levees), hydropower (dams), recreation (parks), and water supply.  In addition, the bill reauthorizes the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) for $50 million annually in fiscal years 2020 and 2021 and provides a new authorization for the funding of State Revolving Funds with WIFIA dollars—which can be used for drinking water and wastewater facility projects.
Other notable provisions in the bill include:

• Reaffirming a federal commitment to State Revolving Funds;


• Authorization of capital grants for State Drinking Water Treatment Revolving Loan Funds;


• Establishing an innovative water infrastructure workforce development program;


• Authorization of feasibility studies and critical projects;


• Making publicly available USACE real estate assets as a means to help avoid sometimes lengthy Rivers and Harbors Act Section 408 approval processes, which delay Clean Water Act Section 404 permit issuance; and


• Rehabilitation of USACE constructed dams.

Congress Approves Funds for USACE, NAVFAC, and Dept. of Veterans Affairs 
On Sept. 13, Congress passed a Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 appropriations bill—which the president is expected to sign into law—that will provide significant amounts of funding for military construction projects through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC); hospital, medical clinic and cemetery projects through the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA); and harbor maintenance, lock, dam, levee and environmental restoration projects through the USACE Civil Works Program.
The bill provides a total of $10.3 billion for military construction projects. This is an increase of $241 million, or 2.4 percent, above the enacted FY 2018 level. The bill appropriates $1.6 billion to fund construction, operation, and maintenance of military family housing for fiscal year 2019. This is $173 million above the fiscal year 2018 level and the same as the president’s FY 2019 budget request.
Major and minor construction within the VA is funded at $1.8 billion. In addition, $2 billion is provided for infrastructure repair, with the funding allocated to major and minor construction and non-recurring maintenance. Within the infrastructure total funding, $750 million is targeted to seismic corrections at VA facilities nationwide.
The total USACE Civil Works Program is funded at $7 billion, an 11 percent increase over last year and the highest ever Congress has appropriated to the agency. The Construction account receives $2.18 billion, and the Operations & Maintenance account received a record-level of $3.74 billion (which includes $1.55 billion in funding from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and full use of estimated annual revenues ($326.5 million) from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund.
In addition, lawmakers pushed back on President Trump’s efforts to move the USACE Civil Works Program out of the Department of Defense and moved into the Department of Transportation (navigation) and Department of Interior (flood control and environmental restoration), part of a broader reorganization of executive agencies announced earlier this year. In a joint statement, members of Congress stated that no funds could be used to reorganize the agency.
AGC applauds the passage of these appropriation bills. AGC firmly believes passing appropriations bills in a timely fashion helps provide federal agencies and, in turn, federal construction contractors with financial and operational certainty that helps them with the planning and execution of infrastructure projects.
For more information, please contact Jordan Howard at [email protected] or (703) 837-5368.

Part One Kicks Off on Sept. 27 with a Look at Pollution Liability
AGC’s WebEd series on risk management is presented in three parts that focus on identifying pollution liabilities, understanding and insuring risk, and positioning subcontractor bonds to meet industry needs.  Join AGC on September 27, 2018 (2:00pm-3:00pm ET) for part one in the series and explore how to identify pollution liabilities and risk transfer solutions throughout the construction life cycle.
This session is designed to help environmental managers and risk managers recognize the various pollution exposure they may face; provoke questions they should be asking of the owner/developer; and suggest mechanisms with which they can manage pollution risk either via insurance, their contracts, or best practices.  Speakers are Sharon Burger with IMA Financial Group and Dave Liverseed, PG, CHMM, CSP, with M.A. Mortenson Company.
Go to http://meetings.agc.org/webed/risk/ for registration and details on all three parts in AGC’s WebEd Series on Construction Risk Management!

Book Your Room Before Sept. 10
Managing an Intergenerational Workforce; Using Job Data to become more Productive; What’s on the Congressional Agenda after the Midterms? – these and other timely topics will be addressed as part of the Joint Contractors Conference, scheduled for Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Crystal City, Virginia (DC area). In addition, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has been invited to discuss President Trump’s infrastructure and regulatory reform agenda.
Other issues covered will include:

• Controlling the Shift in Ownership of Non-Traditional Risk


• Robotics: The Next Big Innovation in Construction


• New Developments in Tunneling Technology


• AGC’s Underground Utility Damage Prevention Program        


• Challenges and Solutions Building Washington’s South Capitol Street Bridge

On August 31, President Trump signed an executive order designed to make it easier for smaller businesses to band together and offer retirement plans to employees. The order directs the Departments of Labor and Treasury to propose regulations allowing unrelated businesses to offer “association retirement plans” by relaxing the requirement that small business have a common interest to form a multiple employer plan, or open MEP. These plans are retirement vehicles designed for small, nonunion employers and shouldn’t be confused with multiemployer pension plans. The idea is similar to association health plans, which received a regulatory boost in June when DOL finalized a rule to make it easier for small businesses to join groups or associations to offer insured health coverage in the large group market at potentially more favorable pricing with less restrictive requirements.
The order also urges the Labor and Treasury Departments to consider ways to reduce paperwork and administrative burdens that might prevent businesses from offering retirement savings plans and makes a request that the Treasury Department explore lowering minimum required distributions for 401(k)s or individual retirement accounts so retirees can continue saving for a longer period of time.
For more information, contact Jim Young at [email protected] or 202-547-0133 or Claiborne Guy at [email protected] or 703-837-5382.

Impacted AGC Members Should Comment and Contact their Representatives
As previously reported, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced that it is seeking public comment on revising four specific areas of the current hours-of-service regulations. AGC is preparing a response to the proposal on behalf of its member companies; however, we also encourage individual members to submit comments by the Sept. 24 deadline. For additional information or to leave a comment please click here.
AGC is also working in support of the HOURS Act, which would expand the logging exemption for short-haul drivers from 100 to 150 miles, expand the on-duty time to 14 hours and eliminate the 30-minute rest requirement. Certain paperwork requirements would also be eased, and the Federal Motor Carrier Administration would be encouraged to move expeditiously to finalize a rule on the use of sleeper berth to meet off duty provisions. AGC is urging members to contact their Congressional representatives through AGC’s Legislative Action Center.
For more information, contact Brian Deery at [email protected] or (703) 837-5319 or Sean O’Neill at [email protected] or (202) 547-8892.

Part One Kicks Off on Sept. 27 with a Look at Pollution Liability
AGC’s WebEd series on risk management is presented in three parts that focus on identifying pollution liabilities, understanding and insuring risk, and positioning subcontractor bonds to meet industry needs.  Join AGC on September 27, 2018 (2:00pm-3:00pm ET) for part one in the series and explore how to identify pollution liabilities and risk transfer solutions throughout the construction life cycle.
This session is designed to help environmental managers and risk managers recognize the various pollution exposure they may face; provoke questions they should be asking of the owner/developer; and suggest mechanisms with which they can manage pollution risk either via insurance, their contracts, or best practices.  Speakers are Sharon Burger with IMA Financial Group and Dave Liverseed, PG, CHMM, CSP, with M.A. Mortenson Company.
Go to http://meetings.agc.org/webed/risk/ for registration and details on all three parts in AGC’s WebEd Series on Construction Risk Management!

On Aug. 23, the Department of Treasury issued a proposed rule that seeks to limit the availability of a tax planning technique that some northeastern states have adopted in the wake of tax reform. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – passed in December 2017 – limited the amount of state and local taxes that an individual can deduct to $10,000 per year.  Since then, a number of states – including New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut – have adopted new laws that allow taxpayers in those states to pay their state taxes to a state-sponsored “charity” and receive a partial credit from the state for those taxes paid.
For example, under New York’s proposal, individuals can “donate” a dollar to a state sponsored charity and receive an 85 percent credit against their state tax liability, and 95 percent against their local tax liability.  In theory, under this proposal, because charitable contributions were left uncapped in tax reform, an individual would be able turn their (capped) state tax payments into (uncapped) charitable contributions.
However, the rule proposed by Treasury last week seeks to severely cut back on the utility of these workarounds. Under the proposed rule, a taxpayer would only be able to deduct the uncredited portion of their payment to the state. So, in the New York example above, a taxpayer who makes a $100 contribution to the state-sponsored charity and receives and $85 credit from the state, would only be able to deduct $15 on their federal return.  This proposed rule could also impact additional states that have set up similar arrangements for private school vouchers.
Importantly, this rule does not affect proposals that some states are considering that would provide relief to owners of pass-through businesses, of which AGC is supportive.
For more information, contact Matt Turkstra at [email protected], or (202) 547-4733.