October 17-19 in Arlington, VA
This unique three–day course provides construction safety and health professionals with the next–level knowledge required to successfully manage a company–wide safety program. Moving beyond the basics of Focus Four training, AGC’s Advanced Safety Management Training Program will give participants a more holistic view of safety’s role in project and company success, as well as advanced tactics and best practices for managing all aspects of a corporate safety program. Participants will also focus on the importance of "selling" safety throughout the organization and methods to generate buy–in from different audiences. Full details on the course and links to registration can be found here.

July 25-27 in Indianapolis, IN
The 2018 Summer Safety & Health Conference will take place July 25-27, 2018 at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, IN. Join more than 250 industry professionals and participate in the development of regulatory and legislative activity on both a national and local level; assist in the development and creation of new safety training programs and products; and hear the latest initiatives from OSHA and other industry experts. Full details on the Conference and links to registration and the hotel room block can be found here.

Includes MilCon, VA, and USACE Civil Works Funding
On June 25, the Senate approved the House-passed “minibus” appropriations bill (H.R. 5895) by a vote of 86-5. The minibus includes funding for Energy and Water, the Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 2019.  These three bills are the first of the twelve annual appropriations bills Congress needs to pass before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
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 fiscal year 2018 level.  The Department of Veterans Affairs major construction account is funded at $1.12 billion, and its minor construction account is funded at $706.9 million.
The Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works Program is funded at $6.927 billion, an increase above the fiscal year 2018-enacted level of $6.8 billion. Roughly $1.52 billion in funding from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and full use of estimated annual revenues from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund is required. The Corps construction account received $2.16 billion. Its Operations & Maintenance (O&M) account received a record-level of $3.74 billion.
AGC applauds the passage of these appropriation bills and looks forward to working with Congress towards a final funding bill.  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 the execution of infrastructure projects.
For more information, contact Jordan Howard at [email protected] or (703) 837-5368.

This week a Senate committee passed the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, which will now have to be considered by the full Senate and conferenced with a House-passed bill from last year. A top priority of AGC’s has been reforming and reauthorizing the Perkins Act, as it helps offset the cost of career and technical education (CTE) programs. Ahead of the Senate considering the bill, AGC joined with over 500 national, state and local organizations in a letter to Senate leaders urging swift, bipartisan action on Perkins reauthorization.
AGC would like the bill to include reforms such as better aligning education with local needs, promoting work-based learning, spurring industry-recognized credentials and providing funding increases to the program. The bill largely satisfies those priorities and AGC will work with Senate leaders to ensure programs funded by the bill lead to students passing credentialing tests and becoming more workforce ready.
For more information, contact Jim Young at [email protected] or (202) 547-0133.

AGC Weighs in on Construction Workforce Needs
On June 27, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on a legislative proposal – the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act – to reform the nation’s immigration laws. This bill failed by a vote of 121 to 301 despite being a more moderate version of an immigration reform bill that also failed last week. AGC sent a letter to Congress ahead of the vote advocating for immigration reforms that would help address construction workforce needs.
AGC opposed the original, more restrictive bill because it limited legal immigration and failed to address the construction industry’s workforce shortage. That bill ultimately failed by a vote of 193 to 231 with 41 Republicans joining every Democrat in opposition.
This week’s more moderate proposal, while providing a better pathway to reform, still fell short of addressing many of the industry’s priorities. The bill provided $25 billion for a border wall, a path to citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and placed some limits on legal immigration, along with reversing the administration’s zero tolerance policy at the southern border.
The outlook for future reform efforts remain uncertain and AGC will continue to call for any immigration reforms to address the workforce challenges in the construction industry.
For more information, contact Jim Young at [email protected] or (202) 547-0133.

On June 7-8, nearly 40 member company CFO’s and other senior accounting and tax professionals attended the AGC Financial Issues Committee (FIC) Summer Meeting in Washington, DC. Committee members heard a legislative update from Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.), and discussed the recently passed tax reform legislation and how it impacts the construction industry and its priorities.
The group also heard a presentation on the new “Opportunity Zones,” created in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act from Shay Hawkins, tax counsel to Senator Tim Scott; received an update on the implementation of new accounting standards; and heard from AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson about the economic outlook for construction.
The FIC Winter 2019 Meeting will be held January 10-11 at the JW Marriott Turnberry Resort in Miami, Florida.  Meeting and hotel information will be circulated in the coming months.
For more information, contact Matt Turkstra at [email protected].

The Supreme Court today ruled in favor of allowing states to require internet retailers to collect state and local sales taxes for online purchases and send those taxes to the state where the shopper lives. The 5-4 decision overturned an earlier Supreme Court ruling prohibiting states from imposing such requirements. Some states may be looking at the sales tax windfall as a revenue source to pay for transportation infrastructure improvements necessary to deliver the goods purchased on-line. Currently, online retailers need to collect those taxes only if they have a physical presence in the state.
In 2013, Virginia passed transportation funding legislation which included a provision directing that a large portion of proceeds from a tax on internet sales would be used to help pay for transportation projects. At that time a legislative committee estimated that the sales tax would generate annually nearly $170 million. Other states have considered similar measures and may now be incentivized to take up legislation. Chapters may want to ensure that any sales tax revenue from internet sales in their states are directed to infrastructure investment.
For more information, contact Brian Deery at [email protected] or (703) 837-5319.

Please Take Our Short Survey
As demand for construction in most parts of the country continues to expand and the number of unemployed construction workers hits record low levels, AGC of America and Autodesk are working to better quantify where these shortages are taking place, how severe they are, and what steps firms are taking to both cope with tight labor markets and improve the supply of new, qualified workers. That is why we are asking members to take a few minutes to complete the workforce survey that we have prepared.
The more people understand the scope, and consequences, of a tight construction labor market, the more likely they are to act on the measures we are promoting to make it easier for school systems, local associations and private firms to establish career and technical education and training programs. The more members who take the survey, the better able we all will be to describe labor market conditions where you operate.

On June 19, the U. S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration released a final rule to expand association health plans (AHPs) and increase the flexibility for small employers to join groups or associations to offer insured health coverage in the large group market at potentially more favorable pricing with less restrictive requirements. A number of AGC Chapters across the country currently recognize the need to offer alternative health care options and administer AHPs that offer “group health plan” coverage to employees of members.  As outlined in response to the proposed version of the rule, AGC supports the flexibility in the proposed rule and is pleased that existing AHPs were preserved in the final rule.
The rule expands access to association health plans by loosening the definition of “employer.” Small businesses and self-employed individuals, known as working-owners, will be allowed to band together by industry or geography to obtain health care as a large group. The final rule retains the consumer protections and healthcare anti-discrimination protections currently applicable to large businesses and therefore will also apply to AHPs organized under this rule. New and existing AHPs can elect to follow either the old guidance or the new rules. State regulatory oversight over AHPs will continue without a federal exemption, but the DOL promises to work closely with state insurance commissioners to avoid any issues and share enforcement authority. The rollout of the plans will be phased, allowing some to start offering coverage as soon as Sept. 1, with additional rollout dates going through to next year.
Please visit the DOL’s webpage for further information.
For more information, contact Claiborne Guy at [email protected] or 703-837-5382.

In recent weeks a group of Democrats have introduced the so-called Workplace Democracy Act (WDA), which radically changes labor law’s in the country. The bill not only restores the “card check” proposal from previous congresses that eliminates the right to secret ballots in union representation elections, but goes even further by expanding joint employer standards, restricting traditional independent contractor roles, and restricts an employer’s ability to seek legal advice during union elections. In response to the legislation AGC joined with over 100 organizations representing many industries urging Congress to reject the legislation’s changes to labor laws.
For more information, contact Jim Young at [email protected] or (202) 547-0133.