Action Needed

In just one week in office, President Biden has issued 21 executive orders, a figure surpassing former President Obama’s 20 executive orders issued over the course of all of 2013.

On January 21, President Biden issued an executive order (EO) calling on Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue revised COVID-19 guidance to employers by February 4.

The final rule makes changes to four provisions

Campaign focuses on reopening, renewing, and revitalizing the economy

The chief executive officer of the Associated General Contractors of America, Stephen E. Sandherr, released the following statement in support of the newly introduced, bipartisan Senate surface transportation legislation, the America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act:

As Congress and the Administration work toward their mutual goal of passing comprehensive tax reform and a new infrastructure initiative, AGC continues to make the case to leaders on Capitol Hill that rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure and reforming our outdated tax code should go hand-in-hand.  Many Republicans and Democrats in Congress agree that combining tax and infrastructure reform into one package makes perfect sense.  In fact, members of both parties in the House of Representatives sent President Trump a letter earlier this year expressing their support in pursuing an infrastructure and tax reform package, saying “comprehensive tax reform could free up significant capital for infrastructure as well as other investments enabling businesses large and small to invent, innovate and hire.
AGC continues to advocate for reforms to the tax code that would benefit the construction industry, and recently sent a letter to the Senate Finance Committee outlining those priorities.  But, including infrastructure in tax reform would have a positive impact on economic growth in the short and long term.  In the short term, a recent report by the Congressional Budget Office noted, every dollar invested in infrastructure, on average, generates as much as $2.50 in incremental output over the following six quarters.  This is the highest multiplier among all major Federal spending programs or from tax cuts to individuals and businesses.  In the long-term, infrastructure investments can boost our economy by creating significantly more new and high-paying jobs in construction and related fields.  These investments will also make businesses more competitive by reducing shipping, commuting, water and energy costs.
At AGC’s upcoming National Chapter Leader Conference (NCLC) – September 24-26 – participants will be going to Capitol Hill to make the case that infrastructure investment should be a part of tax reform.  Among AGC’s infrastructure priorities are to find a permanent fix for the Highway Trust Fund, maintain the tax exempt status of municipal bonds, ensure and expand the use of Private Activity Bonds, establish a Clean Water Trust Fund, increase funding for airport infrastructure, and make better use of federal buildings and property.
For more information, contact Sean O’Neill at [email protected] or (202) 547-8892.

On two separate occasions this week, President Trump indicated that he intends to accelerate the time frame in which he will propose his $1 trillion dollar infrastructure plan.  Additionally, Transportation Secretary Chao briefed a small group of Republican House Members on an infrastructure package that may be moving as soon as the middle of May.  Neither the President nor Secretary Chao provided any level of detail other than that the plan will rely on both private and public funds and will cut red tape that contributes to a delay in infrastructure projects.
However, the timing for any infrastructure plan remains in flux.  It appears that the Administration is moving forward sooner than previously thought and the House and Senate Committees have held several infrastructure-related hearings.  AGC will continue to work with both the Administration and Congress to ensure that the promise of a $1 trillion infrastructure package that provides direct federal spending, increased private sector investment and cuts red tape is kept.
For more information, contact Sean O’Neill at [email protected] or (202) 547-8892.

Tell your Senators and Representative to Maintain Funding for these Programs
President Trump recently released a budget outline to identify administration priorities for Fiscal Year 2018. This budget outline is a mixed bag for federal infrastructure accounts as it proposes to cut billions in federal spending from construction-related programs. Proposed cuts include: a $2.4 billion reduction for the Department of Transportation by eliminating the TIGER grant program and limiting funding for the transit new starts grant program, eliminating the Agriculture Department’s Water and Wastewater grant program funding of $498 million and eliminating the Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant funding of $3 billion. Contact your members of Congress and urge them to maintain funding for these critical infrastructure investment programs.
While we look forward to working with the administration on the president’s promised infrastructure investment initiative, in the meantime, AGC supports maintaining funding for existing infrastructure programs. Contact your senators and representatives to urge them to ignore Trump’s proposed cuts to infrastructure programs.
For more information, contact Sean O’Neill at [email protected] or (202) 547-8892.

Tell your Senators and Representative to Maintain Funding for these Programs
Last week, President Trump released a budget outline to identify administration priorities for Fiscal Year 2018. This budget outline is a mixed bag for federal infrastructure accounts as it proposes to cut billions in federal spending from construction-related programs. Proposed cuts include: a $2.4 billion reduction for the Department of Transportation by eliminating the TIGER grant program and limiting funding for the transit new starts grant program, eliminating the Agriculture Department’s Water and Wastewater grant program funding of $498 million and eliminating the Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant funding of $3 billion. Contact your members of Congress and urge them to maintain funding for these critical infrastructure investment programs.
While we look forward to working with the administration on the president’s promised infrastructure investment initiative, in the meantime, AGC supports maintaining funding for existing infrastructure programs. Contact your senators and representatives to urge them to ignore the cuts to infrastructure programs that were proposed in President Trump’s FY 2018 budget outline.
For more information, contact Sean O’Neill at [email protected] or (202) 547-8892.