President Obama’s nearly $4-trillion budget proposal for fiscal year 2016 has a picture of a bridge on its cover, reflecting one of the main elements inside the book: substantial spending on infrastructure, especially the initial year's $478-billion, six-year surface-transportation bill.
Alaska lawmakers and state officials are vowing to fight President Obama's Jan. 25 announcement that he will ask Congress to designate 12.3 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), as well as four Alaskan rivers, as wilderness areas off-limits for oil and gas development.
House and Senate supporters of the Keystone XL pipeline are moving quickly in the new Congress on legislation that would advance the long-pending $3.3-billiion project toward construction.
President Obama’s surprise announcement that the U.S. will seek to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba after more than 50 years includes a call for increased exports of building materials for housing and, down the road, also could provide export opportunities for U.S. construction-equipment manufacturers, industry officials say.
The Senate has narrowly rejected a proposed extension of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline, falling one vote short of the 60 needed to end debate on a bill that would authorize the project to proceed.
Related Links: Obama's Executive Order Invites Confusion Link to US Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee Report on Federal Contractor 2012 Worker Violations On its face, President Obama's July 31 executive order requiring federal contractors to list workplace-related violations when they submit bids and proposals is an attempt to keep persistent violators from continuing to win federal contracts.Why, the president asks, should violators earn checks from federal taxpayers if they won't treat their workers according to federal standards?According to the order, contracting officers and newly appointed agency "labor compliance advisors" would evaluate the violations to determine if a company
Related Links: Obama Directs Federal Contractors To List Labor Violations Text of President Obama's Executive Order The Obama administration's second-term frustrations are getting the better of common sense. On July 31, President Obama issued an executive order to "crack down on federal contractors who put workers' safety and hard-earned pay at risk," requiring them to self-report recent violations. The goal is to make federal construction contractors safer and more law-abiding, but it may simply overwhelm contracting officers with a surge of new data and saddle federal contractors with burdensome requirements. The Associated Builders and Contractors is already talking lawsuit, earning
Related Links: Text of July 31 executive order Link to Senator Harkin's investigation findings President Obama has signed an executive order that will require federal contractors, including those in the construction industry, to disclose previous labor-law violations and give agencies more guidance on how to weigh that information when awarding contracts.At the White House signing ceremony on July 31, Obama said, “Our tax dollars shouldn’t be going to companies that violate workplace laws, violate workers’ rights." He added, "If a company is going to receive taxpayer money, it should have safe workplaces … and should not discriminate against workers.”The executive
Chart by ENR/McGraw Hill Construction President Obama's budget request would boost funding for highway and transit programs and GSA's federal buildings accounts. It would slice funds for Environmental Protection Agency water infrastructure, Dept. of Defense construction, Army Corps of Engineers civil works and Dept. of Energy defense environmental cleanup. Related Links: Obama Rolls Out $302B Transportation Bill Proposal DOT FY2015 Budget Details New Finance Panel Chair Wyden Will Be Key Player on New Transportation Bill President Obama's fiscal year 2015 budget request would give big boosts to federal highway and transit programs as well as to General Services Administration federal
AP Wideworld President Obama visits St. Paul, Minn., transit facility shortly before unveiling his proposal. It includes $72 billion for transit over four years. Related Links: White House Summary of Obama Transportation-Bill Plan House Ways and Means Release on Chairman Camp's Tax-Reform Plan The drive for a new federal surface-transportation bill has shifted into a higher gear with President Obama's new $302-billion, four-year proposal and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp's proposed tax-code overhaul that includes $126.5 billion over eight years to shore up the faltering Highway Trust Fund.Construction industry and state transportation officials, deeply worried Congress won't
