More than half of the members of a presidential commission have endorsed an aggressive deficit-cutting blueprint that includes a proposed 15¢-per-gallon boost in the federal gasoline tax. Eleven of 18 National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform members voted for the wide-ranging plan, but that was three votes short of the 14-member supermajority needed for formal approval. Still, commission members who gathered on Dec. 3 in a Senate hearing room for the voting session were optimistic that the plan, contained in a final report titled “The Moment of Truth,” would have an impact on future federal budget debates. One panel

Construction and engineering companies--and individual workers on jobsites or in offices--would benefit from the "framework" of an agreement between President Obama and congressional Republicans on a package of new tax breaks and two-year extensions of current rates and other incentives. White House photo by Pete Souza Obama announces outline of deal with Republicans on taxes The framework deal, which Obama announced on Dec. 6, next goes to Congress. Key Democrats there appear not to be on board yet. Leading Republicans' initial reactions were positive. Lawmakers must take action by Dec. 31, when many of the tax provisions at issue are

Federal programs, including construction accounts, will be funded for 15 more days, thanks to a newly enacted stopgap spending measure. Federal programs, including construction accounts, will be funded for 15 more days, thanks to a newly enacted stopgap spending measure. President Obama signed the new continuing resolution (CR) on Dec. 4. The measure extends funding for departments and agencies through Dec. 18, generally at their fiscal 2010 levels. Final congressional approval came late on Dec. 2, when the Senate passed the measure by unanimous consent. The House had approved the bill one day earlier, on a 239-178 vote. The new

Industry sources say a search is on for candidates to be the 56th Chief of Engineers of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a presidential nomination requiring Senate confirmation. An Army committee of senior leaders is said to be assembling in secret a short list of candidates. The chief’s post typically carries a four-year appointment. Lt. Gen. Robert L. Van Antwerp has held the position since May 2007. Marc D. Young, a spokesman at Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C., says the Corps does not participate in the nominating process, which is managed by the Army’s chief of staff. “Usually we

The construction industry is keeping a watchful eye on Congress as it prepares to tackle a long list of tax measures that expire on Dec. 31. But with few days left in the lame-duck session, lawmakers may not act by the end of the year on all of the provisions that would give construction and engineering firms a lift, lobbyists say. The first order of business is dealing with income tax cuts dating from the George W. Bush Administration that are set to expire on Dec. 31. Republicans want the cuts to continue for all taxpayers; Democrats favor extending them

As the lame-duck congressional session continues, a further extension for federal highway and transit programs looks more and more likely. The current short-term surface-transportation authorization expires on Dec. 31. Signals have emerged that another stopgap is in the cards. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) told reporters after a Nov. 17 hearing that she is working on a highway-bill extension that would run through the middle of 2011. Boxer’s panel has jurisdiction over highways; other Senate committees oversee transit and highway safety. With a multiyear bill almost certainly dead for the year, outgoing House Transportation and

Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction Gen. Arnold Fields has come under fire in the Senate. Members of a Homeland Security and Government Affairs subcommittee raised questions at a Nov. 18 hearing about the SIGAR office’s oversight of contract and anti-corruption investigations in the $52-billion reconstruction effort. The reconstruction program includes billions of dollars in construction work. At the subcommittee for contracting oversight hearing, the panel’s chairman, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), contended the IG’s office has “fallen short of the mark.” She said that, for example, although SIGAR became fully funded in June 2009, it had completed only one contract

Glimmers of hope have emerged for a Senate-House agreement on a long-term aviation bill before the lame-duck session ends, but a tight schedule and other hurdles may prove too hard to overcome. If there is no deal on a multiyear measure, yet another extension would be needed. At stake for construction are new authorization levels for FAA’s Airport Improvement Program infrastructure grants and maybe an increase in the $4.50 cap on passenger facility charges (PFCs), which fund airport projects. FAA estimates that 2010 PFC collections will be slightly less than $2.8 billion. There have been promising signs about the FAA

Construction groups cheered when the joint chairmen of a high-profile fiscal policy panel called for a boost in the federal gasoline tax. However, they shouldn’t take the idea—floated by former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, a Democrat, and ex-U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.)—to the bank. Bowles and Simpson, co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, released on Nov. 10 a draft proposal that includes the gas-tax provision, but the full commission has until Dec. 1 to vote on a final report. Bowles and Simpson propose hiking the gas tax “gradually” by 15¢ a gallon, starting

Environmental advocates and industry groups have differing views about the newly issued Environmental Protection Agency guidance to state and local agencies to help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions using the best available control technologies. The EPA released the guidance document on Nov. 10, aiming to assist air-permitting authorities in identifying cost-effective options under the Clean Air Act to cut pollution from greenhouse gases. A new federal preconstruction permit program begins on Jan. 2, 2011. Nathan Willcox, Environment America’s federal global warming program director, calls the EPA’s approach “reasonable.” But industry officials have blasted the guidance, saying it could stall construction of new