AYERS President Obama has picked Stephen T. Ayers, acting head of the office of the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) for the past three years, to serve a full 10-year term as the Capitol Architect. The AOC is responsible for maintaining and operating the Capitol building, Library of Congress, Supreme Court building and other federal facilities on or near Capitol Hill. Ayers, whose nomination was sent to the Senate on Feb. 24, next will go through the confirmation process. The 13-year veteran of the AOC office has been acting Capitol Architect since February 2007, when Alan M. Hantman retired. Ayers

The Associated Builders and Contractors, an Arlington, Va., group that represents non-union construction firms, proposed a five-step plan on March 2 to help create new jobs in a sector in which unemployment has reached 24.7%. ABC is calling on Congress and the Obama administration to focus on what it calls “free-enterprise initiatives,” instead of “anti-business legislative and regulatory proposals.” It also calls for increasing access to capital for new construction projects, reducing the tax burden, enacting a national comprehensive energy plan that includes new construction and upgrades to the nation’s infrastructure, and allowing the “entire construction industry workforce to participate

A battle royal may be brewing as opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed regulation of greenhouse-gas emissions mounts. Recently, three states, along with several industry groups, filed lawsuits challenging the EPA’s December “endangerment finding,” which said greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare. Meanwhile, the EPA says it is confident the finding will withstand legal challenge, and 16 states and New York City say they may intervene on behalf of the EPA. On Feb. 16, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) announced that Texas, which emits more carbon dioxide than any other state, filed suit in the

Industry groups and GOP leaders are critical of President Obama’s health-care proposal, which was unveiled on Feb. 22. But the White House calls the proposal a “starting point” and says it hopes congressional leaders from both parties will make some progress in kick-starting the stalled negotiations at a Feb. 25 summit. The proposal seeks to bridge the gap between the legislation passed by the House in November and the Senate on Dec. 24. Its framework is built on the Senate bill but includes several key changes. Among them, it calls for increasing the penalty—to $2,000 from $750 per worker—for employers

The Senate voted to end debate on a $15-billion jobs bill on Feb. 22. Five Republicans, including fledgling Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, joined all but one Democrat in voting to advance the bill, which the Senate plans to take up later in the week. Key provisions include an extension of the Highway Trust Fund—set to expire on Feb. 28— through September 2010 and an expansion of the Build America bond program.

Participants in some of New York City’s largest concrete construction projects are now trying to determine the potential impact of the Feb. 17 conviction of the city’s main concrete testing firm and its owner for filing false test reports. A state supreme court jury in Manhattan rules that Testwell Laboratories and its owner, V. Reddy Kancharla, were guilty of the flawed fillings related to concrete strength on more than 100 projects that used the firm’s services. They included the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero and the Second Avenue subway. The jury has yet to rule on other charges against Kancharla,

In a unanimous decision, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled February 11 that contractors are covered under their commercial general liability policies for subcontractor work later found to be defective, adding momentum to a national battle being fought state by state over whether insurers are actually providing coverage defined and paid for in those policies. Related Links: Mississippi Insurance Case Could Reshape Contractor Policies “It has implications for the rest of the country because the policies being written and enforced throughout the U.S. are identical to the policies the Mississippi court has addressed,” says Mike Kennedy, general counsel of the Associated

The Congressional Oversight Panel’s new report predicts more trouble ahead for the already suffering banking industry. The Feb. 11 analysis says a wave of commercial real estate loan defaults over the next four years could jeopardize the stability of midsize and small banks. As much as $1.4 trillion in commercial real estate loans made over the last decade will require refinancing in 2011 through 2014. Nearly half of those loans are currently “under water,” the panel says, meaning the borrower owes more on the loan than the underlying property is worth. The panel, created in 2008, concludes government intervention may

President Obama’s three nominees to serve on the National Labor Relations Board remain in limbo as controversy embroils one of them: Craig Becker, associate general counsel to the Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO. Photo: Senate Help Committee Becker has strong support from unions but is opposed by business groups. Business groups strongly oppose Becker’s nomination, contending his academic writings on topics such as the Employee Free Choice Act, which is organized labor’s top priority and would make it easier for unions to organize, demonstrate a strong pro-union bias. Organizations like the Associated Builders and Contractors and the U.S.

The United States and Canada signed a trade agreement on Feb. 12 that seeks to address concerns over “Buy American” provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as well as other long-standing procurement issues between the two nations. U.S. Trade Rep. Ron Kirk says that the deal will result in “tens of billions of dollars” in new job-supporting contracts for U.S. firms. “For years, U.S. firms have sought market access to Canadian provincial procurement under the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement [GPA], which Canada resisted,” Kirk adds. The pact provides permanent U.S. access to Canadian provincial and territorial