Health-care legislation remains front and center, as the White House works with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to reconcile House and Senate versions of the bill. Union and nonunion groups are concerned about the direction in which the negotiations seem to be going. Unions don’t like the Senate bill’s tax on “Cadillac” health plans, and 10 union leaders met with President Obama on Jan. 11 to discuss their concerns. Those present included top officials of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Laborers’ International Union of North America and the AFL-CIO. Union leaders agreed

Two prominent Democratic senators announced on Jan. 5 and 6 that they will not seek re-election in November: Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Byron Dorgan. Their departures could potentially upset the delicate 60-vote Democratic majority needed to block GOP-led filibusters, if Republicans were to win their seats. Both lawmakers were considered vulnerable in the upcoming elections. Two prominent Democratic senators announced on Jan. 5 and 6 that they will not seek re-election in November: Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Byron Dorgan. Their departures could potentially upset the delicate 60-vote Democratic majority needed to block GOP-led filibusters, if Republicans were to

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s regulatory agenda for the first half of 2010 contains some major construction rules, including a long-awaited final regulation on cranes and derricks and a proposed rule on crystalline-silica exposure. Both regulations are expected to be issued by July. Construction industry groups and labor unions say they expect OSHA to be more active on the regulatory front under Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and new OSHA chief David Michaels, confirmed to the post on Dec. 3. But industry organizations say they find the agency’s shift toward enforcement from cooperative alliances troubling, although not unexpected in a

The construction industry is divided over the landmark health care bill approved by the Senate on Dec. 24, primarily because of a provision that would require small construction industry employers to provide health insurance to employees. Employer groups like the Associated General Contractors and the National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) say the measure would stifle growth and make it harder for small businesses to survive, particularly during difficult economic times. Labor unions, on the other hand, say the provision, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), fixes a loophole that would have exempted most of the construction industry—largely made up of

If the final version of the health care reform bill must resemble more closely what was passed by the Senate, as lawmakers on Capitol Hill say, the House's public option is probably out but the fate of the Senate's special provision targeting construction remains uncertain. Some contractor groups whose workers tend to be unionized are supporting the Senate's special construction industry amendment. After the Senate's approval of a measure that aims to make broad changes in the U.S. health-care system, the focus will turn to negotiations to reconcile the newly passed Senate bill with the version the House cleared in

Two compromise Senate climate-change proposals have been floated in hopes of finding enough support to win a floor vote. In November, the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee cleared a climate bill but got no GOP votes. Trying a new approach, John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Dec. 10 released a “basic framework for climate action” that said an emissions cap of about 17% less than 2005 levels “is achievable and reasonable.” EPW’s bill has a 20% cut. The Senate trio also want to encourage nuclear powerplant construction and boost U.S. oil and gas production.

More than 10 weeks into fiscal 2010, funding numbers for the year finally have fallen into place for several key federal construction programs. A Senate vote on Dec. 13 gave final congressional approval to a huge, $446.8-billion spending package that includes six individual appropriations bills for 2010, including transportation and military construction. Results for construction accounts were mixed. Highways, transit, General Services Administration new construction and Dept. of Veterans Affairs programs all won increases, but there were deep cuts in prisons and GSA renovations. Federal-aid highways received a 2.5% boost, thanks to a small hike in the trust-fund-financed obligation limit

Airport construction grants and other Federal Aviation Administration programs will keep running through March, thanks to a newly approved three-month extension. Final congressional action came on Dec. 10, with Senate passage. The bill is the latest in a series of extensions since September 2007, when the last multiyear FAA bill lapsed. The House did pass a three-year measure in May. In the Senate, a two-year bill cleared committee in July but is stalled.

Providing more potential work for construction’s buildings sector, the Dept. of Health and Human Services on Dec. 9 announced $508.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act aid to build or renovate 85 community health centers. Competition was stiff: HHS received about 600 applications for the ARRA funds, says David Bowman, a spokesman for HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration. The maximum award was $12 million, for three projects in Massachusetts and one each in California, New York and Washington, D.C. An earlier round of HHS economic-stimulus funds, announced in June, included $539.8 million for smaller health-center projects. Contracts for

The Environmental Protection Agency has moved one step closer to regulating carbon-dioxide emissions under the Clean Air Act, issuing a formal finding that greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare. LISA JACKSON Environmental groups are cheering EPA’s Dec. 7 “endangerment” finding, but construction and other business organizations warn that regulating greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions could choke off economic growth. Stephen Sandherr, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America, says, “At a time when the government is investing billions in construction activity to rebuild our economy, this decision will undermine the stimulus, cost thousands of construction workers their