It looks like federal agencies will be operating under another short-term spending bill. The Senate on Dec. 21 passed a stopgap continuing resolution (CR) to fund construction accounts and other federal programs through March 4. The vote was 79-16. The House approved the measure within hours. The nine-week measure also would continue authorizations for surface-transportation programs through March 4. State transportation agencies and construction firms that pursue federally funded work would have preferred an extension at least through Sept. 30, when fiscal 2011 ends. Federal Aviation Administration programs, including airport construction grants, will fare a little better. The House and

While the federal government continues to tangle with Congress over a climate change law, the California Air Resources Board on Dec. 16 went ahead and endorsed its own cap-and-trade regulation. The measure was a major component in AB 32, California’s climate change law signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in 2006. The regulation sets a statewide limit on the emissions from sources responsible for 80% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions and establishes a price signal needed to drive long-term investment in cleaner fuels and more efficient use of energy, according to CARB. It is also designed to provide covered entities

With a short stopgap spending bill set to lapse on Dec. 21, Senate Democrats have introduced a new measure that would extend funding for federal construction accounts and other programs through March 4. It also would continue authorizations for surface-transportation programs through that date. If the full Senate passes the proposed nine-week continuing resolution (CR), which was introduced on Dec. 19, it would go to the House for a vote. The new CR would fund most programs at their fiscal 2010 spending levels. There are some exceptions, such as the latest round of Defense Dept.'s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)

Based on comments during oral arguments on Dec. 8, the U.S. Supreme Court appears divided on an immigration case that could have far-reaching ramifications for construction companies and other businesses. The case, Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting, is important to construction firms. A Pew Hispanic Center study found that “unauthorized migrants” accounted for 14% of the construction workforce in 2005. At issue in the case is whether an Arizona law imposing sanctions on companies that knowingly hire illegal immigrants is preempted by federal immigration law. States that have similar laws in place or would like to enact such legislation are

As the House and Senate head for the end of their lame-duck session, must-pass tax and appropriations bills are advancing. The final versions of both measures will have a major impact on construction. An $858-billion tax bill on Dec. 14 was sent to the Senate for final passage. The bill extends 2001 and 2003 individual rates, offers alternative-minimum-tax protection for many and cuts employees’ Social Security payroll taxes to 4.2%, from 6.2% for one year. Those provisions would help small design and construction firms taxed at individual rates as partnerships or S Corporations. Family-owned firms would get a boost from

Ohio State University, Columbus, violated state statutes governing a $1-billion campus hospital project that required it to mandate a payment bond for site subcontractors, according to a lawsuit filed on Nov. 23 in the Ohio Supreme Court by the American Subcontractors Association and its local chapter. The trade group for sureties joined in the suit. The complaint contends OSU’s decision not to require the project’s construction managers, Turner Construction and Bovis Lend Lease, to post the bond places the subs on the project, called ProjectONE, at financial risk, since they are required to waive their mechanic’s lien rights. “Construction subcontractors

Ohio architect Karlsberger Inc. plans to continuing pursuing a claim for $1.3 million in unpaid fees on a $1-billion hospital project at Ohio State University, in the wake of a Dec. 6 ruling by a state claims court judge that dismissed its 2009 suit against the school. Photo: Ohio State U. 1-million-sq-foot hospital addition will cost $1 billion The Columbus-based firm is seeking compensation for completed work after the university terminated it on its 1-million-sq-ft ProjectONE cancer care and medical center. The firm, which was replaced in its role on the project by HOK, the job’s master planner, had also

There is good news and bad news for construction in a revised, expanded Senate version of the tax package worked out earlier between the White House and Republican leaders. For construction, the positive news among the additions made to the package by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is a one-year extension of a tax break for wind, solar and other renewable-energy projects. The bad news is that the measure does not include an extension for the Build America Bond (BABs) program, which is slated to expire on Dec. 31. Reid introduced the bill

Seeking to wrap up unfinished appropriations business, the House has approved a $1.09-trillion, catch-all spending package that funds federal agencies, including construction programs, through Sept. 30, the end of fiscal 2011. It also extends authorizations for surface transportation and aviation through Sept. 30. Those programs are running on stopgap authorizations, which lapse Dec. 31. The spending package, which the House narrowly passed on Dec. 8 on 212-206 vote, freezes total discretionary spending at 2010's $1.09-trillion. But many major individual construction programs were cut below their 2010 levels. The bill does hike Defense Dept. spending by $4.9 billion, but but to

A case with potentially far-reaching ramifications for employers came closer to a decision on Dec. 8 when the nation’s top court heard oral arguments. Photo: AP Customs agents patrol the border at Nogales, Arizona. Related Links: The 2007 Immigration Bill Battle The ‘Death Penalty’ Law and President Obama At issue in the case--Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting--is whether an Arizona law that imposes sanctions on employers that knowingly hire illegal immigrants can stand, or whether federal immigration law should preempt the statute. Other states that would like to enact similar legislation or have laws already in place are watching the