Contractors are not pinning their hopes on the Obama administration’s stimulus efforts to completely pull them from an economic riptide that threatens not only profitability, but solvency. But they do see the $787-billion stimulus package’s $130 billion of construction spending as a life preserver that will allow them to at least tread water over the next year or two. Photo: John J. Kosowatz / ENR Shear outlined NAVFAC efforts. “It is absolutely necessary for our industry...but this is not an infrastructure panacea,” said Stephen Sandherr, chief executive of the Associated General Contractors of America, to hundreds of attendees at AGC’s

After a nearly two-month delay, Hilda Solis, a former U.S. Representative from California, has been confirmed as Secretary of Labor. The Feb. 24 Senate vote was 80-17. Solis says that her top priorities will include promoting "green-collar" jobs, helping get Americans back to work, ensuring that workers are "paid what they deserve...and have safe and healthy workplaces," and providing employment assistance to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. She also will oversee the development of a rule implementing President Obama’s executive order reversing a Bush administration directive that requires employers to notify workers of their right not to join

Federal funding for surface transportation projects should migrate from a petroleum-fuel-based tax to a mileage-based user fee by 2020, says a 15-member commission appointed by Congress in 2007. The bipartisan group released its final report on Feb. 25 with suggestions for overhauling the Highway Trust Fund, due for its six-year reauthorization later this year. Photo: The DOT LaHood says no fuel tax hike. The National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission includes financial experts, lawyers, politicians and industry leaders. Geoffrey Yarema, a member and a partner with Nossaman LLP, Los Angeles, a law firm specializing in infrastructure, says the group’s conclusions

In just its first month, the Obama administration is moving to reverse Bush administration Clean Air Act policies. One action deals with a rule governing mercury emissions, an important piece of the Bush team’s program. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had struck down the mercury rule and the Bush administration appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. But in early February, new Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson announced that EPA would not pursue the Bush administration appeal and said the agency instead would draft a new mercury regulation. The high court followed

Small contractors may see expanded bonding opportunities as they pursue work under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The measure temporarily increases guarantees in the Small Business Administration bond program and offers more enticing conditions for sureties to work with the program. The stimulus boosts SBA guarantee limits from $2 million to $5 million and gives SBA contracting agents authority to hike the limit up to $10 million. The changes are effective only through Sept. 30, 2010. The legislation also adds $15 million to SBA’s surety-bond revolving fund. The measure also allows larger construction firms to qualify for

After a nearly two-month delay, the embattled nominee for the top post at the Dept. of Labor won Senate confirmation Feb. 24. The Senate voted 80-17 to confirm Hilda Solis, a Democrat from California, as Labor Secretary. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said shortly after her confirmation, “America’s working men and women will be fortunate to have someone of Hilda’s tremendous talents leading the Dept. of Labor.” Unions describe Solis as a strong ally and advocate for working families and say that she built a solidly pro-labor voting record while in

A 2006 lawsuit that alleged extortion and breach of contract by Alabama Power Co., which almost went to trial last month, has been settled for $38,000. Hand Contractors of Autaugaville had claimed quality-control inspectors from the power company extorted money and goods from the firm between 2003 and 2005 by "forcing plaintiffs to pay kickbacks." Threats of poor performance reports and loss of contract were allegedly used to demand $250,000 in cash and goods, including construction equipment, firearms, trucks and off-road vehicles. Hand Contractors, which had four to five employees during the time in question, had been hired to control

As Congress negotiates billions of dollars in potential federal funds for construction through the economic stimulus bill, President Barack Obama moved to bring back union-only project labor agreements as an option on federally funded projects. The president on Feb. 6 issued an executive order overturning a Bush administration ban on federal PLAs and opened the door to such pacts on projects of $25 million or more. The order fulfills a promise made during the presidential campaign to unions to advocate for their interests. Getting the PLA ban reversed was cited by union officials as a high priority on its wish

Labor unions are cheering three labor-related executive orders issued by President Barack Obama on Jan. 30, saying they are illustrative of a new pro-labor mind-set in the White House. But employer groups are wary and warn that potential legal action may follow if the President makes good on a promise to issue a fourth order related to project labor agreements, expected as early as the week of Feb. 2. One order reverses a directive by former President Bush that required employers to post notices informing workers of their rights not to join or support a union; a second order prohibits

In light of billions of dollars in waste identified during U.S.-led Iraq reconstruction efforts, investigators are recommending sweeping changes in how the military administers and oversees contracts. On Feb. 2, the Office of Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, led by Inspector General Stuart Bowen, presented a 357-page report to the first hearing of the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting. The report, titled “Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience,” chronicles how the military executed its rebuilding efforts after the fall of Baghdad, highlighting missteps in planning and execution. Bowen told the commission the U.S. government must strengthen its ability to