Engineering Inc. - January/February 2004 - (Page 11)

Chairman Robert Herz came under fire during a hearing of the Sen- the removal of the more demanding provisions. The deal will allow ate Securities and Investment Subcommittee over the impact FAS the Administration to move forward with its outsourcing initiative 150 would have, particularly on smaller firms. Subcommittee Chair- and eliminate the harmful provisions. The Transportation spending man Mike Enzi R-Wyo. , a certified public accountant before com- bill, included in the larger Omnibus Appropriations bill, is slated to ing to the Senate, challenged the FASB chairman for not doing a clear Congress in late January. better job of vetting the new standard with the industry prior to In related news, the House and Senate completed their conference i m p l e m e n t a t i o n . Herz pledged to improve outreach as further on the F.Y. 2004 Interior Appropriations bill. At ACEC's urging, changes are contemplated. conferees removed language from the House bill that would prevent ACEC President Dave Raymond, in testimony before the Subcom- the Department of the Interior from conducting public-private com- mittee, explained that FAS 150, if implemented in the future as it is petitions. Instead, the final bill requires the Department to submit currently written, will artificially and unfairly eliminate the net worth an annual report to Congress on the progress of its competitive of many non-public engineering firms throughout the country. Ray- sourcing plan. mond warned that the drastic shift to debt that FAS 150 would SBA Reauthorization require on the financial statements of closely held firms could jeopard- Pending, Size Standard ize their ability to obtain new clients, loans, bonding and insurance. Changes Expected Engineering firms, and indeed the construction industry as a ACEC was successful in inserting language whole, rose up in strong opposition to this flawed policy, said into the Small Business Reauthorization ACEC Chairman Eric Flicker. And our voices were heard. a n d Manufacturing Act of 2003 H.R. ACEC will continue to closely monitor FASB and work with 2 8 0 2 , which would provide for more them to ensure that future actions reflect the financial realities facing accurate data about small business con- the engineering industry. tracting within the federal government. AIR-21 Reauthorization Crosses Finish Line The reauthorization bill is expected to go John O. Woods, Jr., to the House floor when Congress returns principal, Woods-Peacock The House and Senate cleared a final bill to reauthorize AIR-21 in 2004. ACEC's legislation specifically Engineering Consultants, Inc. H.R. 2115 , which provides over $60 billion for the Federal Avia- tion Administration over four years. The bill would increase Airport requires that federal agencies report the Improvement Program AIP funding for infrastructure projects dollar value of small business participation in joint ventures and from $3.4 billion in F.Y. 2004 to $3.7 billion in F.Y. 2007. The final teaming arrangements with large businesses, in addition to current package also includes key environmental streamlining provisions for prime and subcontracting reporting requirements. airport terminal and runway projects that were advocated by ACEC. Capturing an accurate portrait of all large and small business par- ticipation within the federal marketplace will provide ACEC with Outsourcing Battles Continue valuable data when providing input to the federal government regard- ACEC prevailed in a high-profile Senate fight on outsourcing and, ing contracting policies affecting both large and small businesses, as of this writing, is working with Congressional leaders and the said John Woods, principal of Woods-Peacock Engineering Consul- White House to ensure that the final omnibus spending package tants, Inc. protects the ability of private industry to pursue federal contracts. ACEC also is working with SBA as the agency contemplates This year's appropriations process has been marked by intense changes to the small business size standard for engineering services. fights in the House and Senate over the Administration's competitive The current engineering size standard, $4 million in annual gross sourcing initiative, which promises to open commercial activities receipts, is used by federal and state agencies as a threshold to deter- currently performed by government employees to competition from mine whether a firm is eligible to compete for projects set aside for private industry. The policy has drawn fierce opposition from labor small businesses. SBA is considering converting the size standard advocates on Capitol Hill. from a gross-receipts basis to a number of employees basis. Senator Barbara Mikulski D-Md. offered an amendment to the It's always a concern when SBA toys with the size standard, said F.Y. 2004 Transportation spending bill that would have prevented all Kathy Dewkett, owner of Dewkett Engineering, P.C. Depending on federal agencies from implementing President Bush's outsourcing ini- the size of your firm, you could lose your ability to qualify for small tiative. The Mikulski amendment was narrowly defeated by a 48 http://www.acec.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - January/February 2004

FROM ACEC TO YOU
ASK MEMBERS
NEWS & NOTES
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
IT'S PARTY TIME
CONSENSUS ON QUALITY IN VERTICAL CONSTRUCTION
CCD/EEA SCHEDULE
GETTING YOUR WORD OUT!
MEMBERS IN THE NEWS
ONE ON ONE

Engineering Inc. - January/February 2004