Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010 - (Page 6)

Legislative Action House Armed Services Panel Endorses ACEC Call for 3% Repeal A recently released report from the House Armed Services Committee provided a critical boost to ACEC’s effort to repeal the 3 percent withholding mandate on contracts with federal and state agencies. After a review of defense acquisition systems and policies, the House Committee’s Defense Acquisition Reform Panel released a comprehensive set of recommendations, including the repeal of the 3 percent withholding mandate, which is scheduled to take effect in 2012. The panel noted that Congress created “a new obstacle to federal agencies accessing the commercial marketplace” when it adopted the withholding requirement, adding that the amendment will “substantially discourage commercial firms that are tax compliant” from competing on defense contracts. The Department of Defense previously estimated that implementing the 3 percent withholding provision would cost the department more than $17 billion in the first five years. Major ACEC Win On Project Labor Agreements Protects Firms’ Interests Education Effort Focuses On New Health Care Law ACEC hosted an online seminar in April to give members a comprehensive review of the newly passed health care reform law, which was signed by President Obama in March. Major provisions of the new law include a requirement that individuals purchase health insurance; fines for some employers that do not provide qualified, affordable health insurance; the creation of a health insurance exchange where individuals and small businesses can shop for coverage; and insurance reforms. A 40 percent excise tax on high-cost health plans will take effect in 2018. In addition, higher-income individuals and families will pay increased taxes on both their earned and unearned income beginning in 2013. ACEC raised concerns throughout the health care debate that more needs to be done to control the costs to firms that already provide health insurance to their employees. Further information on the various provisions of the new law can be found in the Health Care Reform Resource Center on the ACEC website at www.acec.org. I n a victory for the engineering industry, the Council successfully secured the exclusion of engineering services from the final rule implementing President Obama’s executive order mandating that Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) be used on major construction projects involving federal funds. “This is a significant step forward that will protect the independence of engineers, surveyors and engineering professionals on construction sites,” said Bob Fogle of HNTB Corp. ACEC raised concerns that the proposed rule implementing the president’s PLA policy did not distinguish between those performing direct construction work onsite and those performing other services. ACEC said applying such a requirement could create conflicts of interest for engineering firms that perform critical oversight and quality-assurance roles at construction sites. The final PLA rule specifically acknowledges the concerns raised by the Council, stating, “This change makes clear that employers who do not perform construction work need not sign the project labor agreement.” “This victory for ACEC is on par with a number of previous Council accomplishments, such as FSLA reforms, 9 percent tax deduction and shutting off FAR ‘opt-out,’ ” said ACEC President Dave Raymond. 6 ENGINEERING INC. May / JuNE 2010 http://www.acec.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010

Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010
Contents
From ACEC to You
News & Notes
Market Watch
Legislative Action
Noble Causes
2010 Engineering Excellence Awards
Engineering America’s Recovery: Highlights from 2010 Annual Convention
Members in the News
Business Insights

Engineering Inc. - May/June 2010