Engineering Inc. - July/August 2014 - (Page 4)
Legislative Action
House, Senate Committee
Advance F.Y 2015 Transportation
.
Spending Bills
AP PHOTO/NICK UT
T
he House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Committee have
approved their respective F.Y. 2015 spending bills for the Department of
Transportation. Both bills would maintain highway and transit funding levels
under MAP-21.
Highways would receive nearly $41 billion in both bills, consistent with current
levels and contingent on a reauthorization or extension of MAP-21. Transit programs are funded at $11.1 billion in the Senate committee bill (S. 2438), including
$8.6 billion for formula grants, consistent with MAP-21, and $2.16 billion for capital investment grants, an increase of $220 million for new projects. The Housepassed bill (H.R. 4745) limits transit new starts funding to $1.7 billion for ongoing
capital expansion projects.
Both bills would fully fund the Airport
Improvement Program at $3.35 billion,
the current authorized level. The Senate bill would increase FAA facilities and
equipment by $130 million to $2.61 billion,
while the House bill maintains current
funding.
To meet lower overall budget totals, the
House bill cuts TIGER multimodal grants
from $600 million to $100 million and
reduces Amtrak funding from $1.4 billion
to $1.2 billion, a $200 million reduction to capital improvements and debt service.
By contrast, TIGER grants are funded at $550 million in the Senate bill and
Amtrak funding would be maintained at the F.Y. 2014 level of $1.4 billion, including $1.05 billion for capital expenses and debt service.
The current fiscal year ends Sept. 30. The House and Senate must resolve
their differences or approve a continuing resolution before that date.
Tax Extenders
Legislation Stalls
T
he Senate is attempting to complete
consideration of a package of tax provisions, S. 2260, which expired at the
end of 2013. Democrats and Republicans differ over what amendments will be offered.
The legislation includes extensions of
provisions of interest to ACEC Member
Firms, such as the R&D tax credit, parity for
employer-provided transit benefits, increased
Section 179 expensing limits, and the wind
energy tax credit. The tax benefits would be in
effect for 2014, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2015.
Senate Republicans want to offer an
amendment to repeal the medical device tax
that was part of the Affordable Care Act. But
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron
Wyden (D-Ore.) wants to keep any amendments directly related to the tax extenders in
S. 2260.
Instead of taking up the entire package of
tax extenders, the House Ways and Means
Committee approved several bills to make certain tax provisions permanent. These include
the R&D tax credit, small business expensing
and bonus depreciation. The House approved
permanent extension of the R&D tax credit
in May by a vote of 274 to 131. Additional
floor votes are expected in the House this
summer.
Final action on the tax extenders is likely
to occur after the November election.
House Approves ACEC-Backed Reforms in Defense Bill
4
ENGINEERING INC.
AP PHOTO/HARRY HAMBURG
T
he House-passed
National Defense
Authorization Act of
2015 includes ACEC-backed
design-build reforms and
prohibitions against so-called
reverse auctions.
Rep. Mick Mulvaney
(R-S.C.) offered an amendment to the defense bill that
would require the use of the
two-step design-build contract
selection process for projects of
$1 million or greater, when the
design-build process is appropriate. In those instances, the
Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.)
JULY / AUGUST 2014
bill limits the number of shortlisted firms to five.
ACEC opposes the one-step
process because it essentially
selects the lowest acceptable offer
and burdens design firms. The
cattle-call nature of the process
disincentivizes firms from investing in innovative design solutions. Using the two-step process
and limiting the qualificationsbased short list to five enhances
each firm's probability of selection and encourages them to
invest in design efforts.
The defense bill would also
ban the use of reverse auctions
by agencies when procuring
design and construction services from small businesses.
ACEC has long opposed the
government's use of reverse
auctions, in which bidders are
allowed to reduce their bids
over a set period based on their
competitor's submittals. The
bill reinforces existing QBS
requirements for A/E services.
The Council is working to
secure similar reforms in the
Senate's version of the defense
authorization bill.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - July/August 2014
Engineering Inc. - July/August 2014
Contents
From ACEC to You
Legislative Action
Market Watch
Staying on Mission
Public vs. Private
Meeting the Need
2014 Professional Liability Insurance Survey of Member Firms
Sustaining Industry Momentum
2014 Fall Conference
Risk Management
Business Insights
Members in the News
Mergers and Acquisitions
Engineering Inc. - July/August 2014
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