51·çÁ÷ and the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) met this week with the House Oversight & Government Affairs Committee to discuss legislation that would severely restrict federal agency participation in conferences hosted by private organizations.  Aside from ASAE, 51·çÁ÷ was the only other organization there to fight for continued open discussion with federal agency representatives at private industry conferences and meetings.
Appropriations panels in the House and Senate this week passed legislation that would increase funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) FY 2013 budget over President Obama’s initial request.
One of three amendments adopted during the debate of H.R. 4348. The Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012, Part II, was a modified version of Congressman Charles Boustany’s (R-LA) Realizing America’s Maritime Promise (RAMP) Act.  H.R. 4348 is serving as the vehicle to get the House to a conference committee with the Senate on their surface transportation reauthorization bill which passed last month.
51·çÁ÷’s 2012 Federal Contractors Conference attracted nearly 400 people to Washington, D.C., this week to meet with 20 federal agencies and review procurement and contracting issues.
Hundreds of federal construction contractors will descend upon Washington, D.C. next week for 51·çÁ÷’s 50th Federal Contractors Conference with more than 20 federal agencies and a handful of congressional members in attendance. From a legislative standpoint, their timing could not be better. Congress will reconvene after a two week Easter recess and find a number of key construction industry’s legislative priorities on their agenda. Among the issues 51·çÁ÷ contractors will learn about and visit Capitol Hill offices concerning are:
General Services Administration (GSA) Administrator Martha N. Johnson and Public Building Service Commissioner Robert A. Peck and other GSA officials were forced to relinquish their positions on April 2. The agency overhaul came hours before the release of GSA Inspector General Brian D. Miller’s report on an $823,000 training conference held at a casino just outside Las Vegas, Nev.
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The 2012 51·çÁ÷ Federal Contractors Conference will be held April 16-19, 2012, at The Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. This meeting is the only national event where contractors and federal agency personnel can meet in a collaborative forum to review federal construction contracting issues and trends from around the United States. These insightful and highly productive exchanges have solidified the need for both federal construction contractors and the federal construction agencies to share information on a wide variety of issues, foster better communication, and create real solutions.
51·çÁ÷ Federal & Heavy Construction Division members launched an all out offensive on the legislative front during last week’s Federal Contractors Conference in Washington, DC. As part of a series of organized Capitol Hill visits, 51·çÁ÷ members provided their federal elected officials information on a range of issues, including small business contracting reform, the prevention of government-mandated Project Labor Agreements, a civilian BRAC for federal office buildings, legislation supporting the dedicated use of harbor maintenance tax revenues for harbor maintenance, legislation to stop the NLRB’s attempt at backdoor card check and passage of a transportation reauthorization bill, among others.
Don’t Miss Out – Register Today!Â
The 2012 51·çÁ÷ Federal Contractors Conference will be held April 16-19, 2012, at The Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. This meeting is the only national event where contractors and federal agency personnel can meet in a collaborative forum to review federal construction contracting issues and trends from around the United States. These insightful and highly productive exchanges have solidified the need for both federal construction contractors and the federal construction agencies to share information on a wide variety of issues, foster better communication, and create real solutions.
Today, the Senate approved  legislation in the form of an amendment to the chamber’s version of the transportation bill. The amendment will ensure 80 percent of the Clean Water Act penalties the federal government collects as a result of the BP oil spill are distributed in the best interest of the communities along the Gulf Coast. The legislation was sponsored by Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and was supported by all Senators from the region in a bi-partisan manner.