Monthly Archives: December 2011
2011DEC
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Construction employment declined in 146 out of 337 metropolitan areas between November 2010 and November 2011, increased in 131 and stayed level in 60, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by AGC.
2011DEC
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On Thursday, December 22, 2011 the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) released its latest revision to the truck driver hours of service regulations. The rules are effective on July 1, 2013, except for the change to the definition of on-duty time which becomes effective February 21, 2012.
2011DEC
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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) finalized its representation-case procedures, also known as the “quickie elections” or “ambush elections” rule, and they will be published in the Federal Register on December 22, 2011 or can be viewed electronically here.
2011DEC
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After much uncertainty, late last week Congress struck a deal to collectively pass the remaining appropriations measures for FY 2012. The legislation, (H.R. 3671, H. Rept. 112-331) funds the federal agencies under the remaining nine Appropriations bills, including: Defense, Energy and Water, Financial Services, Homeland Security, Interior/Environment, Labor/Health and Human Services/Education, the Legislative Branch, Military Construction/Veterans Affairs, and State/Foreign Operations. AGC has advocated for this measure to come together to ensure predictability for the FY 2012 federal construction programs for both the construction industry as well as the government.
2011DEC
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The last twelve months have been interesting, aggravating and not very productive. Between Election Day 2010 and Christmas Day 2010, the President, House and Senate agreed to a continuing resolution that funded the government through March, they agreed to an extension of the Bush tax rates, an extension of emergency unemployment benefits and a payroll tax holiday that reduced the employee portion of funds withheld for social security.
2011DEC
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The Capitol is nearly empty today. Republicans and Democrats continue to fight in the media over legislation that would extend the payroll tax holiday, extend emergency unemployment and delay cuts in Medicare payments to doctors also known as the “Doc fix”. The House has passed a one-year extension of these three policies. The Senate has passed a two-month extension. The Senate has adjourned for the year and the House is demanding a House-Senate Conference to resolve differences between the House and Senate approaches. Failure to resolve the difference before January 1 will result in cuts in payments to doctors serving Medicare patients, an abrupt end to emergency (99 week) unemployment benefits and of course the full social security withholding (6.2%) beginning the first pay period in 2012.
2011DEC
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Construction employment rose in only 19 states and the District of Columbia in November, a weaker showing than in recent months, according to an analysis of Labor Department data by AGC . In contrast, 25 states plus D.C. added jobs on a year-over-year basis, while 24 states shed construction jobs.
2011DEC
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The US DOT this week announced the award of $511 million in TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grants. This is the third round of TIGER grant awards. The program was started as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and has been popular with states and local governments. USDOT received 848 project applications requesting $14.3 billion, far exceeding the $511 million made available by Congress for TIGER III grants which are awarded to transportation projects that have a significant national or regional impact.
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