Engineering Inc. - January/February 2005 - 6

L E G I S L AT I V E AC T I O N HIGHWAY FUNDING ADDS NEARLY $1 BILLION WITH
NEW SPENDING BILL; ACEC RACKS UP VICTORIES ON FLSA , CONTRACTING-OUT
REFORMS Final Omnibus Appropriations Bill Sets 2005 109th Congress to
Restart Consideration of Spending Levels TEA -21 Reauthorization C o n g r
e s s gave final approval in December to a $388-billion Both houses of
Congress completed the short-lived lame-duck ses- omnibus spending bill
that will provide funding in key areas for sion in December, leaving the
six-year highway and transit reautho- 2005, including transportation and
environmental programs. rization bill H.R. 3550 on the to-do list for the
new Congress in Federal highway funding will increase by nearly $1 billion
over the January. fiscal year 2004 spending level of $33.6 billion. Funding
for water House and Senate transportation committees will need to reintro-
projects under the Safe Drinking Water Act State Revolving Fund duce
reauthorization bills when Congress reconvenes. There is a SRF program
will remain stable at $843 million. Federal funding for desire by both
committees to expedite the process and get bills wastewater projects was
reduced slightly, from $1.3 billion in 2004 to through the House and
Senate by early March, leaving time for con- $1.1 billion in 2005. ference
negotiations to resume before funding runs out under the In the
international arena, Congress funded the Millennium Chal- current TEA-21
extension. Ruth Van Mark, majority staff director lenge Accounts program
which provides economic development on the Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee, called for assistance to qualifying countries at $1.5
billion, an increase of businesses and associations to come together to do
what you have to $500 million over the 2004 level. USAID was funded at $4.2
bil- do, and urged members to pass a six-year reauthorization bill by the
lion, a slight decrease from the 2004 level. May 31, 2005, deadline. The
spending package boosts the Army Corps of Engineers fund- During the
waning hours of the last Congress, there was a final ing by $125 million
above fiscal year 2004 levels, to $4.7 billion. push to secure passage of
a $299-billion bill, but an agreement was The Department of Energy
environmental programs are funded at not reached. This funding level could
serve as a starting point for $7.6 billion, roughly equivalent to current
funding. This includes $6 negotiations in 2005. Incoming ACEC Chairman
Edward Mulcahy billion a $470-million increase for nuclear waste cleanup
activities, said the $299-billion proposal should help facilitate
immediate con- such as at defense sites. sideration of the bills and
hopefully get the conference proceedings under way by late winter. Big
Wins for ACEC as Congress Protects FLSA; Contracting-Out Reforms in
Spending Bill ACEC to Focus Water Infrastructure Efforts In clearing the
omnibus appropriations package, Congress rejected on 109th Congress
last-ditch efforts by unions to overturn new overtime regulations and A
last-minute effort in Congress to include the Water Resources and prevent
federal agencies from contracting out to the private sector, D e v e l o p
m e n t Act WRDA in the Fiscal Year 2005 Omnibus representing big wins for
ACEC's legislative efforts. Appropriations Bill fell short, making this
one of the first orders of In the face of an intensive lobbying effort and
a White House veto threat, Congress agreed to remove controversial language
from the ISSUE ON THE MOVE WHAT'S NEXT spending bill, which would have
restricted the Bush administration's competitive sourcing initiative that
seeks to open more federal TEA -21 Reauthorization House and Senate to
reintro- contracting opportunities to the private sector. duce measures
early in 2005. Legislators also agreed to drop language previously added
by Sen. Tom Harkin D-Iowa that sought to prevent the Depart- Water
Infrastructure Action on WRDA early in ment of Labor from moving forward
with the new regulations 2005 session; water trust fund governing
exemption from overtime rules under the Fair Labor bill to be introduced.
Standards Act FLSA . The new FLSA reforms strongly sup- Class-action
reform, asbestos Tort Reform ported by ACEC went into effect in August.
ACEC and indus- and medical liability early tr y lobbyists expect
continued challenges in the new Congress, priorities. although gains in
the recent election will make it easier to turn back hostile amendments.
They came down to the wire, but we're very pleased with these Reform
commission to meet Tax Reform wins, ACEC President Dave Raymond said.
We'll no doubt face in Januar y to develop new challenges in 2005, but
also we'll have new friends in the House recommendations. and Senate to
help us on these and other industry priorities. 6 ENGINEERING INC. J a n u
a r y l February 2005
Engineering Inc. - January/February 2005

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