Engineering Inc. - March/April 2009 - 38

Congressman James Oberstar (D-Minn., left), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, with Tim Psomas, 2009–2010 ACEC chairman. ACEC won passage in 1979 of the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement, which directed agencies to contract out for goods and services. During the 1980s, ACEC contributed to the Grace Commission recommendations for increased efficiency in government, reduction of in-house engineering staffs, and outsourcing of design work. ACEC also was instrumental in repeal of the Commercial Conservation Service, which directly competed with engineers offering energy services to owners of commercial buildings. During the 1990s, California became the target of public-employee union efforts to deny private engineers work on public projects. In 1998, with support from the National Council and members throughout the country, ACEC/California defeated Proposition 224, the anticontracting-out initiative. Two years later, the California organization was instrumental in the passage of Proposition 35—a state constitutional amendment giving state and local agencies the ability to contract out. ACEC/California Executive Director Paul Meyer declared, “ACEC and its Minuteman Fund have been a stalwart ally throughout our long battle for contracting out in California.” In 2000, Congress adopted the ACEC-backed Thomas Amendment, which limits the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from engaging in commercial design activities in direct competition with the industry. Three years later, Congress passed legislation mandating specific contracting-out targets for the Bureau of Reclamation. In recent years, ACEC has worked with allies in the business community to defeat numerous efforts in Congress to curtail contracting out. 142 West 36th Street New York, NY 10018 P: 212.792.8700 F: 212.575.1999 www.jfkmcg.com • Jacob 100 years of collective Engineering Experience Feinberg Consulting Group, LLC Katz & Michaeli • 9 Percent A/E Tax Deduction In 2004, ACEC secured an important tax deduction for engineering firms in the American Jobs Creation Act. Initially intended only for manufacturing firms, ACEC mounted an aggressive lobbying campaign that made A/E firms eligible for the tax benefit and assured it would apply to both large corporations and small businesses (including partnerships, S-corporations and LLCs). The law permitted firms to receive an income tax deduction of 3 percent during 2005–2007, 6 percent in 2008–2009 and 9 percent by 2010 and beyond. Federal Highway Funding ACEC has been a major advocate for expanding federal funding for highway, bridge and transit projects. From the $633 million Federal Highway Act of 1921 to the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 that initiated the interstate highway system, to the series of “TEA” bills—ISTEA, TEA-21 and SAFETEA-LU—from the 1990s to 2005 that boosted federal investment from $150 billion to nearly $300 billion, ACEC has been a forceful voice for increased federal responsibility in transportation investment. Water Funding In the late 1970s, ACEC achieved a major legislative victory in the Federal Clean Water program by prohibiting the EPA from changing the rules in mid-stream for projects already approved Mechanical Electrical Plumbing C o m p r e h e n s i v e s e r v i c e s Fire Protection IT Design Sustainable Design 38 ENGiNEEriNG iNc. march / april 2009

Engineering Inc. - March/April 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - March/April 2009