Engineering Inc. - July/August 2007 - 10

LEGIsLatIvE aCtIon FRom aCEC’s GovERnmEnt aFFaIRs DEPaRtmEnt CONGrESSIONAL SuPPOrT GrOWS FOr rEPEAL OF 3 PErCENT WITHOLDING ruLE; MOrE MONEy NEEDED FOr AIrPOrT CONSTruCTION EFFOrT ACEC Grassroots Advocacy, Advertising Efforts Increase Support to Defeat 3 Percent Withholding Support for House and Senate legislation to repeal a burdensome 3 percent withholding mandate continues to grow after the successful grassroots lobbying by ACEC members in May, followed by an aggressive advertising campaign by the Council in June. Co-sponsors now total 181 for the legislation (H.R. 1023 and S. 777), which is designed to repeal the onerous 3 percent federal withholding measure that could devastate engineering firms, particularly smaller firms. Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.), primary sponsor of H.R. 1023, specifically attributed the increased congressional backing to defeat the mandate to ACEC efforts, including hundreds of visits from ACEC members to Capitol Hill during the Annual Convention, and several subsequent full-page advertisements published in the four primary Capitol Hill publications: Roll Call, Congressional Quarterly Today, The Hill and National Journal. (See a sample of the ad on page 9.) “ACEC is really doing a great job in building support for this legislation,” said Meek. “To move this legislation, we’re going to need all the support we can get, and grassroots lobbying from your membership is a central piece of that effort.” Meek’s legislation would repeal Section 511 of the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005, which mandates that federal and state agencies, as well as some larger local governments, withhold 3 percent from payments for goods and services. This provision, which goes into effect in 2011, will cover all government payments and contracts. Speaking at a recent event co-sponsored by ACEC/PAC, Meek stressed the need to continue to add support for the legislation in both the House and the Senate. ACEC members are encouraged to visit the ACEC website at www.acec.org/advocacy, where they can access a sample letter to send to their House and Senate members urging them to co-sponsor the repeal legislation. ACEC Joins AASHTO, National Transportation Leaders in Look to the Future ACEC helped shape important new transportation initiatives at the Vision and Strategy for the 21st Century Conference in Cambridge, Md., organized by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. “To remain the world leader in transportation, the U.S. cannot merely maintain our current system. We must build a 21st-century system, and our economic security will depend on it,” ACEC President Dave Raymond told conference attendees at a plenary session. 10 EnGInEERInG InC. JuLY / auGust 2007 ACEC President Dave Raymond, center, addresses AASHTO Vision Conference. Others on the panel from the left: Jane Garvey, moderator, and former FAA Administrator; Bob Bergman, vice president for UPS and chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee; Pete Ruane, president and CEO of the American Road and Transportation Builders and Stephen Sandherr, CEO of the Associated General Contractors. ACEC members joining Raymond in the conference deliberations were Charlie Geer, chairman of ACEC’s Transportation Committee and of Kimley-Horn Associates; ACEC Vice Chairman David Oates of Oates Associates; Gerry Stump of Wilbur Smith Associates; Scott Murray of Fuller, Mossbarger, Scott and May Engineers; Hal Kassoff of Parsons Brinckerhoff—author of one of the basic papers for the conference—and other members from CH2M HILL, HNTB, Parsons Brinckerhoff and other firms. Conference participants discussed nine preliminary reports on specific transportation issues developed by specialists in highways and safety, freight and rail, urban and rural mobility, sustainable transportation and funding. A final Vision Report will be forwarded to the National Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, which was created in 2005 by Congress under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users to make recommendations for enhancing the nation’s transportation system. IssuEs on thE movE new airport projects bill anti-contractor language in defense bill Repeal of 3 percent withholding mandate What’s nExt house, senate floor passage expected in July senate to consider in July; conference in the fall Grassroots push through summer

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Engineering Inc. - July/August 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - July/August 2007