Engineering Inc. - July/August 2014 - (Page 4)

Legislative Action House, Senate Committee Advance F.Y 2015 Transportation . Spending Bills AP PHOTO/NICK UT T he House of Representatives and Senate Appropriations Committee have approved their respective F.Y. 2015 spending bills for the Department of Transportation. Both bills would maintain highway and transit funding levels under MAP-21. Highways would receive nearly $41 billion in both bills, consistent with current levels and contingent on a reauthorization or extension of MAP-21. Transit programs are funded at $11.1 billion in the Senate committee bill (S. 2438), including $8.6 billion for formula grants, consistent with MAP-21, and $2.16 billion for capital investment grants, an increase of $220 million for new projects. The Housepassed bill (H.R. 4745) limits transit new starts funding to $1.7 billion for ongoing capital expansion projects. Both bills would fully fund the Airport Improvement Program at $3.35 billion, the current authorized level. The Senate bill would increase FAA facilities and equipment by $130 million to $2.61 billion, while the House bill maintains current funding. To meet lower overall budget totals, the House bill cuts TIGER multimodal grants from $600 million to $100 million and reduces Amtrak funding from $1.4 billion to $1.2 billion, a $200 million reduction to capital improvements and debt service. By contrast, TIGER grants are funded at $550 million in the Senate bill and Amtrak funding would be maintained at the F.Y. 2014 level of $1.4 billion, including $1.05 billion for capital expenses and debt service. The current fiscal year ends Sept. 30. The House and Senate must resolve their differences or approve a continuing resolution before that date. Tax Extenders Legislation Stalls T he Senate is attempting to complete consideration of a package of tax provisions, S. 2260, which expired at the end of 2013. Democrats and Republicans differ over what amendments will be offered. The legislation includes extensions of provisions of interest to ACEC Member Firms, such as the R&D tax credit, parity for employer-provided transit benefits, increased Section 179 expensing limits, and the wind energy tax credit. The tax benefits would be in effect for 2014, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2015. Senate Republicans want to offer an amendment to repeal the medical device tax that was part of the Affordable Care Act. But Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wants to keep any amendments directly related to the tax extenders in S. 2260. Instead of taking up the entire package of tax extenders, the House Ways and Means Committee approved several bills to make certain tax provisions permanent. These include the R&D tax credit, small business expensing and bonus depreciation. The House approved permanent extension of the R&D tax credit in May by a vote of 274 to 131. Additional floor votes are expected in the House this summer. Final action on the tax extenders is likely to occur after the November election. House Approves ACEC-Backed Reforms in Defense Bill 4 ENGINEERING INC. AP PHOTO/HARRY HAMBURG T he House-passed National Defense Authorization Act of 2015 includes ACEC-backed design-build reforms and prohibitions against so-called reverse auctions. Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) offered an amendment to the defense bill that would require the use of the two-step design-build contract selection process for projects of $1 million or greater, when the design-build process is appropriate. In those instances, the Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) JULY / AUGUST 2014 bill limits the number of shortlisted firms to five. ACEC opposes the one-step process because it essentially selects the lowest acceptable offer and burdens design firms. The cattle-call nature of the process disincentivizes firms from investing in innovative design solutions. Using the two-step process and limiting the qualificationsbased short list to five enhances each firm's probability of selection and encourages them to invest in design efforts. The defense bill would also ban the use of reverse auctions by agencies when procuring design and construction services from small businesses. ACEC has long opposed the government's use of reverse auctions, in which bidders are allowed to reduce their bids over a set period based on their competitor's submittals. The bill reinforces existing QBS requirements for A/E services. The Council is working to secure similar reforms in the Senate's version of the defense authorization bill.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - July/August 2014

Engineering Inc. - July/August 2014
Contents
From ACEC to You
Legislative Action
Market Watch
Staying on Mission
Public vs. Private
Meeting the Need
2014 Professional Liability Insurance Survey of Member Firms
Sustaining Industry Momentum
2014 Fall Conference
Risk Management
Business Insights
Members in the News
Mergers and Acquisitions

Engineering Inc. - July/August 2014