Engineering Inc. - September/October 2015 - (Page 6)
Legislative Action
ACEC Urging Quick Action on Multiyear
Transportation Bill as Congress Reconvenes
T
he Senate approved a six-year,
$360-billion highway bill prior to
the summer recess, so all eyes now
turn to House leaders to fulfill repeated
pledges to produce a long-term bill when
House members return in September.
The Senate voted 65-34 to pass the
Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision
for the Economy Act (DRIVE Act), an
ACEC-supported six-year reauthorization
of highway, transit and safety programs that
features a 12 percent increase in average
annual funding over current levels. The legislation includes a transfer to the Highway
Trust Fund that will provide funding for
the first three years of the bill.
The Council lobbied heavily in favor of
the Senate bill and is now pressuring the
House to deliver on vows to produce its
own long-term transportation legislation in
September. Congress separately approved
a three-month MAP-21 extension through
October 29 and transferred an additional
$8 billion into the Highway Trust Fund to
maintain current funding to states and provide time to agree on a final bill.
"The discouraging reality is that the
clock is again ticking on yet another shortterm extension," said ACEC President
Dave Raymond following action on the
bills. "When lawmakers return from summer recess after Labor Day, they will try to
accomplish something in about six weeks
that hasn't been achieved in six years-agree
on a satisfactory way to pay for a long-term
bill and get it to the president's desk."
The six-year DRIVE Act provides $275
billion for highway programs over six years,
including $256 billion in formula funds to
the states, $1.8 billion for TIFIA loans and
credit assistance, and $2.1 billion in grant
assistance for major projects. Annual state
highway funding grows from the current
$37.8 billion to $39.6 billion in F.Y. 2016,
ramping up to $45.7 billion in F.Y. 2021.
Transit programs will receive $75 billion
over six years, including $59.5 billion in
formula funds to state and local governments and $14.6 billion for capital investment grants. The bill also authorizes $8.9
billion over four years from the General
Fund for passenger rail programs, including $6.6 billion for Amtrak and $2.2
billion for state rail infrastructure improvement grants.
The bill transfers $45 billion from the
General Fund to the Highway Trust Fund
to supplement existing gas and diesel taxes
and other transportation revenues. The
budget offsets are projected to support program funding through F.Y. 2018, at which
point additional congressional action would
be necessary.
The DRIVE Act also contains provisions recommended by ACEC to streamline project delivery and to fund multistate pilot projects to study alternative
financing mechanisms, such as vehiclemiles-traveled fees.
T
he prospects for
comprehensive tax
reform in 2015 have
dimmed, but tax writers in
the House continue to pursue
more limited reforms designed
to improve the international
competitiveness of U.S.
businesses.
House Ways and Means
Committee Chairman Paul
Ryan (R-Wis.) and the White
House initially sought to pursue legislation to reduce corporate tax rates in response
to concerns over U.S. firms
reincorporating overseas or
being acquired by foreign
competitors. After ACEC and
other business organizations
expressed that lowering corporate tax rates would disadvan-
6
ENGINEERING INC.
tage pass-through businesses
such as S corporations and
partnerships, tax writers have
put aside the discussion of
corporate and individual rates
until Congress and the administration can agree on a more
comprehensive approach to
rewrite the tax code.
As an alternative, Rep.
Charles Boustany (R-La.)
has released draft legislation
that would create a lower tax
rate for profits from qualified
property, such as patents or
inventions. Several European
countries have enacted similar
incentives-generally known as
an "innovation box"-for firms
to perform work domestically.
The innovation box concept
would likely be paired with a
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2015
mandatory tax on
overseas earnings, some of
which would help
fund the federal
highway program.
Any tax package is likely to
also include an
extension of
expired tax provisions. The Senate
Finance Committee approved
Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.)
a two-year
The legislation would be in
extension of 52 tax provieffect for 2015, retroactive
sions that expired at the end
to January 1, and 2016. The
of December. These include
House is considering similar
several backed by ACEC, such
approaches on tax extenders,
as the R&D tax credit, bonus
depreciation, higher expensing with final action expected in
the fall.
levels and energy tax credits.
CHARLES DHARAPAK/AP
Tax Reform Focus Narrows
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - September/October 2015
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2015
Contents
From ACEC to You
Market Watch
Legislative Action
Unlocking the Ocean’s Secrets
Positive Impressions
Low Water, High Hopes
International Corruption
Leading the Way, Lending a Hand
Guest Column
2015 Fall Conference
Guest Column
Guest Column
Business Insights
Members in the News
Mergers and Acquisitions
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc_spring2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc_winter2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1119
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0919
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0719
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0519
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0319
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0119
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1118
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0918
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0718
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0518
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0318
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0118
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1117
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0917
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0717
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0517
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0317
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0117
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1116
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0916
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0716
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0516
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0316
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0116
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1115
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0915
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0715
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0515
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0315
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0115
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1114
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0914
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0714
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0514
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0314
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0114
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1113
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0913
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0713
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0513
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0313
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0113
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0912
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0712
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0512
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0312
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1111
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0911
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0711
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0511
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0311
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0111
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringincSeptOct
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0710
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0510
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0310
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1109
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0909
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0709
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0309
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0109_v2
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0109
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0908
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0508
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0308
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1107
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0907
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0707
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0507
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0307
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0107
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0505
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0305
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1105
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0306
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0105
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1103
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0906
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0903
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0703
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0106
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0503
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0303
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0904
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1104
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0704
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0504
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0905
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0705
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0104
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc1106
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/acec/engineeringinc0706
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com