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Construction Writers Association Discusses Government's Impact on Construction
July, 2007
(Buffalo Grove, IL) During its annual meeting in Washington, DC, the Construction Writers Association (CWA) heard a series of presentations designed to update members on government’s role in the construction industry.
Congressman LaHood
Congressman Ray LaHood talked about Iraq, immigration, and energy independence
The keynote speaker for CWA’s annual meeting was Congressman Ray LaHood (R-IL.), a seasoned lawmaker serving his seventh term representing residents of central and western Illinois. With candor and authority, LaHood predicted that the 2008 presidential race will pit Senator John McCain vs. Senator Hillary Clinton. “Voters in the 2008 campaign will be looking to insiders who have experience in Washington and foreign affairs, and can put the fiscal house in order,” he said. He also predicted that health care will be a big issue in 2008.
The election call followed a review of three hot button issues: energy independence, Iraq and immigration.
Rep. LaHood cited the need for Congressional measures to raise fuel efficiency standards on cars and sport utility vehicles, and provide appropriate incentives for consumers to drive fuel efficient vehicles. Oil refinery capacity must also be expanded. We are part of the problem in fuel consumption and have to recognize the need for fuel alternatives such as ethanol and other bio-based fuels, and persuade people to begin to conserve, he said. Even in fuel-intensive industries such as construction, LaHood said, “We’ve got to develop technologies that consume less fuel.”
LaHood predicted that Congress would have an Iraq funding bill by the end of May, one without a timetable for troop withdrawal. LaHood and his colleagues are looking toward September when Gen. David Petraeus will present a status report. Between now and then, they hope the new plan to bring stability will take hold.
The congressman also told session attendees that one of the single biggest issues currently facing lawmakers on Capitol Hill is immigration reform, which is a major subject of concern for the construction industry. LaHood warned that America’s porous borders threaten national security, and action must be taken to improve border patrol efforts. LaHood stated that businesses must be diligent in verifying the citizenship status of their employees, although he conceded that illegal immigrants are often able to submit convincing forged and fake documents. Amid all debate on the issue is the fact that "illegal aliens are doing jobs that Americans don't want," he said.
Washington Insider’s Panel
Pam Whitted, Carin Neresian, and Christian Klein talked about construction-related legislative issues
To address more specific legislative issues confronting the construction industry, Pamela Whitted, vice president of government affairs for the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA), Carin Nersesian, director of legislative affairs for Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), and Christian Klein, vice president of government affairs for Associated Equipment Distributors (AED), presented a panel discussion addressing various concerns across industry sectors.
Whitted said one of NSSGA’s top priorities is transportation-related legislation. She estimated that it would cost approximately $78 billion per year to maintain, rehabilitate and expand the nation’s highways and bridges through 2024. These are vital improvements that will help decrease congestion, while improving safety and air quality. Whitted discussed different transportation funding options, including government support, fuel and vehicle taxes, and highway user fees, but warned that public-private partnerships are “not necessarily a panacea.”
Nersesian gave an overview of three legislative issues that could have serious implications for the construction industry: the Employee Free Choice Act, comprehensive immigration reform, and the 3-percent contractor withholding provision in the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 (TIPRA).
Strongly supported by labor unions, the Employee Free Choice Act (S. 1041, H.R. 800) would replace federally supervised private-ballot workplace union elections with a card check process, which allows a union to organize if a majority of workers sign a card stating that they would like to be represented by the union. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the Employee Free Choice Act in March, and the bill was introduced in the Senate in April. President Bush has announced that he will veto the bill if it reaches his desk.
Describing it as a “good start to moving the immigration debate forward,” Nersesian discussed the Security Through Regularized Immigration and Vibrant Economy Act of 2007, a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform measure introduced in the House in March. Nersesian said that immigration debaters can be divided into three camps: the anti-immigration group, the family-interest group and the employer community. She noted that the business community has many concerns regarding employee verification requirements, increased criminal penalties and the need for an effective guest worker program.
Nersesian also highlighted a new provision in TIPRA that requires all government entities – federal, state and local – to deduct and withhold 3 percent from all payments for goods and services. Legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate to repeal this “potentially harmful provision,” Nersesian said. She warned that the provision would seriously impede cash flow and place an unfair accounting burden on many construction firms.
Klein highlighted the results of AED’s recent membership survey, which found that AED members are focused on solving the highway funding crisis, lowering health care costs and finding skilled workers. Klein also touched on AED’s key issues, including global warming, federal water investment, airport funding reauthorization and the enforcement of surge brake rules. Klein led an in-depth discussion of estate or “death” taxes, a major issue for family-owned construction businesses. Under current law, the death tax will be repealed in 2010, but will return in 2011 at an increased rate. Legislation introduced last year would have capped the maximum rate at 30 percent, but the outlook for the measure is uncertain in the new Congress, stated Klein.
Highway Historian Dan McNichol
Historian Dan McNichol illustrated the history of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System.
The final session of the meeting was designed to begin the celebration of CWA’s 50th anniversary year. Historian Dan McNichol, author of The Roads That Built America: The Incredible Story of the U.S. Interstate System, treated session attendees to a brief slideshow of his seven-week, 12,000-mile “Great American Road Trip,” a 19-state promotional book tour traveled entirely in a 1951 Hudson Pacemaker. McNichol then provided an in-depth look at the history of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway system, “the largest civil construction project in the world,” which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. In researching his book on the interstate system, McNichol concluded that the highways serve a “dual purpose” -- to allow U.S. citizens to travel freely around the country and to provide the U.S. military with a well-maintained, connected infrastructure for easy wartime mobilization.
McNichol said a good example of the importance of the highway system emerged on Sept. 11, 2001, when “construction companies in the Midwest and across the nation used the highway system to rush cranes and other heavy equipment to Ground Zero to assist in the recovery.” Additionally, McNichol pointed out that all of the nation’s major delivery companies – FedEx, UPS and the USPS – turned to the highway system to “keep us moving” after their planes were grounded.
McNichol, who was part of Boston’s Big Dig Project and wrote a book on the subject, warned that increased funding is needed to maintain and expand the interstate system, emphasizing the vital role that highways play in helping to reduce congestion and the emission of harmful greenhouse gases. McNichol ended his presentation by thanking CWA and announcing that he had become the association’s newest member earlier that morning.
The Construction Writers Association, founded in 1958, is a non-profit, non-partisan, international organization for professional journalists, writers, editors, photographers, marketers and publicists serving the information needs of the construction industry. In addition to its journalism, photography, marketing communications and website awards programs, CWA provides educational meetings and networking opportunities for its members. For more information, visit the Construction Writers Association website at www.constructionwriters.org.
Deborah J. Hodges
Executive Director
P.O. Box 14784
Chicago, Illinois 60614
Telephone 773 687-8726
Fax 773 687-8627
info@constructionwriters.org