Construction job growth rebounded in October as 43 states and the District of Columbia recorded employment increases from a year earlier, while 35 states added construction jobs in the past month, according to analysis of Labor Department data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials cautioned, however, that sustaining such widespread job gains will require support at all levels of government for construction training programs.

On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee approved a two-year, $95.6 billion tax extenders package by a 23 to-3 vote with Senators Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), and Dan Coats (R-Ind.) voting against the package. Chairman Hatch noted in his opening statement, “that this year marked the first time in 20 years that a new Congress began with the tax extenders already expired. In other words, we began this Congress with a built-in disadvantage when it comes to tax policy.”

Register Now and Save at meetings.agc.org/agc_cfma Jointly sponsored by AGC and the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA), the 19th Annual AGC/CFMA Construction Financial Management Conference will be held Nov. 4-6, 2015 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nev. This three-day conference offers programs and workshops designed specifically for financial professionals in the construction industry. The 32 interactive sessions will cover the latest industry issues and their financial implications.

Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) announced during a media interview that the Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to conduct a markup of a tax extenders package the week of July 13, which would put the Senate on track to take the first step in renewing the popular R&D credit, depreciation provisions and possibly all other expired AGC tax priorities. If the committee does act, the most likely scenario would be a two-year extension similar to S. 2260: Expiring Provisions Improvement Reform and Efficiency (EXPIRE) Act that the committee approved in 2014.

The five groups provided little consensus. Four of the groups made no specific recommendations and only produced long descriptions of current law and or parsed various proposals that have already been offered. For instance, the infrastructure group proposed taxing unrepatriated foreign profits of U.S. multinationals to finance the Highway Trust Fund in the short term, and a vehicle mileage tax (VMT) to pay for roads over the long-term – a concept studied during a meeting by the House Ways and Means Committee a few weeks ago. The business group set four principles of business reform including a substantial corporate tax rate reduction and broader tax reform for all businesses. The next phase for the Finance Committee is unclear, as the panel must contend with how to address the Highway Trust Fund deadline looming at the end of the month.

The Senate Finance Working Groups were granted an informal extension through June to submit their recommendations on ways to reform the tax code to the committee’s leadership. On the House side, committee members are working to wrangle together enough offsets to fund a long-term highway bill.

The AGC Financial Issues Committee (FIC) Summer Meeting will be held June 8-9, 2015 at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo. The meeting is geared toward member company AGC member company CFOs, Treasurers, Finance Directors, Controllers, Tax Directors and other senior accounting professionals. Members have an opportunity to learn as well as formulate positions on tax and accounting matters that directly affect the bottom line and operations of AGC member companies of all sizes and specialties. Current FIF projects include helping construction companies to prepare for the new Revenue Recognition Accounting Standard Update that goes into effect in 2017.

This week, the House of Representatives passed the American Research and Competitiveness Act of 2015 by a 274 to 145 vote. The $182 billion research & development (R&D) legislation, introduced by Congressman Kevin Brady (R-Texas), would amend the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent a modified version of the tax credit for qualified research expenses, retroactive to December 31, 2014, when the credit expired.

For the first time since 2010, the House and Senate have reached agreement on a joint budget resolution. The resolution would cut $5.3 trillion from the budget to balance federal receipts and expenditures over nine years. The majority of those cuts would come from mandatory entitlement programs such as Medicare. As expected, the discretionary spending in 2016 will be at the current budget cap levels of $1.016 trillion.

On Wednesday, the House approved a Fiscal Year 2016 budget resolution, H. Con. Res. 27, by a 228-199 vote, with 17 Republicans voting in opposition. The pivotal vote for successful passage of a final version came minutes earlier, when House Republicans voted 219 to 208 to adopt a substitute amendment that increased the limit on war spending to $96 billion and removed a requirement that any of it to be offset, a rare voting strategy used by leadership to give conservatives a chance to vote on their priority, while also allowing a vote on an amendment that leadership and defense hawks needed for final passage.