The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has provided the construction industry with an unprecedented opportunity to help rebuild our nation, our economy and our industry. As a result, ARRA and several other major changes governing how the federal government procures construction services have dramatically changed the federal construction industry.AGC is offering a cutting edge series of federal contracting webinars to provide a detailed overview of some of the most critical challenges both new and experienced federal contractors will need to know about to successfully navigate this new landscape and meet the demands of the economic stimulus package.November 5, 1:30-3pm ET  - Protests and Debriefings: How to Protect YourselfNovember 12, 1:30-3pm ET - Small Business Contracting: Opportunities Gained & Challenges IdentifiedNovember 19, 1:30-3pm ET  - Cost Recovery & Claims: Obtaining Fair Compensation and Avoiding PitfallsVisit www.agc.org/fedwebinars for full webinar descriptions and a list a speakers. For more information, contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced on October 16 a major shift in its Army Corps senior leadership team. Major General Merdith W.B. (Bo) Temple will become the Deputy Commanding General (DCG) in January 2010. MG Temple has served as the DCG for Civil and Emergency Operations since 2008. MG Temple will succeed Major General Don Riley, who has served the DCG since April 1, 2008. MG William T. Grisoli, who has been serving as the  Deputy Chief of Staff for the Army, was named DGC for Civil and Emergency Operations.MG Grisoli previously held senior positions with the Corps, including commander of its Northwestern and North Atlantic divisions. Prior to his appointment at the Civil Works, MG Temple was DCG for military and international programs.  Lieutenant General Robert L. Van Antwerp remains Commander and Chief of Engineers. MG Jeffrey J. Dorko continues as the DCG for military and international operations.AGC thanks MG Riley for his friendship and his years of service to our nation. We also congratulate MG Temple and MG Grisoli on their new positions as we look forward to working with them to ensure the USACE mission is a success.For more information, contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.

President Obama and the U.S. Small Business Administration announced October 21 a new plan to raise the maximum loan size for SBA-backed loans to small business. Specifically, President Obama called for:Increasing the size of SBA's 7(a) loan from $2 million to $5 million.Increasing the size of SBA's 504 loan from $2 million to $5 million for standard borrowers (supporting a total project of $12.5 million) and from $4 million to $5.5 million for manufacturers (supporting a total project of $13.75 million).Increasing the size of SBA's Microloan from $35,000 to $50,000.AGC believes these measures will go a long way to help extend and expand credit to small businesses that need this valuable help now more than ever.   To view a copy of the President's remarks, click here. To view the SBA fact sheet on the proposal, click here.For more information, contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.

Now that the House passed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009, which authorizes more than $4 billion for elementary and secondary school facility projects over the next two fiscal years, the Senate is currently working on its version of the bill.The House version of the bill authorizes $2.1 billion in 2010 and 2011 to renovate and modernize facilities for elementary and secondary schools (K-12), and authorizes $2.5 billion in 2011 to renovate and modernize facilities for community colleges. AGC has long-advocated for increased federal investment in school construction, as there is substantial opportunity for investment in upgrading and improving the unmet needs for school construction and renovation, which is estimated to be $3.7 billion. The average age of a public school building is estimated to be over 40 years old, the same age that schools have been documented to deteriorate.The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). Committee staff currently working on the bill indicated that the Senate will be writing their own bill language, but that the goal is to match the numbers in the House bill. The unofficial timetable is to finish the bill and have it to the president before the end of the year to maximize the savings and effectiveness of the student aid portions of the bill. Given this timeframe, it is unlikely that there will be time for any hearing on the legislation, as the health care debate has presently taken the majority of attention and resources.While AGC supports the overall bill, it includes the same Buy American language as was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that AGC continues to oppose. Committee staff currently working on the bill has indicated that while they would like to keep the Buy American language in the bill, they see it as unlikely to make it into the final Senate language. AGC will urge Senators to support the bill without the Buy American restrictions.For more information click here.For more information, contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.

This week the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a waiver of Section 1605, or the Buy American requirements, in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for projects using Community Development Block Grant-Recovery (CDBG-R) funds and Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2) funds.The Recovery Act appropriated $1 billion in funds to states and local governments to carry out eligible activities on an expedited basis. The Recovery Act also appropriated $2 billion for the second round of NSP2, ''[f]or the provision of emergency assistance for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes.''This waiver provides that HUD will accept any other agency's waivers and well as any waivers from other HUD programs. They also waive entirely the Buy American requirements for public housing projects with less than 8 units, when the grant size is less than $100,000, or any project that is substantially under construction or contract prior to receipt of funds. These exceptions were made on the basis of the of the "Public Interest" option of potential waivers provided in Section 1605(b).This waiver joins others HUD has issued for the Capital Fund Recovery Formula and Competition (CFRFC) grant funds  and a project specific waiver for the Boston Housing Authority's HOPE IV project.For more information, contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.

AGC member Joel Zingeser (Grunley Construction Co. Inc., Rockville, Md.) today testified before the House Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management regarding contracting with the federal government. Chairwoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) held the hearing in order to examine the small business programs of the Architect of the Capitol, the General Services Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Smithsonian Institution.Zingeser's testimony focused on several contracting reform policies that AGC has advocated for including better accounting of subcontractor participation, contract bundling, HUBZones and agency consistency.For more on the hearing, click here.

A rule requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to use the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' E-Verify system to verify their employees' authorization to work in the U.S. is now in effect.  The rule applies to federal solicitations and contract awards government-wide beginning September 8. The FAR Council issued the final rule in November 2008.  In response to a legal challenge to the rule and in order to give the new administration time to fully review the matter, the government agreed to suspend the rule on three separate occasions, but, in a July 8 statement, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that DHS will "push ahead with full implementation" of the rule without further delay. The rule requires the insertion of a new clause in certain federal contracts and subcontracts.  Prime contracts below the simplified acquisition threshold of $100,000 and those with performance terms of less than 120 days are excluded.  The clause requires the contractor to use E-Verify to confirm employment eligibility of all new employees hired during the contract term and all current employees assigned to work on a federal job within the U.S.  It also allows, but does not require, the federal contractor to use E-Verify to confirm eligibility of all employees, regardless of whether they are assigned to work on a federal job.  Currently, use of E-Verify to confirm anyone other than a new hire (including applicants and current employees) is prohibited. The rule applies only to employers with direct contracts with the federal government and, via a flow-down requirement, to their subcontractors.  It does not apply to employers working only on federally funded projects or on other projects not under contract with a federal agency.Although the litigation continues, contractors are advised to carefully review all new solicitations and contracts for federal projects and comply with any E-Verify requirements at this time.  AGC will continue to monitor all related litigation and legislation and will report on significant developments.Click here for the E-Verify Supplemental Guidance for Federal Contractors issued by USCIS on September 8.  Click here for DHS's list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) for Federal Contractors and E-Verify.  Click here for more information about critical components of the rule.  Click here for information about free webinars on the E-Verify program.Further guidance on immigration compliance is available in an MP3 download of a live educational session held at AGC's Annual HR Professionals Conference in June 2008.  An immigration law update will also be provided at AGC's next HR Professionals Conference, which will take place October 27-29, in Atlanta, Ga. Click here for conference details and registration.

On August 13, AGC submitted comments on the July 14, 2009 Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council notice of proposed rulemaking, which implemented President Obama's Executive Order 13502 to create new FAR contract clauses to be included in Federal contracts should an agency choose to require a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) on a particular Federal construction project.The proposed rule encourages (not requires) agencies to consider (not necessarily adopt) a PLA requirement on large-scale construction projects (defined as projects with a total cost to the federal government of $25 million or more) on a project-by-project basis where certain criteria are met. AGC's comments focused on this vague and subjective set of requirements agencies had to meet to impose a PLA on a project. AGC also pointed out that the agency requirement that the PLA must "allow all contractors and subcontractors to compete for contracts and subcontracts without regard to whether they are otherwise parties to collective bargaining agreements" is ostensibly a fair principle, but is unrealistic, considering the very burdensome changes that a public PLA typically imposes on open shop contractors operations.The comment period on the proposed rule relating to project labor agreements was subsequently extended for 30 days, with a new deadline of September 23. If you would like to submit your views, you can send comments by mail to General Services Administration, Regulatory Secretariat (VPR), 1800 F Street, NW, Room 4041, ATTN: Hada Flowers, Washington, D.C. 20405, or by fax to (202) 501-4067. Comments can also be submitted online via the federal eRulemaking portal by clicking here.Read more about AGC's Comments and the Proposed Rule here.

The first reporting deadline for the Recovery Act is October 10, 2009 and covers all contracts and funds from February 14 to October 1, 2009. Section 1512 of the Recovery Act requires information about the project and the jobs it creates, plus salary disclosure for certain federal contractors, to be reported to the central federal Web site, www.federalreporting.gov.At 12:01 A.M. on August 17, 2009, that Web site went live. Recipients of Recovery funds are now able to register as the first step in the reporting process mandated by the Recovery Act. To register, recipients must already have a DUNS number and CCR number.Registration will continue through September 30, 2009, with reporting officially beginning on October 1, 2009 through October 10, 2009. For more information on the reporting requirements contained in the Recovery Act, click here (for federal contractors), here (for federally-assisted work) and here (for more information about the reporting process). For OMB's guidance and forms associated with reporting, see OMB's recipient reporting information.

The White House on July 29 formally unveiled contracting and workforce reforms that are designed to save the taxpayers at least $40 billion a year. The reforms, released by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), focuses on three areas: improving acquisition, managing the multi-sector workforce, and contractor performance information.Previously, President Obama established in a March 4 memorandum his principles for contracting reform, and charged the OMB with identifying the best approaches to accomplish his goals.The guidance requires agencies to reduce contracts by a minimum of seven percent, with special focus on "high-risk" contracts, such as non-competitive contracts and cost-reimbursement contracts. The guidance also requires agencies for the first time to track contractor performance through a new unified database, the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS) located at www.ppirs.gov. The White House reports that Federal agencies will be able to check on a contractor's past performance before signing a new contract with it. OMB will be monitoring their compliance with this requirement and will be publicly release statistics on agency compliance.The guidance on managing the multi-sector workforce lays out a new framework for managing the workforce that evaluates all the functions an organization performs to assess if an agency has achieved the best combination of public and private labor resources to serve the American people. Agencies will be required to pilot this new framework by examining at least one program, project, or activity where the agency has concerns about over-reliance on contractors.A second phase of contracting guidance is scheduled to be released in September. This next phase will focus on maximizing competition, choosing appropriate contract types, building the capacity of the federal acquisition workforce, and clarifying when outsourcing is appropriate.AGC will continue to engage with key Administration decision-makers and contracting leaders on Capitol Hill as these issues further develop.For more information, please contact Marco Giamberardino at (703) 837-5325 or giamberm@agc.org.