Fiscal Cliff Update and Request for Survey Participation

Congress and the White House are no closer to a deal on the fiscal cliff than they were before the election.  Each side continues to use the same talking points that they used in the campaign.  AGC and many other groups have been urging action on the fiscal cliff and urging Congress and the president to postpone the fiscal cliff and give themselves the time needed to get the full package done. In an effort to estimate the impact on the construction industry, please complete this short survey by Tuesday, December 4. Background on the Fiscal Cliff Congress and the president are working to craft budgetary and fiscal legislation designed to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff.” Such legislation would prevent across the board tax increases, address expired and expiring tax provisions and avoid sequestration. If they fail to act, the tax increases will hit all brackets (See chart below).  The current tax rates for investment income would also increase. The capital gains rate would rise from 15 percent to 20 percent and the dividend rate would increase from 15 percent to the taxpayer’s income bracket rate (potentially as high as 39.6 percent). [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"4568","attributes":{"class":"media-image aligncenter size-medium wp-image-14905","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"300","height":"269","alt":""}}]] AGC has long been involved in this issue. We serve as a leader in the Tax Relief Coalition, a group of business associations formed in 2001 to assist in the enactment of the first round of Bush era tax cuts. In fact, every AGC chapter joined in that effort as a member of the Tax Reform Coalition. Since that time, we continued to play a successful role in getting additional tax cuts passed in 2003 and then extended in 2010. Over the past year, as Congress and the Administration moved closer to the edge of the fiscal cliff, we have been working as part of the Coalition to urge Congress to extend these tax cuts through 2013, extend all expiring and expired tax provisions (such as the Alternative Minimum Tax Patch) as well as delay the imposition of the mandatory sequestration cuts which include over $6 billion worth of cuts to key federal construction programs. Extending current tax rates through 2013 would give Congress the time needed to enact comprehensive tax, spending and entitlement reform that reduces the deficit, promotes sustainable economic growth and protects vital infrastructure investments. AGC is working aggressively, in unison with the broader business community, to affect the outcome of these discussions.   Your survey responses will provide us with invaluable evidence we need to explain the dramatic economic impacts a hurried but economically devastating compromise or the fiscal cliff would have on the construction sector. In addition, please consider taking a few minutes to complete AGC's 2013 Construction Hiring and Business Outlook Survey. Your responses to the Outlook survey are vital to our ongoing advocacy work on the industry’s behalf. Thank you in advance for your responses. And please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns. For more information, please contact Jeff Shoaf at (202) 547-3350 or shoafj@agc.org.