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Â鶹´«Ã½ Federal Contractors Conference; May 9-11 in DC The difference between Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s Federal Contractors Conference (FEDCON) and other federal construction meetings is that, at FEDCON, construction contractor attendees drive the agenda. As such, for this year’s conference—held May 9-11 in at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.—Â鶹´«Ã½ is currently seeking your questions for consideration during its meeting with headquarters leaders of the Naval Facility Engineering Command. To see our draft agenda for these session, please click here. To register, please click here.

Water Resources Development Act Consideration Underway As part of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently submitted an annual report to Congress that identifies about $13 billion worth of potential Civil Works Program projects for study, modification or construction. The report identifies 12 potential projects valued at about $3.663 billion with signed Chief of Engineers (COE) reports, 10 potential projects valued at about $2.980 billion with pending COE reports and 26 potential projects valued at $6.445 billion that state and local entities requested. Potential projects with signed COE reports have been fully vetted within USACE and are ready to enter the planning phase of construction. Projects recommended by state and local entities require further USACE study if authorized.

Â鶹´«Ã½ Federal Contractors Conference; May 9-11 in Washington, D.C. The difference between Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s Federal Contractors Conference (FedCon) and other federal construction meetings is that, at FedCon, construction contractor attendees drive the agenda. As such, for this year’s conference—held May 9-11 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.—Â鶹´«Ã½ is currently seeking your questions for consideration in meetings with headquarters leaders of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Military Construction Program, Civil Works Program, Contracting, Safety and Small Business offices. To see our draft agendas for these various sessions, please click here. To register, click here.

Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s 97th Annual Convention will be held March 9-11, 2016 in San Antonio, Texas. Please visit meetings.agc.org/convention for registration information. Below is a preview of some of the Convention sessions.

Includes 13 Percent Increase in Federal Construction Accounts On Feb. 9, President Obama released his $4.1 trillion budget for fiscal year 2017, which proposes $1.215 trillion in discretionary defense and non-defense spending in FY 2017 and $2.565 trillion in mandatory spending. The budget, which stays within the discretionary spending limits set last November in the Bipartisan Budget Act, has been declared dead on arrival by Republican Congressional leaders. For the first time in 41 years, the House and Senate budget committees will not hold hearings with the president’s budget director.

Addresses Change Orders, Industry Standards and Standard Designs The House of Representatives this week unanimously passed Â鶹´«Ã½-supported legislation that would help improve the VA construction program’s interactions with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and accountability to taxpayers and Congress. Introduced by the House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), the Construction Reform Act of 2016 (H.R. 3106) would:

Bill Addresses One-Step Design-Build and Reverse Auctions The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs this week unanimously passed Â鶹´«Ã½-supported legislation that would (1) require civilian federal agencies—non-Department of Defense agencies—to utilize the two-step design-build selection process for design-build projects greater than $750,000, thereby limiting one-step design-build procurements; and (2) prohibit reverse auctions for construction services. The bipartisan legislation introduced by Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), the Consensus Procurement Improvement Act of 2015, S. 1526, may now move to the Senate floor for consideration and passage. An Â鶹´«Ã½ co-chaired coalition of 15 national construction organizations sent a letter in support of this measure and has long worked to advance it through the legislative process. Â鶹´«Ã½ is working with members of the House to introduce the same bill there.

Â鶹´«Ã½ Pushes for Redevelopment of Excess Federal Real Property Members of the House and Senate have recently introduced and advanced legislation that could encourage federal agencies to dispose of, consolidate, or redevelop billions of dollars of excess or underutilized civilian federal real property. This could translate into significant private and federal construction work throughout the nation. As such, advancing these bills are a significant legislative priority for Â鶹´«Ã½.

Includes Duplicative Debarment for Late Taxes and Crimes Â鶹´«Ã½ filed comments this week on a Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council proposed rule that would prohibit federal agencies from entering into a contract with any corporation that has a delinquent federal tax liability or a felony conviction under any federal law, unless (1) the agency has considered suspension and debarment of the corporation and (2) has made a determination that such action is unnecessary.

Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s 97th Annual Convention will be held March 9-11, 2016 in San Antonio, Texas. Please visit meetings.agc.org/convention for registration information. Below is a preview of the Utility Infrastructure, Federal & Heavy Construction, and Highway & Transportation Division meetings.