NEWSROOM

After weeks of debate, Congress sent the finalized American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1) to President Obama who signed the bill Feb. 17 – approving $787 billion to kick-start the stagnant economy and create millions of jobs through investments in energy, transportation, education and health care projects. Three-quarters of the money is expected to reach states, businesses and taxpayers by the end of September 2010.  

The bill includes $27.5 billion for highway and bridge construction and repair; $8.4 billion for mass transit; $9.3 billion for high-speed railways and Amtrak; $20 billion for "green" jobs to make wind turbines, solar panels and improve energy efficiency in schools and federal buildings; and $12.3 billion in energy efficiency and conservation grants, as well as loan guarantees for renewable energy projects.   

The final version of the bill stripped out the mandatory use of the Employment Eligibility Verification (E-Verify) program for federal contractors and also included a one-year delay of the 3 percent withholding tax that requires 3 percent be withheld from government contractors on all payments for goods and services made to federal, state and local government where the total expenditure is more than $100 million.   

In a letter sent to members of the conference committee before the vote in Congress, ABC recommended that language be added that would protect the ability of open shop construction firms to bid on the federal construction projects contained in the package and to remove Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements that would make it more difficult for small businesses to bid.  ABC also noted that there should be a sharper focus on long-term economic benefits.