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Construction Legislative Week In Review
From the Congressional Relations Staff
February 25, 1999
Volume 4, Issue 8

The Associated
General Contractors
of America
333 John Carlyle Street
Suite 200
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 548-3118
(703) 837-5404 fax


Jeffrey D. Shoaf
Executive Director
Congressional Relations
shoafj@agc.org

202/383-2762

Joan Huntley LaVor
Director
AGC PAC
lavorj@agc.org

202/383-2761

Peter Loughlin
Director
Construction Markets
loughlip@agc.org

202/383-2766

Loren E. Sweatt
Director
Procurement and
Environment
sweattl@agc.org
202/383-2760

Phil Thoden
Director
Tax & Fiscal Affairs
thodenp@agc.org
202/383-2764

Patrick Wilson
Director
Human Resources & Labor
wilsonp@agc.org
202/383-2763
Dunn/Tanner Death Tax Bill Introduced Today

Reps. Jennifer Dunn (R-WA) and John Tanner (D-TN) today held a press conference to introduce The Death Tax Elimination Act, H.R. 8, that seeks to phase out the estate (death) tax over a 10-year period.

The death tax is the most onerous burden facing family-owned construction companies, and the elimination of the death tax is AGC’s number one legislative priority for the 106th Congress. AGC strongly supports the Dunn/Tanner bill to eliminate the death tax over a 10-year period.

Among AGC members, according to an AGC/Deloitte and Touche survey, 94% are closely-held and 81% are owned by fewer than four persons. In the capital-intensive construction industry, even the smallest contractor has lifetime capital assets, property and real estate over $650,000, - the current estate tax credit amount. The burden of the federal estate tax falls squarely on AGC’s smallest family-owned construction firms.

When faced with the death tax (at a rate of 37% to 55% on top of income taxes paid on earnings, capital gains, dividends and interest), many family-owned construction companies must be sold, downsized or liquidated ,just to pay the tax.

Please send your Member of Congress a letter urging repeal of the death tax. Sample letters can be found on AGC’s web page (www.agc.org >Members Only Section>Legislative Area>Congress at Your Fingertips>Write to Congress), or you may request copies of the letters from Phil Thoden with the AGC Congressional Relations Division at 202-383-2764.

Governors Pressure Congress to Keep the Promise of TEA-21 and Spend Aviation Revenues for Aviation: The nation’s governors called on Congress to keep the promise of TEA-21 and provide the highway and transit levels "guaranteed" in TEA-21. North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer stated that this year, we have to remain vigilant to make sure the President and Congress honor the commitment of TEA-21. The governors, who were in Washington this week for their annual meeting, also urged Congress to provide the same guarantee to aviation this year as Congress did for highways and transit last year.

Bond Announces Clean Air Act Legislation: Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) announced his intention to introduce legislation repealing a provision in the Clean Air Act that allows for the sanctioning highway funds. This legislation is in response to a Sierra Club lawsuit questioning EPA’s approval of Missouri’s state implementation plan. "The Safety of our drivers should not fall victim to a group’s political designs," Bond stated. AGC strongly supports this legislation protecting driver safety.

Governors Testify in Favor of State Revolving Funds: During the National Governors Association meeting this week, governors from three states testified in favor of $2.4 billion annually for Clean Water Act state revolving funds (SRFs). The Governors also requested more flexibility in spending the money in the SRFs to allow states to target clean water needs.

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