HOUSE VOTES on DEATH TAX ELIMINATION

On Friday, June 9th, the House of Representatives will consider H.R. 8, legislation to gradually phase down the death tax, with full elimination coming in 2010. This bill has 245 cosponsors and is expected to be approved by the House. The bill also changes the unified credit to a true exemption (thereby lowering the initial death tax rate from 37% to 18%). For inherited assets subsequently sold, the bill eliminates the step up in basis for all but $1.3 million in inherited assets (spouses can receive a step up for an additional $3 million in assets for a total of $4.3 million.) Thank you to the hundreds of AGC Members and Chapters who have sent letters and e-mails, and also called their Representatives. AGC has been actively lobbying the House in anticipation of the vote.

Recordkeeping Effort Delayed to Coordinate with Ergonomics Rule: The Department of Labor announced this week that the long-delayed standard on the reporting and recording of accidents and injuries will be still further delayed because of the pending ergonomic standard rulemaking. The two issues have long been tied together, but this announcement is the first time that OSHA has publicly acknowledged that the recordkeeping requirements for all companies will be increased by the proposed ergonomics standard. OSHA had been pressing to get the standard out by July 1st. The statement from OSHA, released June 2nd, suggested that the publication of the recordkeeping revision is now being planned to coincide with the agency's end-of-year deadline for completing the final ergonomics rule. The recordkeeping rule will define how injuries, including musculoskeletal disorders, should be recorded in OSHA logs. The ergonomics standard, as proposed, would be triggered by any single recordable injury. This "one-incident-trigger" has been soundly criticized by employers and other critics of the proposed standard.

House to Vote on Northup Ergonomics Language Today: At press time, AGC of America is working to round up enough votes to reject an amendment to the Labor Health and Human Services Appropriations Act that would strip out an important ergonomics rule restriction. The language inserted in committee by AGC Champion Anne Northup (R-KY) would prevent OSHA from going forward with the burdensome new regulation. Many Contractors have contacted their Members of Congress to urge that the Amendment be defeated. 

AGC Works With Senate Appropriations Committee To Prohibit Funding for the Implementation of New Hours-of-Service Proposed Regulations: AGC successfully lobbied the Senate Transportation Committee to include a provision in the FY 2001 Transportation Appropriations bill that prohibits funding for the implementation of the proposed hours-of-service regulations. Furthermore, AGC convinced the Committee leadership not to include a provision that makes Amtrak eligible for highway funds. The proposal may be offered as an amendment when the bill is considered on the Senate floor. The bill is scheduled to be considered by the Senate Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee on June 13 and the full Committee on June 15.

AGC PAC Regional Meeting Update: Contractor and Chapter representatives from regions I, II, & III met in Philadelphia on June 6th to discuss and allocate AGC PAC funds for congressional races that will take place in their regions throughout the remainder of the year. The meeting, chaired by AGC PAC Co-Chair Pete Wert, was a huge success. The remaining regional meetings schedule is as follows; Region IV - July 12th in Atlanta; Region V & VI - July 11th in Chicago; Region VII & VIII - July 13th in Dallas; and Region IX & X - June 29th in San Francisco. There will be an option to participate by conference call if necessary. For more information on attending these meetings or participation by conference call please contact Sonja Simmons (703) 837-5386 or email at simmonss@agc.org.

Utilize Congress at Your Fingertips Located in the Member’s Only Section at http://www.agc.org/ to contact your Congressional Representatives.