Congressman Young, Duncan, Brief Chairman's Club Members Prior To TEA-21 Negotiations ACEC President Dave Raymond and Rep. Don Young (R-AK) at the Chairman's Club dinner on Capitol Hill. With deliberations on a final highway bill expected to begin next month, members of ACEC/PAC's Chairman's Club hosted private events this week for two senior members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to discuss strategy and other key issues. Committee Chairman Don Young (R-AK) joined ACEC members for a dinner on Capitol Hill Wednesday evening. Young discussed the status of the TEA-21 reauthorization process, as well as his perspectives on key conference issues. Young stressed that he would not support another extension of the current program, focusing instead on crafting a final, compromise package by May 31. ACEC members reiterated their strong support for Young's efforts to finish work on the new program as soon as possible, and also discussed other industry priorities, including Senate language that will create uniform requirements in the states on the use of QBS and standard overhead and audit procedures.

Rep. John (Jimmy) Duncan (R-TN) left, and Larry New of Vaughn and Melton of Tennessee at the Chairman's Club breakfast. The Chairman's Club also hosted a breakfast meeting Thursday morning with Rep. John (Jimmy) Duncan (R-TN), who chairs the House Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee, and is also expected to serve on the conference committee for the highway bill. Duncan discussed both the transportation package as well as his efforts to move major water infrastructure legislation once Congress completes work on the TEA-21 reauthorization bill. "This was a great meeting," said Larry New of Vaughn and Melton in Tennessee. "Jimmy Duncan has been a major friend to our industry and someone who understands and values the vital role we play in delivering engineering services to government clients." Participants in the Don Young dinner and John Duncan breakfast events are listed below:

ACEC Submits Senate Testimony In Support Of Association Health Plan Legislation Derrell E. Johnson, President of ACEC's Life/Health Insurance Trust ACEC submitted Senate testimony last week to urge passage of Association Health Plan (AHP) legislation. In testimony to the Senate Small Business Committee, Derrell E. Johnson, President of ACEC's Life/Health Insurance Trust, focused on the fact that "ACEC's AHP is a model of how associations can help deliver affordable health benefits to working families employed in small businesses at affordable rates." Johnson also explained the challenges facing ACEC's AHP, such as the burdens of complying with 50 sets of state regulations. In a letter to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY), ACEC President Dave Raymond commended him for considering this important first hearing and to inform the Committee of ACEC's unique perspective on the issue. "As the only association that currently sponsors a nationwide AHP for both our small and large engineering firms," Raymond wrote, "ACEC knows that AHPs would help make health insurance more affordable and accessible for small businesses and their employees." The Small Business Health Fairness Act (H.R. 525; S. 406) would create more opportunities for businesses to pool together across state lines through AHPs to purchase health insurance, or self-insure in the same manner as that of large employers and labor unions. H.R. 525 was passed out of the House Education and the Workforce Committee in March, and is expected to go to the House floor by the summer. This was the first time that the Senate HELP Committee, which has jurisdiction over the legislation, has held a hearing on this issue. ACEC will continue to urge the Senate to pass this legislation this year and ensure that ACEC members can continue to participate in the cost-savings of ACEC's AHP.

ACEC Briefs Japanese Delegation on QBS ACEC briefed a delegation of Japanese engineers on the application of Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS) in the U.S. as part of an ongoing effort to promote QBS internationally. The discussion focused on the practical application of QBS at the federal, state and local level. The information provided by ACEC will be used by the Japanese engineering association in formulating recommendations to their government on the implementation of a recently-passed law establishing qualifications as the primary factor in selecting engineering services. The briefing was part of a week-long QBS fact-finding mission in the U.S. arranged by ACEC and the Japanese engineering association. The delegation also met with ACEC member firms Stanley Consultants, Han-Padron Associates and Louis Berger Group. "Our committee is dedicated to increasing the use of QBS worldwide in order to ensure more successful projects and level the playing field for all firms," said ACEC International Committee Chairman Gregs Thomopulos. "The Japanese have been our ally in this effort, and we are glad to support them in their efforts at home." Participating in the briefing on QBS, from the left are: Keiichi Kanai, General Manager, Strategic Planning Division CTI Engineering; ACEC President Dave Raymond; Eiji Kawakami, General Manager, Secretariat Office, CTI Engineering; and Tadashi Fujino, Director of Technical Affairs, Japan Civil Engineering Consultants Association (JCCA).

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