Targeted initiatives that will boost the economy and create near- and long-term business opportunities for Member Firms will be the focus of the upcoming Annual Convention lobbying effort later this month.

“ACEC’s number one priority right now is jump starting the economy and putting our members back to work engineering America’s recovery,” said ACEC President Dave Raymond. “There are bills sitting in Congress right now that will do this, and we need help from our citizen lobbyists to compel Congress to act.”

ACEC’s economic agenda focuses on several key initiatives now working their way through Congress:

• New multi-year water infrastructure program—The House has already passed H.R. 1262, and the Senate is poised to act on S. 1005, which allocates nearly $40 billion over five years for water and wastewater projects.
• New multi-year aviation bill—Both the House and Senate have passed bills (H.R. 915 and Senate Amendments to H.R. 1586) that will significantly increase funding for airport improvements, terminal expansions, and other aviation projects.
• New six-year surface transportation program—The House and Senate are preparing to move legislation to replace SAFETEA-LU and give states the ability to launch major transportation improvement programs.
• Repeal of 3 percent withholding and thwarting initiatives that threaten the private sector and contracting out—Legislation to repeal the onerous 3 percent withholding mandate—which is slated to go into effect in 2012—needs to be acted upon.

ACEC members continue to make good use of a special A/E tax deduction that allows engineering firms to take a 9 percent tax deduction for projects performed in the United States.

Enacted in 2004, the deduction has been phased in over several years, from 3 percent in 2005 to 9 percent in 2010. It represents one of the Council’s most important legislative victories on behalf of the membership.

“A few years ago I touted the 3 percent A/E tax deduction as a “real money” win from the ACEC national program,” said Christopher Borton, president of Borton-Lawson in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

“The full 9 percent deduction this year is huge as compared to our ACEC dues,” he said. “Through the efforts of ACEC, we are netting more cash for our firms, even after our dues.

“It’s the gift that keeps on giving,” said Borton.

“Morrison-Maierle has taken advantage of the Domestic Production Activities Deduction since 2007 and has reduced its taxable income by approximately 7 percent in qualifying years,” said K.C. Hill, CFO of Morrison-Maierle in Helena, MT.

“This has really helped our bottom line. All engineering firms should take a look at the credit because it may be of significant benefit to them as well,” said Hill.

ACEC Member Firms of all sizes can claim the deduction. “CH2M HILL uses and benefits greatly from the Section 199 tax deduction, even after considering the costs of compliance,” said John-Bauer Martinez, vice president of tax for CH2M HILL in Englewood, CO. “I was delighted by the final regulations as they apply to engineering and construction.”

Click here for a description of the law and how it applies to engineering firms.

ACEC/Hawaii PAC Champion David Bills said, "Nobody is working harder than ACEC."

ACEC/Hawaii met its 2010 ACEC/PAC fundraising goal this week, joining Wisconsin as the state organizations to raise over 100 percent of their ACEC/PAC objective this year.

This marks the sixth year in a row that the Aloha State has achieved its ACEC/PAC goal. PAC Champion David Bills of Bills Engineering Inc. in Honolulu led the ACEC/PAC effort.

“It’s just a matter of asking,” said Bills. “I simply reminded my engineering firm colleagues here in Hawaii that nobody is working harder or speaking more forcefully for engineering firms than ACEC. This is our program and we need to work together to succeed legislatively.”

Bills and State Executive Ginny Wright also organized an ACEC/PAC silent auction at their annual Engineering Excellence Awards Banquet. The accomplishment comes the same week as the ACEC/Hawaii Annual Meeting, which ACEC Vice Chairman Ken Wightman attended.

Wisconsin and Hawaii will be recognized for their PAC achievement on April 25 during the ACEC Board of Directors luncheon in Washington, D.C.

Click here to see the progress of each state in achieving its ACEC/PAC goal for 2010 and information on the respective PAC Champion(s). For more information on ACEC/PAC, contact Greg Knopp, executive director, political affairs at gknopp@acec.org or Elizabeth Coit, PAC director at ecoit@acec.org.

President Obama recently signed legislation that will significantly alter the nation’s health care system, as well as the way A/E firms offer health insurance benefits to their employees.

Firms will take on new responsibilities, and could face financial penalties if they provide coverage that fails to meet certain benefit and cost requirements.

The new law also includes a number of changes to the tax code that every firm should know.

ACEC will present a timely online education session on Tuesday, April 20 to provide members with a comprehensive overview of the new law and what you need to know right now to prepare. The session will be presented by health care and tax policy experts Marc Gerson and Susan Relland of the law firm of Miller & Chevalier.

Key issues that will be covered include:

• Penalties for certain employers that do not offer qualified health coverage
• New group health plan mandates
• Automatic enrollment requirements
• Excise tax on high-cost plans
• Expanded Form 1099 requirements
• Limits on flexible spending arrangements (FSAs)
• Changes to the incentives for wellness programs