House passage of Senate-approved legislation to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax rates is widely expected this week.

The ACEC-supported deal maintains current individual income tax, dividends and capital gains rates for two years, and retains the estate tax for 2011 and 2012 with an exemption of $5 million and a top rate of 35 percent.

Firms will benefit from provisions allowing them to expense 100 percent of equipment purchases in 2011, as well as 50 percent bonus depreciation for purchases made in 2012.

The legislation includes a payroll tax holiday in 2011 of 2 percent of the employee’s portion of the tax, along with a 13-month extension of unemployment benefits.

A new non-profit Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure is being launched in January. It will provide a rating system for assessing the sustainability of a wide range of infrastructure projects. Memberships from engineering firms will be solicited in the spring.

The organization’s nine member board of directors consists of representatives from the three founding organizations—ACEC, the American Public Works Association and the American Society of Civil Engineers. The search for an executive director is underway.

For more information, contact Jeff Beard, Vice President, Institute for Business Management, at jbeard@acec.org.

ACEC has awarded a Minuteman Fund grant to ACEC/California to help contest a lawsuit by the Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG) union to stop public-private partnerships (P3).

The lawsuit, PECG v. Caltrans, challenges the first project approved under California’s new P3 law, the $1 billion Presidio Parkway in San Francisco. The lawsuit also attacks Proposition 35, a state constitutional amendment that authorizes public agencies to use private sector design consultants when needed.

The Minuteman Fund has also awarded a grant to ACEC/Maryland to contest a threatened state professional services sales tax that would include engineering services.

Click here for more information on The Minuteman Fund.

ACEC/Delaware PAC Champion Ted Williams

ACEC/Louisiana PAC Champion Kenneth Smith

ACEC/Wyoming PAC Champion Travis Conklin

ACEC/PAC is seeing a flurry of year-end fundraising activity as ACEC/Delaware, ACEC/Louisiana, and ACEC/Wyoming became the latest states to meet their 2010 PAC goals. Several more states are getting close to what could be a record-setting year.

ACEC/Delaware has hit its goal four years in a row. “The reasons why our members support ACEC/PAC never change—Congress affects our businesses in very real and direct ways,” said PAC Champion Ted Williams of Landmark Engineering, Inc. in New Castle.

ACEC/Louisiana’s PAC Champion Kenneth Smith of T. Baker Smith in Houma, whose state reached goal for the second consecutive year, said: “To me, it’s a simple business decision. If you want a better legislative and regulatory environment for your firm, you contribute to ACEC/PAC.”

ACEC/Wyoming has reached its PAC goal for six consecutive years. PAC Champion Travis Conklin of Engineering Associates in Cody said, “If you work for an engineering firm, right now you can’t afford not to support the one organization looking out for our interests on Capitol Hill.”

For more information on ACEC/PAC, click here.

Rep. John Mica (R-FL) (left) discussed industry issues with ACEC members Pedro Cevallos-Candau of Primera Engineers (center) and Gregory Kelly of Parsons Brinckerhoff at the ACEC 2010 Annual Convention.

Rep. John Mica (R-FL) will be the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the new Congress. ACEC has a close working relationship with Mica.

Mica said that passing multi-year surface transportation legislation, the FAA re-authorization and water resources bills will be primary agenda items.

ACEC also has a strong relationship with the new ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. Nick Joe Rahall (D-WV).

ACEC will highlight four Member Firms and their mega projects in the March/April 2011 issue of Engineering Inc.

On-going or recently completed projects that are uniquely expansive in size, complexity and cost would be of interest to Engineering Inc. readers. They should be submitted with the following information to Andrea Keeney, staff editor, at akeeney@acec.org by Monday, January 10, 2011:

• Project name and location (Submit only one project)
• One-page project overview, including any unique aspects
• Name, title and phone number of the Member Firm executive who will be interviewed regarding the original project goals, challenges and solutions.

If you have a professional service provider that provides exceptional service in the accounting/financial, marketing/communications, IT, or business management service areas, recommend them to other ACEC members by submitting them to the new Peer-to-Peer Resource Guides.

The Guides will be published in special 2011 issues of Engineering Inc. magazine.

Click here to access the Peer-to-Peer Resource Guide Nomination Form. You may recommend more than one provider in any of the four categories.

For more information, contact Andrea Keeney at akeeney@acec.org.

The ACEC Business Insurance Trust (BIT) has extended the deadline for filing a request for Insurance Deductible assistance to December 20 for auto and property claims paid in 2010. This new ACEC member benefit is available to all ACEC firms who are part of the BIT insurance program and the assistance may cover the firm’s deductible up to $500 per claim and $1,000 per year.

For more information, contact Woody Germany at wgermany@wgmgroup.com or Wayne Shuler at wshuler@cds-assoc.com.

February 1-4, 2011, San Antonio

Green Infrastructure and Sustainable Communities: Opportunities in Expanding Markets, Feb. 1-4, San Antonio, will provide the latest insider insights on the rapidly growing sustainability market.

Topics include profit opportunities in sustainable development; the latest on sustainable legislation, regulations and standards; sustainable infrastructure rating systems including the new ACEC/APWA/ASCE system coming in 2011; BIM utilization in sustainable projects; identifying future projects through sustainability audits; and applying life-cycle costing and analysis to proposed projects and programs. The four-day certificate course program also includes a field trip looking at the engineering of the San Antonio Riverwalk.

Click here for details and to register.