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New California Senator California Democrat Laphonza Butler was sworn in on Tuesday as the newest senator, replacing Sen. Feinstein. Butler will become the first Black woman in the Senate since fellow California Democrat Kamala Harris left the chamber in 2021 to become vice president. Butler will also be the first openly LGBTQ California senator. Butler’s…

Aid to Ukraine The CR did not contain any additional funds for Ukraine. Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Minority Leader McConnell said they expect more funding to be included before the end of this year, but Speaker McCarthy said that any funding for Ukraine must come with additional security measures for the U.S. southern border.…

Updated Products and Upcoming Webinar from ConsensusDocs At the end of last month, ConsensusDocs released updates to their most used prime and subcontract agreements. These agreements include the following documents: ConsensusDocs 200 — Standard Agreement and General Conditions Between Owner and Constructor (Lump Sum) ConsensusDocs 205 — Standard Agreement and General Conditions Between Owner and Constructor (Short…

This Week in Congress This week, Congress worked to avoid a government shutdown prior to September 30th.   As of late Tuesday evening, the Senate voted by a large margin to start the process of moving a short-term continuing resolution (CR).  The bipartisan Senate bill funds the federal government through November 17th.   Last Saturday afternoon, the…

Consequences of a Government Shutdown The Biden Administration is warning of the fallout of a possible government shutdown. Agriculture Secretary Vilsack said a shutdown would deprive low-income pregnant women, infants, and children under age 5 of access to nutritional foods. It could also send more than 50,000 Agriculture Department workers home and limit farmers’ access…

ASA Key Priorities in the FY24 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) ASA’s key industry priorities in the context of the FY24 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) are the following: SENATE (S.2226) Support Senate Section 325 – Dashboard of funding relating to perfluoroalkyl substances and polyfluoroalkyl substances. This section would create an online dashboard for information…

P3 Bonding Requirements Advancing in the Senate As you know, we support H.R. 1740, legislation clarifying that current payment and performance security requirements for federally funded infrastructure projects should apply to Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) financed infrastructure projects, including Public Private Partnerships (P3).  To that end, late last week, we learned that…

ASA Opposes the Worker Walkaround Proposed Rule ASA, along with the Coalition for Workforce Safety (CWS), sent a letter to the House Ed and Workforce Committee’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections in advance of their hearing on September 27th on OSHA’s policies and priorities. OSHA administrator Parker testified, and we planned to bring to his attention…

House Prepares President Biden’s Impeachment This week, House Republicans launched their impeachment investigation of President Biden. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Thursday follows intense pressure from the right wing of the majority to probe for wrongdoing by the president. The Biden inquiry will be led by House Oversight and Accountability Chairman Comer…

This Week in Congress This week, Congress continued working to avoid a government shutdown before September 30th.  Also, the House considered the annual defense appropriations bill along with a bipartisan healthcare package to boost patient price transparency and reauthorize several health programs as key deadlines loom.  The Senate considered a legislative vehicle for Military Construction-Veterans…