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IRS Guidance on IRA Prevailing Wage and Apprenticeship Provisions On November 30, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published Notice 2022-61, which offers preliminary guidance on the prevailing wage and apprenticeship (PW&A) provisions attached to certain clean energy tax incentives introduced in the Inflation Reduction Act, Pub. L. 117-169 (IRA).  The IRA introduced a two-tier “base” rate…

Sen. Sinema (D-AZ)’s Party Switch Sen. Sinema (D-AZ)’s decision to leave the Democratic Party and register as an independent is unlikely to upend the political equilibrium in the Senate. The senator plans to continue with committee assignments through the Democratic caucus, though she will not join the party for its weekly lunch where policy and…

This Week in Congress This week, Congress worked to pass legislation to protect same-sex marriages and authorize defense spending for the rest of the fiscal year.  However, still outstanding is legislation to fund the government.  Meanwhile on Tuesday incumbent Sen. Warnock (D-GA) faced off against Republican challenger Herschel Walker for the second time in a…

House Republicans Consider Changes to Earmarks House Republicans are considering changes to the earmarking rules in the next Congress, including narrowing potential recipients to ensure there is a “federal nexus” for projects. That could put at risk a number of categories of earmarks that are private entities or operated at the state or local level,…

The FY23 Funding Drama Continues The drama continues as congressional negotiators are roughly $25 billion apart on a top-line spending figure for nondefense discretionary programs.  Senate Appropriations Vice Chairman Shelby said it’s still possible to finish an omnibus by the end of the year, though he said some members of Congress have floated a possible…

ASA Platinum Sponsor COMPASS Congratulates ASA Members on Making the “COMPASS Select List” COMPASS by Bespoke Metrics recently announced The COMPASS Select List, which recognizes the top subcontractors in COMPASS based on transparency and performance across Finance, Business, and HSE metrics. The ASA would like to recognize and congratulate the ASA subcontractors who made the 2022…

The FY23 NDAA The FY23 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is expected to be released very soon and it is expected that the legislation will not contain a requirement that troops be vaccinated against COVID.  A bipartisan agreement among House and Senate negotiators will repeal that directive. The legislation does not dictate what course the…

Rail Strike Averted On December 2, 2022, President Biden signed a rail labor agreement averting a strike that lawmakers warned would have imposed heavy economic costs. A resolution imposing the labor agreement makes a strike a federal offense and is to remain in effect until the unions’ next contract talks in two years. The newly…

This Week in Congress Congress returned this week from Thanksgiving break with a full agenda over the next few weeks including passage of the FY23 federal budget, the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and election of new Democratic leadership for the next two years.  Currently, the Republicans have won 220 House seats and Democrats…

FY23 Budget Negotiations On Tuesday, Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Schumer, House Minority Leader McCarthy, and Senate Minority Leader McConnell met with President Biden to discuss a way forward to complete action on the FY23 omnibus appropriations bill.  After the meeting, Sen. McConnell (R-KY) stated that there is “widespread agreement that we’d be better off…