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Debt Limit Update On Monday evening, President Biden and Speaker McCarthy met at the White House.  Per Speaker McCarthy, “the tone tonight was better than any other time we have had discussions.”  President Biden said he agreed that the session had been “productive.  We reiterated once again that default is off the table and the…

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Considers Supply Chain Bills On Tuesday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted on a supply chain-focused package of legislation regarding foreign ownership of U.S. marine terminals, rules for commercial driver’s license exams, allowing some trucks to weigh more, and authorize spending to alleviate a parking shortage for trucks.…

Surety Bonds on P3 Agreements: Sound Public Policy Protections The federal government long has recognized the importance of surety bonding requirements for its direct public works procurements. The federal Miller Act (40 USC 3131-3134), enacted in 1935, and related regulations, require that payment and performance bonds be in place on any direct federal construction contract…

Sen. Carper (D-DE) Announces Retirement On Monday, Sen. Carper (D-DE) announced that he will not seek reelection.  Sen. Carper, 76, is the fourth Democratic senator to announce his retirement, following Sens. Stabenow (MI), Feinstein (CA), and Cardin (MD).  Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., is widely seen as a potential successor to Carper. His departure opens…

Editorial Cartoon: https://www.cleveland.com/ This Week in Congress Congress was in session this week with the Senate tackling nomination votes while the House voted on legislation that would allow immigrants convicted of assaulting cops to be deported (H.R. 2494).  House Judiciary Republicans cited the end of Title 42, the pandemic-era policy that allowed the Trump and…

Debt Ceiling Negotiations Continue President Biden and congressional leaders met this week for a second time to discuss raising the debt ceiling.  President Biden is scheduled to be at the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, and then the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Sydney, Australia, meaning he will be away from Washington through at least May…

ASA Celebrates 2023 Infrastructure Week! As we celebrate Infrastructure Week in 2023, we find ourselves in a place of unprecedented opportunity. Cities, towns, and villages across America have access to a historic level of federal funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS and Science Act to invest in infrastructure in their…

Sen. Daines Reintroduces the Main Street Certainty Act Sen. Daines (R-MT) reintroduces the Main Street Certainty Act, which we supported in the last Congress, and it would make permanent the 20-percent deduction for small- and individually owned businesses (Section 199A).  This legislation would provide certainty to the millions of S corporations, partnerships and sole proprietorships…

This Week in Congress This week, the House voted on border security and immigration legislation as the pandemic-era Title 42 policy that has allowed officials to expel migrants at the border is set to expire this Thursday.   Additionally, the House voted on legislation that would offer incentives to states to recoup fraudulent overpayments of pandemic…

Debt Ceiling White House Meeting After the hour-long White House meeting on Tuesday, no progress was made in coming to an agreement on the debt ceiling, but President Biden and House and Senate congressional leaders agreed to talk again on Friday.  In the meantime, staff will meet to come up with some options on ways…