As in most other places, the winter of 2014 has been long, damp and cold for Washington D.C., and the first green shoots of springtime are a welcome sight.
At the ACPA board meeting earlier this fall, several members asked me to explain the situation with the Highway Trust Fund (HTF)—specifically why it always seems like it’s on the verge of bankruptcy these days.
When Mitt Romney announced his running mate, most Americans had never heard of him. However, for many in the concrete pumping industry watching that hot Saturday morning in August, the GOP vice-presidential nominee was already a friendly and familiar face. The Congressman from Wisconsin has been a longtime supporter of the concrete pumping industry and a key ally in our fight against unfair federal excise taxes on concrete pumps.
Source: Associate Builders and Contractors, Arlington, Va.
A controversial final rule issued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in December 2011 that overhauls procedures for union representation elections became effective on April 30. Under the rule, commonly known as the "ambush" elections rule, the amount of time between when a union files a representation petition and an election takes place is reduced from the current average of around 40 days to as few as 17-20 days.
The National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) issued the following Legislative Alert regarding the introduction of HR 4321:
On March 29, Representative Jim Gerlach (R-PA) introduced HR 4321, legislation to repeal the retail sales excise tax on heavy trucks (concrete pump chassis) and replace the revenue with a small increase in the diesel fuel tax rate. The bill was cosponsored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). The bill has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee, of which Rep. Gerlach is a member.
The Internal Revenue Service has withdrawn both the final and proposed regulations it had issued to implement the now-repealed requirement for all levels of government to withhold 3 percent of the gross contract price from all their contractors to cover those contractors' potential federal tax obligations. This requirement, which would have taken effect in 2013, was repealed by Congress late last year, noted the April 27 issue of the State Laws Newsletter.
