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BEACON HILL BEAT
FEBRUARY 2007

LEGISLATIVE LEADERSHIP ON BEACON HILL

The new two-year legislative session on Beacon Hill looks very similar to that of previous years.  The leadership in the House and Senate has remained the same along with key Committee appointments.  Change could be immanent with rumors of Senate President Travaglini being courted by public sector and non-profit groups, in which case the composition of the Senate could change.  Currently, the legislative leadership and committee chairmanships are as follows.

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UCANE FILES THREE BILLS FOR 2007-2008 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

UCANE has filed three pieces of legislation to proactively address important industry issues.  We have re-filed the Interest on Retainage bill sponsored by Rep. Robert DeLeo (HD 2455) and Senator Steven Panagiotakos (SD 1996).  This bill would include a new provision in the law for reimbursing contractors and subcontractors’ interest on retainage withheld pending the completion of final work. This legislation won approval by the State Administration Committee last session and UCANE hopes to move the bill through the House and Senate in the new session.

UCANE also filed An Act Related to Price Adjustment sponsored by Rep. Antonio Cabral (HD 1961) and Senator Steven Tolman (SD 1150).  This bill would require awarding authorities to update engineer’s estimates prior to the project being put out to bid if more than a year has passed since the project was designed.  This will provide accurate estimates in determining the bid costs for both municipalities and contractors.  Additionally, UCANE filed legislation to address Cost Escalation.  This bill sponsored by Rep. John Rogers (HD 3069) mirrors existing language contained in Mass Highway documents to address cost increases and decreases of over 10%.

UCANE, in collaboration with the MA Infrastructure Investment Coalition, was also involved in filing legislation to create a Water Infrastructure Financing Committee.  This bill, sponsored by Senator Pam Resor (SD 934) and Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez (HD 2236), would create a 17 person Special Commission to develop a comprehensive long range water infrastructure finance plan for MA and its cities and towns.  A UCANE representative would be one of the 17 members on the Commission.     

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~ FEDERAL LEVEL ~

CLEAN WATER SRF ADDRESSED ON THE FEDERAL LEVEL

As the 110th Congress convened, UCANE and the Clean Water Construction Coalition (CWCC) members have been involved in creating legislation to increase Clean Water SRF funding and address federal budget shortfalls over the past several years. 

UCANE President Vincent Barletta led a delegation of Clean Water Construction Coalition (CWCC) members to meet with James Oberstar (D-MN) Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. At that meeting, the seed of what grew to become the Water Quality Financing Act of 2007 (HR 720) was planted. A week after the meeting, Congressman Oberstar filed HR 720 and committed to usher the bill through his committee and work with the Senate to address the enormous backlog of wastewater projects throughout the country. This legislation, which includes the Davis-Bacon provision, seeks $20 Billion over a five year period for Clean Water SRF Funding, and offers states increased flexibility in the financing packages they can offer communities.

Additionally, two other water bills were also introduced in the House.  The  Healthy Communities Water Supply Act of 2007 (HR 700) reauthorizes $125 million for the EPA’s alternative water resources grants program for eligible projects including those designed to conserve, manage, reclaim, or reuse water or wastewater, or treat wastewater to meet critical municipal, industrial, and agricultural water supply needs.  Additionally, the Water Quality Investment Act of 2007 (HR 569), co-sponsored by Congressman Michael Capuano (D-MA), was filed, which reauthorizes appropriations to municipalities to control Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO) and Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO).  All three pieces of legislation quickly won the approval of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment and then the full Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (HR 720 won approval by a 55 to 13 vote).  The three bills now await a vote by the full House. 

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Under the leadership of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI), Congress passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) for the remaining nine of eleven federal spending bills for FY 2007 and increased the Clean Water SRF to $1.08 billion. The Democrats stated that it was necessary to move forward and focus on the FY 2008 budget, and not rehash the stalled budget bills of last year.  The CR set the majority of the funding levels for last year at FY 2006 levels, but increased SRF funding. In FY 2006, the EPA funded the Clean Water SRF program at $877 Million as opposed to the President Bush’s FY 2007 proposal of only $688 Million. In a strong show of support of the Clean Water SRF program, the Democratically controlled House increased the SRF funding level to $1.08 Billion for FY 2007. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-WV) have committed to following the House lead and will approve the CR with the increase to the Clean Water SRF program.

President Bush does not share the House support of the SRF program.  On February 5th, The President released his $2.9 Trillion Federal Budget proposal for FY 2008.  As expected, the President repeated his funding request of last year, proposing that the Clean Water SRF be funded at $688 Million and the Drinking Water SRF at its traditional level of $850 Million.

~ Archived News ~

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